“I’m not a social media person, but a lot of folks show me what’s on social media. There seems to be a lot of comments about how we spend money,” she said. “I don’t think everyone understands what it costs to run a fire department, run a police department, run code enforcement. I mean, out there, digging ditches, people knee deep when utilities has a problem. This all costs money.”

Wilsen urged Ocoee residents to read the budget, which she noted would be available online soon, and attend the budget workshops and hearings to “see how your tax dollars are spent.”

Kennedy echoed that sentiment, saying, “We all have the right to vote. We all have the right to complain. We all have the right to disagree. But it would be okay if you were informed a little bit before you did it." He recommended that residents spend some time reading through the budget. "The Finance Department has done a wonderful job with putting the budget online.”

He recalled the pre-digital days of there being a single copy of the budget for review. “I used to borrow the mayor’s budget book and sit and read it because there was only one big four-inch three-ring binder,” Kennedy said. “But now it’s online. Everybody can read it. Everybody can see where the money’s going. Everybody can read the audit and the audit report. And everybody can come to the budget workshop and hear what’s going on and then everybody can participate and have their voice heard.”

“If you have questions, you should come to the meeting,” Wilsen said. “I can’t stress enough that we welcome you. Please come. Be a voice.”