Tax Increment Financing

Aaron Emmanuel Lewis, 2026 candidate for Orange County Commissioner District 7, said the STAR Plan was inspired by the Strategic Miami Area Rapid Transit (SMART) Program in Miami-Dade County. Sunrise Movement Orlando is following Miami-Dade County, which used tax increment financing (TIFs) to fund the transit corridors. 

Here’s how TIF works. If vacant land is worth $200,000 today and the tax bill is $2,000, that’s exactly where the regular rate stays once it’s developed. With a new building there, it’s now worth $1 million, and the tax is $90,000. Orange County would keep the $2,000 they used to get, but the other $88,000 would go to a special transportation district to be used to build the system.

Existing homes and buildings within a half mile of the STAR corridor would be treated the same way. While residents are paying more, the funds go directly into their area to boost transit. A citizen oversight board will be established to ensure the funds are used to benefit the residents in each district.

Differing Perspectives on Orange County’s Top Priorities

Chris Messina, 2026 candidate for Orange County Mayor, says he is concerned with taking money away from services provided to communities surrounding the corridor. “We have to be very careful because if we start carving up specific tax revenue, we run the risk of undermining the overall investment in public safety,” he said. Messina wants to hold off on implementing heavy rail. He says it is too expensive and that building the heavy rail lines from Orlando International Airport to the tourist district would require private funding. Instead of entirely scrapping the STAR Plan, Messina wants to invest in technology that would make building rail profitable. His first priority is fixing LYNX. “We can certainly keep the comprehensive model in our minds, thoughts, and plans, but we need to execute, and the first place to execute is on the low-hanging fruit,” he said. “To me, that is revamping the LYNX.”

Lewis agrees the LYNX bus service needs to be altered. He says that working families need better access to public transit after their shifts. He proposes extending service hours and include more LYNX routes to cut down on transportation time. Otherwise, he says an eight-hour workday can turn into a 12-hour ordeal.

Adding shaded bus stops with seating can address health concerns related to riders standing in the sun for hours while they wait for a bus, he believes. “The standard we set for bus stops says everything about what we think of the people who use them,” Lewis said.

Lewis’s fourth policy is increased county investment in public transportation. He says that Orange County has the resources to invest in transit but lacks the political will. “I decided to run for office because I realized people weren’t making good policy decisions, and it’s as simple as that,” Lewis told Pulp City Magazine. “It’s a decision that you make, and bad decisions have landed us to where we’re at.”

Instead of following the STAR Plan, Messina suggests downsizing from the current LYNX buses to smaller and cheaper ones to reduce costs. “To me there is a lot of merit in the plan,” Messina said, “but what we should do first is fix the obvious thing we can address right away.”

Benefits to Orange County

Sunrise Movement Orlando believes that the STAR Plan will have positive effects on the entire county, not just riders. They say it will reduce carbon emissions, which aligns with United Nations’ data stating that shifting from cars to public transit can reduce up to two tons of carbon emissions annually per individual. The plan will support new housing in the urban core by encouraging residents to move into areas that offer better access to public transit. And by implementing the STAR Plan, Sunrise Movement Orlando says the city’s applications for federal and state funding will become stronger. Using this funding, Lewis says he can provide residents with a world-class transportation system built for them, not tourists.

Lewis says public transit gives opportunities to residents. “Whether it is our students, or our low-income residents, or our hardworking families, it doesn’t matter who it is; it gives you an opportunity that isn’t there right now,” he said. The STAR Plan will be discussed by the Orange County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, September 29.