ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — Two of Altamonte Springs’ most beloved, longstanding traditions — Red, Hot and Boom and the city library — were both on the chopping block as the city commission met for a budget hearing on Thursday night. Both could disappear under Amendment 3, if passed later this year.
Red, Hot and Boom — Central Florida’s largest annual fireworks show — remains under consideration for cancellation, but it was the city library that had the community’s overwhelming support. The library was nearly closed in 2024, but public outcry caused city officials to reconsider. The city commission eventually voted to raise the millage rate, generating enough money to keep the library open.
Many community members voiced their frustration with having to fight for the library’s livelihood once again on Thursday night.
“I am frustrated that we’re here once again fighting for something we thought we already protected,” Nicole Donaldson said before the board. “Now I’m wondering, ‘was the library just a bait and switch?”
Eyewitness News was able to obtain a budget memo from city manager Frank Martz ahead of Thursday’s meeting, which recommends closing the city library on Maitland Avenue and shifting services to the Westmonte Recreation Center and the county library system. In the memo, Martz lays out 16 different alternatives his office considered and, ultimately, rejected. Among them — selling the library property, a non-profit takeover and even a $24 entry fee.
Martz goes on to project a $23.6 million budget gap over the next five years if voters approve Amendment 3 in November. In the memo, he says services that aren’t state-mandated, such as the city library and Red, Hot and Boom, will be “reduced first and most heavily.”
At the end of Thursday night’s meeting, which was a first reading, Altamonte Springs commissioners voted to support the budget and millage rate for the next fiscal year.
Commissioner Jim Turney also offered an amendment to keep the Altamonte Springs Library open until Sept. 30, 2027, and hopefully for years to come after that.
A meeting to craft that proposal will happen on October 7th, while a second reading of the budget will take place Sept. 16 at City Hall where community members are sure to show their support for the library once again.
“It’s not about if we can afford the library,” Donaldson says. ”It’s what we choose to prioritize”
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