Latest reporting from the Local Government desk.
Local Government
Pasco County earned the NACo EDGE Excellence in Strategic Planning Award for its 2025-2030 Strategic Plan, which addresses rapid growth, public safety and economic development across the county's 659,000-plus residents.
Local Government
Local Government
Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter.
Your newsletter subscriptions are subject to our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.
Local Government
Local Government
Pasco County commissioners adopted a $2.53 billion FY2027 budget on Sept. 22, raising the Fire Rescue MSTU millage by nearly 10% above the rolled-back rate, a direct hit to property tax bills in unincorporated Wesley Chapel.
Local Government
Pasco County Supervisor of Elections Brian Corley will mail more than 47,000 vote-by-mail ballots on Thursday, Sept. 24, for the Nov. 3 General Election, with the deadline to request a ballot set for 5 p.m. Oct. 22.
Local Government
Hillsborough County commissioners voted 5-2 on Sept. 22 to approve GL Homes' rezoning of the shuttered Pebble Creek golf course in New Tampa for housing, ending a nearly three-year fight just across I-75 from Wesley Chapel, with opponents vowing to appeal.
Local Government
Every Pasco County Fire Rescue ladder truck displays "Keep Back 343 Feet" instead of a standard distance, a permanent tribute to the 343 FDNY firefighters killed on Sept. 11, 2001, which the department highlighted on the 25th anniversary.
Local Government
The Florida Department of Transportation has begun a $19.8 million milling and resurfacing project covering 7.3 miles of SR 56 and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard in Wesley Chapel, with overnight lane closures expected through fall 2027.
Local Government
Rep. Laurel Lee, whose FL-15 district includes Wesley Chapel, introduced the Ballots by Election Day Act on Sept. 3, a bill that would require all mail-in and absentee ballots in federal elections to be received by the close of polls on Election Day, modeled on Florida's existing law.
Local Government
More than 100 Pasco County Schools employees are enrolled in the Teach Pasco Paid Pathway, which covers tuition and keeps workers on payroll during student teaching, with over 30 already in classrooms.
Local Government
The Pasco County School Board voted Tuesday, Aug. 25 to propose lowering school capacity thresholds to 100% for all grade levels and creating five service areas, the first revision to concurrency rules in nearly 20 years, as Wesley Chapel high schools burst past capacity.
Local Government
Roughly 60 license plate reader cameras in Pasco County rights-of-way will be removed by Sept. 30 after Sheriff Chris Nocco terminated the county's camera agreement, while Gov. Ron DeSantis called the technology "out of control" and signaled the Florida Legislature will need to act.
Local Government
Republican incumbent Seth Weightman has raised roughly twice what Democratic challenger Stephanie Vazquez has brought in for the Pasco County Commission District 2 seat, with sharply different donor bases and competing visions for managing Wesley Chapel's rapid growth heading into the Nov. 3 general election.
Local Government
Lowe's has filed plans for a 107,000-square-foot store in the Abbey Crossings development on State Road 52 north of Wesley Chapel, joining a planned Walmart, chain restaurants already under construction, a lakeside boardwalk dining district and more than 900 planned housing units across the combined Double Branch and Abbey Crossings corridor.
Local Government
Air Force veteran and Wesley Chapel resident Stephanie Vazquez will challenge incumbent Commissioner Seth Weightman in the Nov. 3 general election for Pasco County's District 2 seat, running on a platform to curb growth and improve infrastructure.
©2026 Wesley Chapel Record
Powered by Surround Sound Media