Escambia County Commission • District 2
Kohler vs. Dorsey: Two Very Different Answers on LOST, Property Taxes and the Bay Center
The Pensacola Chamber’s candidate questionnaire gives District 2 voters a side-by-side look at incumbent Mike Kohler and challenger Glenn Dorsey ahead of the GOP primary. The two aren’t shy about disagreeing.
Incumbent Commissioner Michael S. Kohler and challenger Glenn Dorsey both completed the Pensacola Chamber’s 2026 Escambia County Commission candidate questionnaire, answering the same six questions on infrastructure funding, the property tax reform initiative on November’s ballot, affordability, housing, health disparities and the future of the Pensacola Bay Center. Their written answers, submitted directly to the Chamber, show a race with real policy contrast, not just a rematch of personalities.
LOST Renewal: Both Support It, For Different Reasons
Both candidates back renewing the Local Option Sales Tax, but they frame it differently.
- Kohler’s answer is short and numbers-driven: LOST will bring in more than $70 million this year alone for infrastructure projects countywide, and he “strongly supports” renewal.
- Dorsey’s answer runs several paragraphs and comes with a warning attached. He supports renewal only if the money is used “responsibly for its intended purpose” — roads, drainage, parks, bridges, sidewalks and public safety infrastructure — and objects to LOST dollars being used to cover expenses he believes belong in the general fund.
“LOST should not become a way for politicians to move basic expenses out of the general fund so they can spend general fund dollars elsewhere. That defeats the purpose of asking taxpayers to approve a dedicated infrastructure tax.” — Glenn Dorsey
On what happens if LOST fails, the two also part ways. Dorsey is explicit that he would not support replacing it with a property tax increase, pointing instead to pay-as-you-go capital budgeting, grant pursuit and impact/mobility fees on new development. Kohler’s questionnaire did not include a specific alternative-funding answer beyond his support for renewal.
Property Tax Reform Initiative: A Clear Split
This is where the two candidates diverge most sharply.
Kohler does not say whether he supports the initiative. Instead, he lays out the fiscal stakes: the measure would cost Escambia County an estimated $43 million in first-year revenue with no offset, and he frames it as a fundamental change to home rule and a shift away from property taxes toward “an unknown revenue source.” His bottom line is that voters need “an honest conversation” about what services get cut because he doesn’t view the initiative as revenue-neutral.
Dorsey supports the initiative outright, arguing taxpayers need relief and local government needs more spending discipline. He would respond to any budget hole with a full spending review prioritizing roads, drainage and public safety, and says he opposes treating uncertainty as a reason to raise other taxes. He also floated more reliance on sales-tax-based revenue—noting the county already uses a version of this through the Tourist Development Tax—while acknowledging TDT dollars are restricted and can’t simply replace property tax revenue.
- Kohler: Doesn’t state a position for or against; emphasizes the $43M first-year hit and calls for a public conversation on cuts.
- Dorsey: Supports the initiative; would pair it with spending cuts and a push for sales-tax-based alternatives.
Affordability and Housing
Kohler ties affordability directly to the tax measure, arguing renters and non-homestead residents face the biggest hit from the property tax reform initiative, while homestead owners benefit.
- On the cost of living he calls for lower federal and state gas taxes as the most direct way to bring down food costs, and points to lower interest rates and builder incentives for starter homes as the housing fix, while flagging continued in-migration from high-tax states as a supply pressure the county can’t fully control.
Dorsey’s affordability answer is built around spending discipline and zoning: rolling back the millage rate when property values rise, proactive rezoning of infill areas near existing infrastructure, stronger code enforcement on blighted properties, and requiring new development to pay for its own infrastructure impact.
- On housing supply specifically, he wants the county to identify growth areas and update zoning ahead of applications rather than handling rezoning “one project at a time.”
Health Disparities
Both candidates connect neighborhood health outcomes to infrastructure and economics rather than direct health programming.
- Kohler points to the Escambia Children’s Trust, saying it should focus on health and exercise programs for children in the county’s poorest neighborhoods. He argues health outcomes track more closely with economics, education and food access than with healthcare access itself.
- Dorsey describes himself as “a fiscal conservative” who doesn’t believe every health issue needs a new government program. He ties disparities to blight, drainage, parks maintenance, code enforcement and public transportation access, arguing county government’s role is to “do its job well” on core services rather than expand into health programming directly.
The Pensacola Bay Center
Kohler’s answer is brief: he supports revitalizing the Bay Center, believes downtown has improved significantly over the past decade, and wants the county to keep leaning on Community Redevelopment Agencies to support neighborhood-level revitalization beyond downtown.
Dorsey’s answer is the longest response in either questionnaire and the most skeptical. Before the county commits major dollars, he wants a full financial accounting: current revenue, operating losses, deferred maintenance, and projected renovation and subsidy costs.
He raises the possibility of relocating a regional sports and events facility to the University of West Florida campus, questions whether the Bay Center duplicates capacity already available at the Blue Wahoos stadium and the downtown amphitheater, and argues county taxpayers from Perdido, Beulah, Myrtle Grove, Warrington, Ensley and Cantonment shouldn’t subsidize a downtown asset without a “clear, measurable return.”
Early voting and the August 18 primary will determine whether Kohler secures another term or Dorsey advances to represent District 2 on the commission. Both candidates’ full questionnaire responses are available through the Pensacola Chamber.
We heard last night that the District 2 candidate forum was wild. We will report about it tomorrow.