Community leaders push for Orange County tourist tax dollars to go towards community needs

ORLANDO, Fla. – Community leaders on Monday will call on Orange County to start spending Tourist Development Taxes on projects they say will benefit “everyday workers and families,” according to a news release.

Their call to action is scheduled to be held outside of the Orange County Administration Building from 8:15 a.m. until 8:45 a.m., just before the final meeting of Orange County’s TDT Citizen Advisory Task Force.

According to the release, the community leaders want the tax money to benefit the community, instead of “continued subsidies for big tourism.”

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The TDT Citizen Advisory Task Force is expected to advise county leaders on how to spend growing TDT revenue during their final meeting on Monday.

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.

The initial meeting of the group came after the county set a record in 2022 by bringing in more than $336 million in TDT collections.

Documents released in May show 52 eligible projects that could receive funding from Orange County’s tourism development tax revenue with the amount of funding requested for these projects totaling just short of $4 billion.

According to the release, “Community leaders will call on the Mayor, the Tourist Development Council, and County Commissioners to begin advocating for changes to state law that would give the community flexibility to spend TDT revenue on other critical needs as well – like affordable housing, transportation, law enforcement and public utilities.”

Expected to join the call to action is State Rep. Anna Eskamani, Eric Gray, CEO of Christian Service Center for Central Florida and TDT Citizen Advisory Task Force Member, Ella Wood, Orange County District 5 TDT Citizen Advisory Task Force member and Unite Here Local 737 Political Director and other community leaders.

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