Orange County Supervisor of Elections Glen Gilzean is suing the Orange County Government and Orange County Comptroller Phil Diamond after commissioners voted to cut off funding to his office, and the 2024 Florida Chamber Annual Insurance Summit this week delivered signs of hope for the state’s insurance marketplace.

Elections Supervisor Glen Gilzean sues Orange County to get budgeted funds released

Orange County Supervisor of Elections Glen Gilzean is suing the Orange County Government and Orange County Comptroller Phil Diamond, after an ongoing battle that involved commissioners voting to shut off funding to his office earlier this week.

On Thursday night, Gilzean filed a civil case against the county requesting the immediate release of "the December 2024 Budget allocation" funds to the Orange County Supervisor of Elections, including "all future monthly allocations of funding of its 2024-2025 Budget allocation."

In the lawsuit, Gilzean argues that once the budget is approved, and all conditions have been met, the county and Diamond do not have the authority to withhold money.

A spokesperson for Orange County said the county does not comment on pending litigation.

Gilzean noted in documents that by withholding the funds, not only does the county not have the authority to do so, but that his staff is also at risk of being impacted.

“These individuals expect and have a right to be paid for their services, and the comptroller’s refusal to disburse budgeted funds to the supervisor, threatens his ability to pay these workers,” he said.

In a letter to Diamond, Gilzean said the dispute over funding to the supervisor of elections office "has placed our office's finance is significant peril." In years past, Gilzean said the office has received reimbursement within the first five days each month to pay vendors' invoices.

This all stems from concerns expressed by Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings regarding surplus funds that Gilzean used on scholarships. Of the $4 million surplus the elections’ office received after the election, Gilzean used $2.1 million to fund debt-free scholarships to Valencia College students.

According to Gilzean, his office initially returned about $700,000 to the county from that surplus. 

But Demings said Gilzean should have returned the excess money to the county first, and then asked to use the funds to allow some kind of due process. However, Gilzean claims that it was well within his right and authority as elections supervisor to make that call.

On Tuesday, the Orange County commission voted unanimously to withhold any additional funding from the Supervisor of Elections Office because of alleged misuse of funds. Diamond’s office has been combing through Gilzean’s financials over questions regarding spending on non-budgetary expenses.

However, Gilzean said he has nothing to hide.

“Florida statutes 129.201 clearly states that I have the authority to utilize these resources in the best interest of the office,” Gilzean said in an interview with Ybeth Bruzual on Spectrum News’ Political Connections.

Orlando insurance summit delivers hope for Florida’s property insurance marketplace

The 2024 Florida Chamber Annual Insurance Summit this week delivered signs of hope for the state’s insurance marketplace.

Experts at the conference said home insurance rates have stabilized and the average rate increase for homeowners is 0.8%.

This follows years of property owners experiencing unprecedented rate increases and non-renewal notices.

Florida Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky, who spoke at the summit, said things have improved greatly over the past two years.

“The true average homeowners insurance is about $3,600, which is no picnic," he said. "But we have seen that stay stable over the past year. As where in prior years, we saw that grow exponentially in 2022, when we had that huge crises moment."

Officials at the summit said a combination of unrelenting storms, underfunded insurance companies and lawsuits were making the state’s insurance market unsustainable.

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation reports Florida accounts for only 9% of the nation’s claims but 79% of homeowners insurance lawsuits.

Over a 10-year time frame, the office said 71% of the $51 billion paid by Florida insurance went to attorney fees and adjusters, while only 8% went to the people making the claims.

Yaworsky said reforms are in place and should be allowed to work within the marketplace.

“What I can promise to homeowner is that the reforms are working, and we are seeing that spread out in a pretty big way," he said. "I want them to know as the office of insurance regulation, we have their back. And if they have an issue with their insurance policy, with their insurance company, we want to know about it. Because we will look into it, we will investigate the matter. And we will hold them accountable, if necessary."

Experts report catastrophic claims are down even while 75% of Floridan’s live near coastal areas.

Executive Vice President of Florida’s Chamber of Commerce Frank Walker said getting homes up to hurricane standards over the years has made a difference.

“The past several storms that came through Florida, those built up to the most recent hurricane codes, they are far better than those structures, weren’t as hardened as others,” said Walker.

Insurance broker Michael Dehlinger, who has been selling insurance since 1987, said the governor’s insurance reform efforts, which included reducing lawsuits, is helping the industry and benefiting homeowners and brokers.

“You know, two, three years ago, we would have 10 quotes on homeowners, and eight of them were going to go Citizens," Dehlinger said. "And we would only have two of them that would qualify somewhere else at a decent rate. Now we're probably writing seven of them in the private market vs. three in citizens."

Florida is the ninth largest insurance market in the country.