The commissioners Jan. 8 vote means about 20% of metro Orlando subcontractors vying for new work will now have to compete on the same terms as non-minority colleagues.

Orange County puts out an average $500 million in annual contract bids. About $100 million goes to minority subcontractors, according to the county's Business Development Division.

Minority contractors will now have to compete for that volume of work with non-minority colleagues who may have better bank loan connections to win the bids, real estate lawyers not associated with the county or the contractors tell GlobeSt.com on condition of anonymity.

Commissioners Mary I. Johnson, who represents the county's growing Hispanic population, and Homer Hartage, who speaks for African-American contractors, are not pleased with the ordinance revisions. They could not be reached for comment at GlobeSt.com's publication deadline. But county staffers tell GlobeSt.com they expect Johnson and Hartage to probe the effects of the rewritten ordinance and possibly challenge the changes at a later date.

Hartage and commissioner Ted Edwards, an Orlando lawyer representing real estate clients, helped draft the ordinance revision. Hartage purportedly didn't realize minority subcontractors and women-owned businesses would be hurt by the changes, according to staffers.

But county officials feel the revised rules will not affect a large number of minority contractors because the bulk of the contracts up for bids are over $100,000, a level at which minority and non-minority contractors have always had to compete for on the same footing.

But numbers from the county's Business Development Division show 53 county contracts ($3.5 million value) under $100,000 went out for bids over the past five years with only six contracts or 9% ($335,712) going to minority or women-owned businesses.