ORLANDO, Fla. – Orange County’s Tourist Development Tax Citizen Task Force has already made recommendations to spend the bulk of the county’s tourism tax on big venues like the county convention center or the Amway Arena.
On Monday the group agreed to another proposal, however — asking the state to change how counties can use the tax revenues.
This comes after community leaders called on Orange County to start spending tourist development taxes on projects they say will benefit “everyday workers and families.”
“The tourism industry would not be successful unless we solve these wicked problems like transportation,” said State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, at a call to action minutes before the task force met for its last meeting.
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The county set a record in 2022 by bringing in more than $336 million in Tourism Development Tax collections from hotel rooms and other lodgings.
Eskamani and other leaders said the money should be used on community needs.
“Tourism also has negative externalities that all of us live with and we cannot ignore,” Eskamani said. “It creates traffic jams on our roads, it increases the demand on our drinking water and wastewater systems, it even contributes to our affordable housing crisis as more homes are converted into vacation rentals, taking supply off the market.”
However, state law is particular about how that money can be used. It allows for the building and renovation of tourism revenues, as well as advertising. As the meeting got underway, some in the task force questioned whether it was operating outside the scope of its responsibility by discussing the issue.
The citizen advisory task force is comprised of members from several different backgrounds, including government, trade groups, the hospitality industry and local chambers of commerce.
In the end, the task force narrowly passed a measure to recommend Orange County commissioners push the state legislature to change the tourist tax to allow for wider uses.
“To talk about how we use this wonderful benefit of being the most popular place in the country to benefit the residents,” one member said.
The task force will present their findings to the tourist development council during a meeting Tuesday morning. A final presentation to the Orange County Commission will happen next week.
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