Will Orange Mayors Join Push to Rethink how Tourist Taxes are Spent?

Winter Park’s resolution is the latest sign of growing pressure to use the county’s nearly $400 million in annual Tourist Development Tax revenue for transportation, affordable housing and other needs

Sept. 15, 2026

By Beth Kassab

Mayor Sheila DeCiccio sent an email this week to her counterparts in other Orange County cities urging them to adopt resolutions in support of using the Tourist Development Tax to help pay for local needs such as transportation improvements and more affordable housing.

Winter Park adopted such a resolution last week that calls for Orange County to “explore every avenue to expand alternative uses of the tax, including but not limited to transportation and affordable housing, adding additional pennies, and lowering the 40% threshold for tourism promotion, and to make this a legislative priority.”

“This is the direction we need to go considering potentially November and the regional areas wanting to get access to public transportation,” said Commissioner Kris Cruzada during a brief discussion.

“November” referred to Amendment 3 on the Nov. 3 ballot, which could significantly reduce property tax collections by increasing the homestead exemption for homeowners and capping property tax growth on commercial and other properties. Property taxes pay for local police and fire departments, road and infrastructure work, parks and recreation and other services provided by local governments.

But the outcry over how Orange County spends its enormous haul of tax dollars collected on hotel rooms — a record $385 million last year — started long before the push this year to threaten property tax revenues.

A disparate chorus of local voices, from County Commissioner Kelly Semrad — who represents Winter Park and was elected on a platform that included reforming TDT in 2024 — to a few local lawmakers and Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell, who was one of the earliest advocates for change, has reached a crescendo in recent years, urging that the largesse be used to help solve problems that stem from hosting 75 million visitors a year and housing the low-wage workers who power the tourism industry.

DeCiccio’s effort appears to be the first to attempt to organize mayors to come together on the topic and push for change at the county level.

Commissioner Warren Lindsey applauded her leadership shortly after the unanimous vote on Winter Park’s resolution.

“Hopefully it’ll make a difference to not only people in Winter Park but everyone in the Orlando area,” he said.

The wording of the resolution mirrors a recommendation made last month by Mayor Jerry Demings’ most recent Citizen Advisory Task Force, which, in a stunning rebuke of the long-held status quo, also voted down spending the tax on yet another expansion of the Convention Center, a parking garage at Camping World Stadium and more projects at the University of Central Florida.

Instead, the 34-member group, made up of appointees of county commissioners and city mayors, recommended spending more of the dollars collected from levies on hotel rooms on grants to support local arts and culture, as well as ecotourism projects.

The Orange County mayor and Board of County Commissioners arguably have the most power to change the way TDT money is spent.

They have the ultimate say over which projects get the dollars each year within the current confines of the spending rules. And, if other counties across Florida provide any guide, they could succeed in getting state permission to use the dollars for local needs if they made a deliberate lobbying push in Tallahassee.

But Demings, who has served as Orange County mayor since 2018, has not made a major effort to that end — or at least not a public one. Such a campaign would likely involve not only making a case to state lawmakers but also attempting to coalesce the major hotels, as well as Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and other attractions, behind the idea.

November will also bring a new mayor for Orange County for the first time in eight years and, in another sign that the tide could be turning, both candidates recently rejected the idea of another convention center expansion and said they would support broadening how TDT dollars can be spent.

Linda Chapin moderated a forum last week between Tiffany Moore Russell and Chris Messina for the Orange County League of Women Voters and tried to pin both candidates down on the topic.

Chapin, who served as Orange County’s elected leader in the 1990s and just co-chaired the citizen task force, asked if they would support a convention center expansion.

Moore Russell, a former county commissioner and clerk of court and a Democrat in a very blue-leaning county who lives in Horizon West, hedged her response somewhat on the idea that “data” could one day show a need for more investment in the center.

“I would not have supported the expansion of the convention center unless I saw data that showed me where are we trying to go, what is it trying to achieve, and what’s the return on that investment,” she said. “And so, out of all the projects that I’ve seen so far, I’m a fan of the cultural and arts projects because I think they enhance our quality of life in this community. I am not a fan right now of building any major facilities until we know how do we support those who work in tourism? … We know we have a transportation challenge when it comes to those who visit here and those who work in the industry, as well as affordable housing and workforce housing. So for me, I’m not a fan of big projects right now because I think we need to support those who make our industry thrive in this community.”

Messina, a businessman and Republican who lives in unincorporated Winter Park, said he does not support an expansion because the convention business has changed and said he would have given more support to a proposed long-shot baseball project known as the Dreamers.

“There are only so many very large conventions you can bring into Orange County,” he said. “So I know we lost the Home Builders convention, and it was sort of like the sky is falling for some people, but that’s actually not the case. It’s better to be targeting two medium-sized conventions. They’ll bring more money, more business into Orange County than one large convention. One thing, though, I’ve been very public about that I would have done with the TDT dollars, is I would have looked at supporting the Dreamers in some way, shape, or fashion.”

When Chapin followed up about how the candidates would like to see Tourist Development Dollars used, Messina said he supported using them for tourist-related transportation, but not much else.

“I think we can look at an expanded definition of what tourism is, and without trying to go too far,” he said. “So, for instance, we have a world-class firefighting center, and we have a world-class SWAT team here. So why don’t we do some marketing around that and bring firefighters from around the world, SWAT teams from around the world, for a competition? That’s one thing we could do. Second thing, we can expand it to include transportation that’s focused on bringing tourists to their primary destinations, so from the airport to one of the big hotels or the theme parks. I think that’s a good use of the expanded TDT dollars. But beyond that, to affordable housing? I think that’s a stretch too far and will run us into a brick wall in terms of the legislation.”

Moore Russell was more willing to expand uses but echoed concerns expressed by Demings that the governor and state legislature could attempt to seize on the pot of money for their own use if given an opening.

“I want to marry this also with a question you asked previously about home rule,” she said during the forum. “So I am open to expanding the legislation, but I’m concerned that Tallahassee will take over the control of how we spend our TDT dollars. So we have to be very mindful and keep our eye on the control of our local dollar … But I do believe there is an opportunity to look at our statute about how we can support indirectly, or things that are impacted by tourism. So, you know, transportation — not just moving those who visit Orange County, but the people who work in this industry. There are many who ride the bus, to get to our theme parks, to get to our hotels, who are making sure that we are a great destination to visit. I believe we can justify with the data why we should invest those dollars. Workforce housing down on I-Drive for people to be able to live where they work? I think we can justify that.”

Today, the money is primarily used to pay off debt related to the convention center, as well as support its operations and maintenance, along with subsidizing advertising for the tourism industry and paying debt for the city of Orlando on the arena used by the Orlando Magic.

County officials have long pointed to a state law that governs the tax and limits its uses as the reason the pot of dollars can’t be used to pay for mass transit, public safety, affordable housing or other essential needs.

But other counties have succeeded in carving exceptions into the law when they have made a deliberate lobbying push.

For example, some beachfront counties are now allowed to use tourist tax dollars to fund lifeguards and law enforcement services “which are needed to address impacts related to increased tourism and visitors to an area.” And in 2024, the Legislature allowed local governments in the Florida Keys to use a portion of the money to purchase or build affordable housing.

A critical issue now is the timing of when the County Commission will vote on projects recommended by the task force or move to reintroduce the convention center or other proposals into the mix.

If Demings pushes the matter forward in the final months of his term, then it’s possible there won’t be any money left for the county to spend on other needs such as public transit.

Both DeCiccio and Semrad have expressed concerns about that happening.

A county spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a question about whether the date is set.

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