Budget
ARPA
American Rescue Plan Act, the federal pandemic-relief law that sent temporary funds to local governments.
Plain language: One-time federal money; it does not create a permanent local funding source.
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M3Method · Glossary
Plain-language definitions for the authority, budget, governance, and source terms used throughout the audit.
Terms
Budget
American Rescue Plan Act, the federal pandemic-relief law that sent temporary funds to local governments.
Plain language: One-time federal money; it does not create a permanent local funding source.
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Governance
A Community Redevelopment Agency, which can finance projects inside a defined district using tax increment revenue.
Plain language: A special district tool the city can use for focused redevelopment in certain areas.
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Operations
Community Violence Intervention, a public-safety strategy that uses credible messengers, outreach, and support services to interrupt cycles of violence.
Plain language: A non-police violence-prevention program built around trusted community outreach.
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Governance
Florida Department of Children and Families, the state agency that licenses and regulates many child-care providers.
Plain language: The state agency that controls child-care licensing, outside direct mayoral authority.
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Operations
A classification used when implementation depends on another board, agency, county government, state office, or federal partner that the mayor cannot direct alone.
Plain language: The city can help move it, but someone else still has to vote, fund, approve, or operate it.
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Governance
Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the state agency that administers many environmental, water-quality, and resilience regulatory programs.
Plain language: The state environmental agency Orlando must coordinate with on many water and resilience issues.
Governance
Florida Department of Education, the state agency that governs statewide education policy and school-system requirements.
Plain language: The state education agency, outside direct mayoral control.
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Governance
Florida Department of Transportation, the state agency responsible for state transportation infrastructure and policy.
Plain language: The state transportation agency Orlando must coordinate with on roads, transit, and rail issues.
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Budget
The city’s main operating fund, used for recurring services such as public safety, administration, permitting, and neighborhood functions.
Plain language: The core city checking account that pays for everyday operations.
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Governance
Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, the aviation authority that governs Orlando International Airport and related airport assets.
Plain language: The airport authority; Orlando has appointments and influence, but airport operations are not a mayor-only lever.
Legal
House Bill, a bill filed in the Florida House of Representatives.
Plain language: A Florida House bill that may become state law.
Legal
The constitutional and statutory authority that allows local governments to manage local affairs unless the state has limited or preempted that authority.
Plain language: What City Hall can generally do on its own before Tallahassee steps in.
Governance
The Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority, which operates the regional bus system.
Plain language: The bus agency; Orlando can fund and partner with it but does not unilaterally control it.
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Operations
A classification used when part of a plank sits inside city authority but its signature components run into preemption, fragile legal footing, or outside control.
Plain language: Some of it is deliverable, but the headline promise is not fully in the mayor's hands.
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Operations
A memorandum of understanding between public agencies or partners that sets terms for cooperation, data sharing, or implementation.
Plain language: A formal agreement that lets multiple agencies work together without one controlling the other.
Governance
The set of actions the city can take directly under charter authority, state law, adopted budgets, and administrative control.
Plain language: The tools City Hall can actually pick up and use without waiting on another government.
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Governance
Orange County Public Schools, the school district that controls public-school operations serving Orlando students.
Plain language: The school system; the Orlando mayor can partner with it but cannot run it.
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Budget
A deliberately wide fiscal range used when public documents support a cost band but not a single precise implementation figure.
Plain language: A cost range that tells you the scale of the money problem without pretending the estimate is more exact than the record allows.
Governance
Orlando Utilities Commission, the municipal utility with its own governance structure.
Plain language: The utility partner for energy and water work; related but not identical to the mayoral chain of command.
Legal
A state or federal rule that reserves authority to a higher level of government and prevents local governments from acting independently in that area.
Plain language: A legal stop sign that keeps the city from making its own rule on a topic.
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Legal
Senate Bill, a bill filed in the Florida Senate.
Plain language: A Florida Senate bill that may become state law.
Legal
A doctrine that limits lawsuits against the government unless liability is expressly allowed by law.
Plain language: A legal shield that changes how and when the government can be sued.
Budget
Revenue distributed to local governments by the state under formulas set in state law.
Plain language: Money the city depends on but does not fully control because Tallahassee can change the formula.
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Legal
A mismatch between a proposed local action and an existing state statute or legal requirement.
Plain language: When the proposal runs into a state law that says the city cannot do it that way.
Governance
Central Florida commuter rail service, governed outside direct City of Orlando mayoral control.
Plain language: The regional train system; the mayor can advocate and partner, not command fare or service changes alone.
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Budget
Tourist Development Tax, a hotel-tax revenue stream governed by state law and county-level decision making.
Plain language: Tourism tax money the Orlando mayor cannot directly redirect alone.
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Budget
Tax increment financing, a redevelopment finance tool that uses growth in property-tax revenue inside a district to support eligible projects.
Plain language: A way to reinvest added tax value from a specific area back into that area.
Legal
Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, a policy model that gives tenants or qualified partners a chance to purchase rental housing before sale to another buyer.
Plain language: A tenant-first purchase right. In Florida, local versions require careful preemption review.
Operations
A classification used when the mayor and city council can execute the core promise directly, subject to budget, staffing, and administrative competence.
Plain language: City Hall can actually do this if it chooses to fund and run it.
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Operations
The city-controlled implementation route that remains available after the audit identifies a legal barrier, outside dependency, or funding constraint.
Plain language: The version of the idea City Hall can still run with the tools it actually has.