by Beth Kassab | Nov 14, 2025 | County News, News, Taxes
Rosen Hotels Leader Calls for Tourist Transportation Tax to Boost SunRail, Lynx
Frank Santos, who lives in Winter Park, says out-of-state visitors would pay for the upgrades as an added tax on hotel bills
Nov. 14, 2025
By Beth Kassab
Frank Santos wanted to make SunRail work as his daily commute.
The chief executive officer of Rosen Hotels & Resorts had a lot in his favor. He lives just three blocks from the Winter Park station. On his morning walk to the train he often stopped at Croissant Gourmet on Morse Boulevard for coffee and, occasionally, a pastry.
He spent the ride to his office near International Drive reading the day’s news or getting work done — something impossible to do behind the wheel on Interstate 4.
Santos even devised a system for when he arrived at SunRail’s Sand Lake Road Station, the closest stop to his office overlooking the golf course at Rosen Shingle Creek. He left a car there Monday through Friday to cover the last 15 minutes or so of his trip.
But after about a year, he stopped taking SunRail.
“It was just complicated,” he said. He called his experiment with Central Florida’s underfunded and incomplete mass transit system largely worthwhile — even enjoyable at times — but one that underscored how the region is built around the door-to-door convenience of cars.
“I would do it again if I could get closer to my office,” he said.
Winter Park’s SunRail station is one of the commuter train system’s busiest.
It’s been about five years since he stopped his regular SunRail commute. Since then, he has helped guide his company, which operates seven hotels, through the COVID pandemic and, last year, the death of founder Harris Rosen.
But this week he found himself reflecting on those train rides and what he sees as untapped potential for Central Florida to finally build a mass transit system that works for more people.
Santos acknowledged that any inconvenience he experienced on SunRail, or the gridlock he faces routinely on I-4, is small compared to what some of his employees endure. Many Rosen Hotels workers and others who earn their livelihoods as restaurant servers, ride attendants, desk clerks, housekeepers, and groundskeepers rely on the Lynx bus system and spend hours on buses each day.
“We need our employees to get to work faster,” he said. “My employees take up to two hours to get to work.”
That’s why an idea he has tossed around since 1999 now has a name: the Tourist Transportation Tax.
It would be paid only by out-of-state tourists on their hotel bills, and the revenue would be used exclusively for transportation needs such as extending SunRail to Orlando International Airport and the Convention Center and, for the first time, providing a dedicated funding source for Lynx so it can add buses and increase route frequency.
The proposal is gaining interest across the state, including in Winter Park.
Winter Park Mayor Sheila DeCiccio said she shares many of the same goals: extending SunRail service to weekends, which could reduce traffic during major events such as the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival, and improving bus service.
Winter Park was SunRail’s second-busiest station last year with 124,000 riders, according to system statistics. Only the Lynx Central Station stop in downtown Orlando had more, with 138,000 passengers.
“We offered to pay for the train to run on the weekend and they wouldn’t do it,” DeCiccio said. “We want the train to run in and out of the airport. We want the buses to run better. Those are exactly the kinds of things I’ll be looking for in a plan.”
DeCiccio’s comments came after joining about 200 people who listened to Santos’ proposal — as well as a plan by Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, who wants to change how existing hotel-room tax dollars are spent — at an Orange County League of Women Voters luncheon this week.
The discussion turned tense at times, with Santos arguing that Guillermo Smith’s statements about the Lynx budget were misleading and stepping in to defend the tourism industry, which he noted already contributes heavily to roads, schools, parks, and other essential services as the top property taxpayers in Orange County.
Walt Disney Company, Universal Studios, Marriott Resorts, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, and SeaWorld regularly appear on the county’s Top 10 list of property taxpayers, according to the property appraiser’s records.
Guillermo Smith, an Orlando Democrat, was especially critical of the public dollars allocated to Visit Orlando for marketing hotels and attractions. The quasi-public tourism bureau was the subject of a recent county audit that questioned its expenditures.
Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith. Frank Santos pictured at top of page.
“I think $105 million in public money to Visit Orlando is an insane amount to give when we have so many community challenges,” he said. “We know that tourism is a huge economic driver in our region. … But we also have to acknowledge that tourists place a large strain on our community’s resources.”
Santos defended the spending.
“The senator doesn’t understand the cost of doing business,” he said. “We spend $40 million a year on sales and marketing at Rosen Hotels. Coming out of COVID, everyone understands the cost of doing business has increased.”
How much of the current 6% tax on hotel stays should be devoted to tourism marketing, the convention center, and other industry needs — versus helping local residents — has long been debated in Central Florida.
The difference this time is that someone from the tourism industry is proposing a new solution instead of simply guarding the existing 6%, which generated $385 million last year.
Santos still wants to protect that 6 cents on the dollar collected by hotels. But he wants to add another 1 to 4 cents dedicated to transportation.
