On Monday, the cities of Orlando, Oviedo, and Deltona became the latest Central Florida municipalities to opt out of the Live Local Act.
The 2023 law was the Florida legislature’s response to the state’s affordable housing crisis. It states builders can get up to a 75% tax exemption, as long as they keep at least 70 units affordable to renters earning 80-100% of the area median income.
Shortly after adoption, lawmakers and advocates alike criticized the measure as being “pro-developer.” The law does not have provisions to ensure builders pass the savings on to their renters, while also allowing companies to charge rents as high as 90% of the market value.
Oviedo Council Member Natalie Teuchert said the law basically makes it possible for developers to maximize profits and that the Live Local was not promoted transparently.
“I think the label is misleading. This is not providing the missing middle a tax exemption. This is a tax exemption for luxury apartments,” she said. “We're not actually helping the people. We're helping, literally, apartment developers.”
During a presentation, the council learned that, under the Live Local Act, the city would also have to cover any deficit in tax funds and impact fees due to the tax exemptions.
Oviedo Deputy Mayor Bob Pollack said municipalities and their public would get stuck making up the difference.
“So when I first read this, I was like, 'Why would we opt out of this?' But it just basically gives the apartment builders less taxes to pay, and then it impacts the city, and the city residents are the ones that are subsidizing the general fund for that,” he said.
Oviedo Council Member Keith Britton said Florida legislators have the Sadowski Housing Trust Fund, designed for the state to invest in affordable housing development, and that they could have used it to help fund the law.
"This is just another unfunded mandate on the cities that we can't afford right now. We can't sustain our own revenue streams, let alone do something like this, when there's funding available if the legislature wants to approve it," he said.
In the Deltona City Commission meeting, Commissioner Dana McCool said their city is full of lobbyists pushing for developments. She said the city needs protections from overdevelopment, not sprawl condoned by the Live Local Act.
"We were having projects kind of rammed right down our throats as a city under this guise of 'erecting affordable housing' right here," McCool said. "Thank you, staff, for addressing this and moving forward on this to protect our city from this predatory stuff."
Orlando, Oviedo, and Deltona are the latest local municipalities to opt-out, joining Seminole and Osceola counties. Orange County is meeting on Oct. 29 to decide if they will follow suit.
Lillian Hernández Caraballo is a Report for America corps member.
