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Residents call for clearer police response and downtown enforcement; commission weighs funding limits
Summary
Public commenters raised concerns about specific Kissimmee Police Department interactions and the general level of police presence downtown. Staff explained CRA and general‑fund constraints for funding additional patrols and said the city must balance competing demands for finite resources.
KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Multiple residents and downtown business owners used the public‑comment period at the Kissimmee City Commission meeting to press for clearer police procedures and more enforcement in the downtown area, while city staff and commissioners cautioned that additional patrols carry fiscal tradeoffs.
Wanda Rentes, who identified herself as living in Kissimmee and as a former vice mayor, described multiple incidents involving Kissimmee Police Department (KPD) responses and urged an independent review. Rentes said she submitted public records requests (PDRR2024‑52 and PDRR2025‑35) and asked the commission to "request management to seek an independent investigation to review" the records and to recommend additional training to improve public interactions. She told commissioners she would also file a report with Orange County and asked for a meeting with the city manager and interim police chief.
Business owners and residents also raised concerns about safety and enforcement downtown. Tom Kapp, a downtown resident, told the commission he has recently seen fewer tractor‑trailers in the downtown core but asked for time‑based enforcement data tied to late‑night bar activity. Jeremy Fetzer, who owns a business in Kissimmee, urged commissioners to consider who will pay for additional downtown policing. Fetzer told the commission that property taxes paid by downtown property owners go into the CRA fund (tax increment financing) rather than the general fund and said, "to actually ask for more police presence and ask for enforcement and more KPD presence, that's kind of why the reason Winter Garden model and the Orange County model went into effect to offset the cost that is being impacted by these businesses." He also noted projected declines in property values for 2026 and 2027 and said additional policing demands could strain general‑fund resources.
Staff response: The city manager explained that when a CRA is created the base tax values remain in the general fund and only the incremental tax revenues after that point go into the CRA fund; thus most of the annual increase is available for CRA objectives. He said CRA funds can be used to supplement citywide services if the CRA plan is amended, but doing so would reduce funding available for grants and infrastructure in the CRA districts. "It's a balancing act," the city manager said, adding that the commission must weigh how to allocate finite resources.
What commissioners said: Commissioners acknowledged the public's safety concerns and emphasized that while additional enforcement is a legitimate request, it also has budget implications. The mayor and other commissioners asked staff to analyze funding options and to provide data that ties patrol deployment to specific times and incidents downtown.
Outcome: No formal policy change or appropriation was made at the meeting. Commissioners directed staff to follow up with additional data and to engage with stakeholders about feasible funding or program options.
