ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County’s mayor-elect Tiffany Moore Russell is outlining her transition plan.
As mayor, Moore Russell will oversee an estimated 9-billion-dollar county budget. She will also lead the county as they navigate the impacts of voter-approved Amendment 3.
Moore Russell will be sworn in on December 8th, replacing term-limited Mayor Jerry Demings.
For months, county leaders, including Demings, have warned service cuts and new fees could be necessary to offset an estimated 275 million budget reduction beginning in 2028 because of Amendment 3’s passage.
Moore Russell said she wants to hear from county leaders to narrow in on possible cuts.
In the 34 days before she’s sworn in, her transition team will post updates to this newly launched website and will ask for public feedback.
Moore Russell also announced that Michael Griffin, will serve as Chair of her transition team. He currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Advocacy and Public Policy at AdventHealth.
According to Moore Russell, the transition process will entail engaging with the community and will prioritize listening to the staff already operating inside of the county administration building.
“We need to ask questions, we need to listen, and we need to understand the challenges and opportunities,” said Moore Russell.
According to Orange County, 51 percent of the county’s property tax revenue funds public safety.
Local counties including Orange said they would begin to feel a budget impact in 2028 and have warned public safety services would not be exempt from potential cuts.
About 86 percent of Orange County Fire Rescue’s budget is funded via a fire Municipal Service Taxing Unit, or MSTU, a dedicated property tax paid by property owners in unincorporated Orange County.
The county said amendment 3 would reduce the fire department’s revenue by $46 million, or about 20 percent, beginning in 2028.
“We have to look for ways to whether we freeze any hiring, whether we remove any vacant positions, how do we kind of delay some capital project improvements,” said Moore Russell.
Orange County already spent months studying a potential stormwater fee to fund more than $1 billion in drainage, flooding, and water quality projects, but decided in June to pause the fee until 2027.
County leaders have also floated the idea of implementing a fire fee to offset revenue loss.
Moore Russell said Wednesday she’s exploring other options.
“We’re not prepared to identify any fees or any increases. I believe we have great staff here in Orange County who has already been exploring the what if question, and I look for it to him what they’ve been exploring so far,” Moore Russell said.
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