Right now, he explained, guests pay 12.5% in taxes on hotel bills: 6% in Tourist Development Tax and 6.5% in sales tax.
Other popular destinations charge more. Chicago charges 17.3%. Austin charges 17%. New Orleans charges 16.2%. New York charges 14.75%.
“We could go as high as another four cents,” he said.
The steady revenue stream provided by the tax could be leveraged to finance major projects through bonds. One extra cent could generate nearly $350 million in bonding capacity, according to projections.
This table projects what different tax rates would generate each year and the capacity to bond against that revenue to fund projects. Source: Policy memorandum on Santos’ proposal
Importantly, hotels would exempt visitors with Florida driver’s licenses from paying the tax, meaning out-of-state visitors would fund the upgrades.
Santos needs the proposal to pass the Legislature and then win voter approval in a referendum. He says he has begun speaking with more tourism leaders to build support.
Without naming names, he said some organizations have encouraged him to continue pushing. At least one major group has suggested increasing the sales tax to fund transit — an idea backed by Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings that failed at the ballot in 2022.
Harris Rosen himself supported Santos’ plan before his death about a year ago, Santos said.
So he plans to keep talking, keep meeting, and keep spreading the word about the region’s needs.
One way he wants to do that is through another experiment. He plans to ride Lynx from a neighborhood where many workers live to his hotels on and near International Drive so he can better understand their challenges.
“I want to do it during the morning,” he said. “I plan to ride the bus from Pine Hills to my office.”
At the end of the day, he’ll face a familiar problem for any transit user in a car-centric region.
“And then I’ll find a way to get back home,” he said.
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by Beth Kassab | Oct 27, 2025 | County News, Election, News
Did you mean to sign that ballot amendment petition?
A new Florida law requires Supervisors of Elections to mail letters to petition signers to give them the chance to deny the signature
Oct. 27, 2025
This story is part of the News Collaborative of Central Florida, a group of 10 local news outlets working towards a more informed and engaged region. It was originally published by VoxPopuli.
By Norine Dworkin
If you’re a prolific petition signer, don’t be surprised if you receive a letter from the Orange County Supervisor of Elections asking about the petitions you signed to put amendments on the November 2026 ballot. Is that your signature on this petition? Did you really mean to sign it? Do you want to change your mind?
According to the new Florida law HB 1205 (aka Initiative Petitions for Constitutional Amendments), passed on May 2 and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis that same day, supervisors of elections are now required to mail out letters to every person who signed a petition for a ballot measure — say for legalizing recreational marijuana— to inform them that a petition with their signature was received by their office, confirm that voters intended to sign it and provide an opportunity to revoke the signature. (The law does not require supervisors to contact signers whose petitions were rejected, however.)
The Orange County Supervisor of Elections office is still fine-tuning the letters to be mailed out, Supervisor of Elections Karen Castor Dentel (pictured above) told VoxPopuli in a brief interview Wednesday. Voters can expect to receive letters in mid-November. If their signatures are fine, simply ignore the letters, Castor Dentel said.
“There is nothing for you to do. You don’t have to respond,” she said. “People have asked me if their signature was verified on a petition and they get this letter, if they don’t send it in or if everything was okay, will their petition still count? And it will. They’ll still count the petition … But just in case this [signature] isn’t yours, you have a second chance to deny it.”
Under the new law, voters who believe the signature is not theirs or who simply change their minds, can check one of two boxes on the letter, indicating the signature is misrepresented or fraudulent or that they wish to revoke their support for an issue. Those letters will then be mailed to the Office of Election Crimes and Security, which will conduct a preliminary investigation and if necessary report findings to the statewide prosecutor or appropriate state attorney for prosecution.
Still, Castor Dentel worries that even though the letters will contain the title of the petition signed, the added layer of bureaucracy may lead to voter confusion and mistrust.
“Many voters may not expect to receive a governmental letter asking whether they really signed something they know they signed, which could make them question the legitimacy of of the petition or even worry that they did something wrong,” she said. “Others might mistake the letter for a scam or think they need to take action when they don’t.
“Hopefully people will remember signing,” she continued, “and they’ll go Yes! I did that!, and this won’t create many letters going on to Tallahassee [to the Office of Election Crimes and Security].”
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by Beth Kassab | Oct 15, 2025 | City Commission, County News, News
Winter Park Loses County Redistricting Fight
The city will remain in District 5 with the eastern rural stretch of Orange County represented by Commissioner Kelly Martinez Semrad
Oct. 15, 2025
By Gabrielle Russon
Winter Park lost its fight to move into one of the two newly-created county commission districts in a battle that largely pitted the needs of residents in the unincorporated and historically neglected area of Pine Hills against the more affluent city.
Winter Park Mayor Sheila DeCiccio and all four city commissioners attended the hours-long debate on Tuesday and lobbied the Orange County board, but it wasn’t enough to persuade the county leaders.
