Orlando staff summarizes major 2025 legislative changes; warns of property-tax reforms ahead

Kyle Shepherd, the city’s director of intergovernmental relations, told the Orlando City Council on July 14 that the 2025 Florida Legislature held an unusually long session and that a limited number of bills among nearly 2,000 filed will materially affect Orlando.

Shepherd said the regular session ran 105 days, from March 4 to June 16, and produced roughly 269 final bills this year. “It was the longest session that I’ve ever seen,” he said, adding that the city tracked roughly 426 bills and found 116 with some impact on Orlando.

Why it matters: Shepherd said most of the measures that passed are narrowly targeted but several carry direct operational or budgetary effects for cities. He singled out changes to emergency-management law, new historic‑demolition penalties, adjustments to plat and land‑use review, and an ongoing state push to reduce local property taxes that could reach county and city levies next year.

Key measures Shepherd summarized include: - SB 180 (emergency management): requires minimum emergency‑management training hours for specified local staff, mandates online storm‑preparation/recovery information, and requires post‑storm permitting plans; it bars local governments from increasing building‑permit or inspection fees for 180 days after a state of emergency and prohibits adoption of more restrictive land‑development regulations for one year after a hurricane’s landfall. The bill applies retroactively to regulations adopted after Aug. 1, 2024, with some preemption running to Oct. 2027, Shepherd said. He also noted contract provisions to penalize post‑storm vendors that abandon jobs and encouragements for solid‑waste contractors to assist post‑storm cleanup. - Public‑records change: a statutory exemption narrows public records for certain residential address details for members of Congress and public officers (partial address and home telephone withheld in some cases); Shepherd said a form or process may be required to claim the exemption. - SB 582 (unlawful demolition of historic structures): expands penalties for unlawful demolition of certain nationally listed historic properties, allowing locally imposed fines up to 20% of a structure’s fair‑market value for qualifying cases. - HB 683 (construction/utility/solar rules): includes a state rulemaking requirement for synthetic turf/permeability and creates a $50 million annual state grant program (funded from the local portion of the communications services tax, CST) to reimburse utility providers for relocation costs in public‑works projects; Shepherd noted the program replaces a proposed requirement that utilities pay relocation costs and warned the $50 million cap could grow in future years. - SB 784 (platting): moves final plat approvals to administrative staff, requires governments to designate an administrator to process plats and respond to applicants, but the city retained authority to set the internal processing time frame. - HB 929 (firefighter health and safety): tasks the state fire marshal with rulemaking on safer protective gear, mental‑health best practices, and encourages work schedules that avoid weeks exceeding 42 hours. - SB 954 (certified recovery residences): requires jurisdictions to publish an application and review process for sober‑home approvals and to document reasonable‑accommodation procedures under federal fair‑housing and ADA law. - SB 1730 (affordable housing / Live Local Act changes): made technical and substantive changes to Live Local implementation, including new definitions, limits on nonresidential requirements for mixed‑use projects using Live Local, some flexibility for height near historic structures, and an exemption for the Wekiva study area unless the city opts in. - HB 4059: extends the Sunbridge stewardship district into the portion of Sunbridge now inside Orlando.

Shepherd also noted a small federal appropriation of $394,000 for the Pulse National Memorial that will assist the city’s memorial work.

On property taxes, Shepherd flagged a newly formed House select committee on property taxes that is studying five ideas floated by the House speaker, including a large new homestead exemption, giving the Legislature (rather than voters) authority to create exemptions, changes to assessment caps, and even proposals to forbid local governments from foreclosing on homestead properties for unpaid taxes. He said the committee of roughly 37 House members planned hearings through the summer and fall and could deliver a proposal early in the 2026 session; any constitutional change adding exemptions would require a joint resolution and voter approval at the ballot.

Council reaction: Commissioners raised concerns about preemption of local authority and potential budget impacts. Commissioner Stewart said he opposed measures that would “take away the rights of cities” and questioned retroactivity and sunset mechanics of SB 180. Commissioner Rose asked about board appointments for the Sunbridge stewardship district; Shepherd said district board appointments remain property‑owner controlled, not council appointees. Several commissioners asked staff to track property‑tax discussions closely and to brief the council as the House select committee develops proposals.

What Council staff will do next: Shepherd and the city’s Tallahassee team offered to provide detailed bill briefings on request, to confirm administrative processes (for the public‑records exemption), and to monitor the property‑tax committee and any committee products during the interim.

A longer, itemized bill matrix and follow‑up staff briefings were promised for council members who requested further detail.