DeSantis vetoes $2.5 million in Seminole County budget projects

Ron DeSantis wiped out $2.5 million in Seminole County projects, putting planned water upgrades, school safety software and Oviedo intersection fixes on hold at once. The veto hit money that local governments and Seminole County Public Schools had been counting on for work that would have reached residents in their homes, in classrooms and at busy road crossings.

The biggest local loss was the smart-meter upgrade for Seminole County Utilities. The county has said its meter replacement program began in 2008 with automated meter reading equipment, and the new meter-and-transmitter system was designed to send readings once a month to an AMR-compatible handheld computer. A Senate local-funding request said the project would have directly benefited about 8,000 residential and commercial customers and would have replaced more than 8,000 water meters. It also tied the work to Wekiwa Springs, the Little Wekiva River, the Wekiva River and Lake Sylvan, underscoring that the veto reaches beyond billing into water management and the county’s broader environmental footprint.

Another cut removed funding for ZeroEyes AI Gun Detection Technology Seminole County, a school-safety project aimed at adding weapons-detection software to existing surveillance cameras. The Senate request described the system as AI-based software that sends alerts when a verified gun is detected. A related entry in the Florida House appropriations database listed ZeroEyes AI Firearm Detection - Seminole with a $250,000 request. For Seminole County Public Schools, that means one more safety tool that will not be installed this budget cycle.

Oviedo also lost state money for pedestrian improvements at two crossings: Lockwood Boulevard at Fallbrook Drive and State Road 434, also known as Central Avenue, at Boardwalk Avenue. Those fixes would have addressed spots where drivers, students and pedestrians already mix on congested local roads. Instead, the crossings remain unchanged while the city waits for another funding round.

DeSantis signed Florida’s fiscal 2026-27 budget on June 29, a $117.6 billion spending plan, and his office said he struck nearly $810 million in line-item vetoes statewide. Central Florida Public Media also reported that lawmakers had required a special session to settle budget disputes before the spending plan was finalized. In Seminole County, the result was tangible: fewer water meter upgrades, no new gun-detection software for schools and delayed safety work at Oviedo intersections that residents cross every day.