The County Commission voted 5-2 to adopt a new district map known as “Map 7B”, which leaves Winter Park, a city of about 30,000 residents, in District 5 with the rural eastern section of the county that runs all the way to the Brevard County line. The map breaks off Winter Park’s closest neighbor Maitland (population: 20,000) into the new District 7 with Eatonville (which also borders Winter Park with about 2,300 residents and is known as the nation’s oldest incorporated town founded by formerly enslaved people).
Kelly Martinez Semrad
Commissioners Christine Moore and Mayra Uribe cast the dissenting votes with Mayor Jerry Demings and commissioners Kelly Martinez Semrad, Mike Scott, Nicole Wilson and Maribel Gomez Cordero voting in favor.
DeCiccio, a persistent advocate for Winter Park during months of redistricting meetings, argued the city has little in common with the rural areas. She and the other Winter Park officials wanted to be redistricted into District 7 along with their urban neighbors who often work together on public projects.
But an equally loud group of residents pushed to keep the status quo and argued the more affluent Winter Park would dominate the bigger, predominately Black and Hispanic community of unincorporated Pine Hills, which will also be part of District 7.
“Combining these communities under Map-1A would dilute the voting strength of Pine Hills residents and undermine their ability to elect candidates to understand and advocate for their needs,” said Delmarie Alicea, who lives in unincorporated Orange County and is a voting rights attorney for LatinoJustice PRLDEF.
Most people who emailed Martinez Semrad, who represents District 5, supported keeping Winter Park in her district, according to a Winter Park Voice public records request.
The commissioner received more than 85 signed emails with messages that had identical templates and said they were written “on behalf of Orange County’s young people.”
“The differences between Map 1 and Map 7 largely center around the preferences of affluent communities like Winter Park and Maitland versus the equitable representation of all communities across Orange County,” their emails said.
Mayor Sheila DeCiccio is sworn in on April 10, 2024 alongside her husband and daughter.
The redistricting debate comes after voters approved a referendum last year to increase the number of districts from six to eight, opening up two new elected seats on the board that pay more than $120,000 a year. The Orange County mayor serves as the ninth seat and is elected countywide.
More than 70 people signed up to speak at Tuesday’s meeting, which ran more than two hours, before the final vote.
Conceding she was in the “hot seat” was Martinez Semrad, who ultimately voted in support of keeping Winter Park in her district instead of moving it to District 7.
Martinez Semrad, who lives in east Orange County, won in 2024 with the support of Winter Park voters. As an underdog, she beat the better-funded former Winter Park Mayor Steve Leary.
Even Winter Park City Commissioner Kris Cruzada acknowledged Tuesday she was in a tough position to decide if Winter Park should get cut from her district.
“Winter Park and Maitland want Map-1A. East Orange County wants Map-7B. Our district commissioner has to choose between supporting the 48,000 in Maitland and Winter Park or supporting the greater number of east Orange County where she lives,” Cruzada said during public comment. “I don’t envy the decision.”
Earlier this summer, Martinez Semrad said she supported Winter Park remaining in her district. After receiving an overwhelming response from the public, she later backtracked and said last month she was undecided.
She outlined her decision-making out loud before the vote Tuesday.
“There’s no map regardless of what District 5 picks that satisfies every community in District 5,” she said. “So being in a hot seat, I’m going to depend on what I think is one of my strengths and that is to let the data tell the story.”
Looking back at the 37-year history, the District 5 Commissioner has been represented by someone from Maitland or Winter Park 76% of the time. The only exceptions were Commissioner Emily Bonilla and then herself, Martinez Semrad said.
So she argued Winter Park has received fair representation on the county board.
Martinez Semrad said keeping Winter Park in District 5 made sense because the population is geographically balanced to where most people live centrally and the Econlockhatchee River serves as a natural boundary. District 5 also maintains an education corridor since the University of Central Florida, Rollins College and Full Sail University were all grouped together.
She also took issue with Winter Park’s claims it has nothing in common with the rural east. She argued the homeownership rates, property values and people’s reliance on cars for transportation “are similarities there,” she said.
Her desire to keep Winter Park in District 5 was also framed around making sure districts balance out the unincorporated areas since they are more dependent on the county for fire, police and other infrastructure needs than the cities are.
Martinez Semrad added, “It makes me a little sad that tonight we talk about who we want to be with and who we don’t want to be with because, after all, we are all Orange County citizens.”
Robert Whatley, president of the Christmas Civic Association, wrote his group supported keeping the status quo since it “gave us the best chance of maintaining our rural lifestyle going into the future.”
But Winter Park resident Phil Erwin wrote District 5 just didn’t make sense and Winter Park needed new representation.
“As a Winter Park resident, I have absolutely no knowledge of most of the area that District 5 encompasses,” Erwin wrote. “I rarely travel east of 436 and only drive through the eastern part of the district on my way to the coast. It is beyond my wildest imagination why the community I live in is bundled with such a vast territory of complete unfamiliarity.”
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