Jerry Demings Wins Approval for TDT Spending Plan
The amount for the Dr. Phillips arts center was reduced and commissioners rejected a bid to give the convention center more money
Oct. 19, 2026
By Beth Kassab
The Orange County Commission on Monday approved nearly $1 billion in projects funded by tourist development tax revenue, including new sports facilities at UCF and a $50 million reduction in funding for the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
A last-minute push to include several hundred million dollars for another expansion of the Orange County Convention Center, which has already cost $2 billion, failed to gain support from any commissioner except Mike Crabb, who was appointed to Seat 2 in August by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Representatives of the tourism industry joined forces with local labor union members in an unusual alliance to urge Mayor Jerry Demings to delay a vote on his plan to spend $860 million on 13 projects. Demings refused, arguing that a delay could mean many projects he considered worthy might never get another chance at funding. He also bristled at assertions that the decision-making process lacked transparency or had been rushed, rejecting the suggestion that he should leave the matter to whoever is elected mayor next month.
“Yes, [the end of] our tenure is for some of us just months away, but it doesn’t mean that we should just sit here and do nothing,” Demings said. “This is my home, where I was born and raised. For nearly seven decades, I’ve lived here. I have put my life on the line for this community. Been in some tough situations over the years. My blood, my sweat, my tears have gone into working on behalf of this community. I will not retreat from working in my home and taking care of the people who live here.”
The 6-1 vote followed five hours of public testimony and debate.
Commissioner Kelly Semrad, who represents Winter Park, voted against the plan. Demings, Nicole Wilson, Crabb, Mayra Uribe, Maribel Gomez Cordero and Mike Scott voted in favor. Demings and Uribe are set to leave office soon, while Crabb and Scott are seeking election on Nov. 3.
Nine speakers, many of whom worked in hotel management or other senior hospitality positions, urged the commission to add the convention center expansion to Demings’ list of projects.
Demings, however, said he was unwilling to consider such a change. The previous expansion, for which he helped secure funding, is still under construction, and he questioned whether another expansion was necessary for the center to remain nationally competitive.
“How big is big enough?” Demings asked. “How big is too big? And there are citizens who think that that’s not the appropriate place to make investments.”
Crabb twice attempted to amend Demings’ plan. He presented a spreadsheet he had prepared with different funding amounts for the projects to make room for the convention center expansion. After his first motion failed, he tried again, this time seeking to delay votes on both the convention center and the arts center while funding the other projects. Both times the other commissioners sat in silence rather than offering a second for his motions and both failed.
At least 14 of the 78 speakers told commissioners they were concerned about transportation in Orange County and wanted some tourist tax revenue directed toward improving roads, bus service and rail.
“I point out all these venues that you want to additionally fund are functional. They have options,” said Eugene Staccardo, a resident and civic activist. “This community doesn’t have an adequate transit system for tourism, even after billions of dollars of upgrades to I-4. It’s functionally not meeting the needs of [the] community … Say no to these large TDT proposals that will financially tie our hands for decades. Reserve the money for the future and to be used on hopefully a future transit system.”
Demings said he did not believe the Florida Legislature would expand the legally permitted uses of tourist development tax revenue to allow Orange County to spend the money on local needs such as public transportation.
“This legislature and those in the immediate past have not been so kind to this community,” he said. “They preempted us left and right. We have been left to figure it out on our own … Every one of these projects that we talked about today will add jobs. You would think that not any of those jobs are good jobs, but I’m here to tell you, many of those jobs are good jobs.”
Florida lawmakers have, however, granted exceptions allowing specific communities to use tourist tax revenue for local needs, such as affordable housing and public safety, after those communities mounted strong campaigns for the changes.
Semrad questioned why her colleagues were willing to disregard both residents’ concerns about transportation and projections in Demings’ own plan showing that TDT reserves would fall below the recommended $300 million threshold in the coming years as a result of the spending.
Demings and county staff members said the projections assumed annual TDT revenue growth of 2% over much of the next 10 years, though actual growth could be higher. They also said the county’s convention center capital spending plan includes additional TDT revenue for projects such as elevator repairs and fire alarm system replacements. Because those funds are not always fully spent, they argued, the projections were conservative.
“You’re okay with it, and I hear all the reasons why that math works,” Semrad told the group. “But I’m also familiar with market uncertainty and the conditions in today’s marketplace that are concerning, and that numbers could soften, especially in terms of travel. We all see it at the pumps. You guys, anybody who’s bought an airline ticket lately knows how expensive it’s getting. It’s going to impact our tourism industry … So I’m uncomfortable when I see red numbers.”
Ultimately, Uribe moved to keep reserves at the recommended threshold by reducing the allocation for the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts from $400 million to $350 million.
The arts center is receiving the largest share of the mayor’s TDT spending plan to build new theaters, add parking and make other improvements.
Kathy Ramsberger, the center’s president and CEO, addressed the commission and confirmed that the center could still move forward with its projects under the reduced allocation.
The following slides show the approved spending plan with the exception of the reduced arts center figure:
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmaill.com
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