Orange County commissioners voted the Dr. Phillips Center $350M of hotel tax two weeks before voters reshape the board

The board voted 6-1 to give the arts center $350 million

Orange County commissioners voted 6-1 on Monday, Oct. 19 to commit tourist-tax money to 13 projects, the largest $350 million for downtown Orlando’s Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, about two weeks before voters reshape the board that made the decision. Commissioner Kelly Martinez Semrad cast the only no vote (Orange County agenda; Orlando Sentinel; Florida Politics; Central Florida Public Media).

The center first asked for $750 million, Mayor Jerry Demings recommended $400 million, and Commissioner Mayra Uribe moved to cut it to $350 million, which the commission approved, to satisfy the county’s reserve requirements, the Sentinel reported. Demings’ memo said the money would be “bonded by the City of Orlando,” and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer told commissioners the city is “prepared to do the bonding necessary.” The center plans 11 new venues, for 20 in all, including a 750-seat theater, an 800-seat banquet space, a 4,000-capacity outdoor amphitheater and 1,150 parking spaces (Orlando Sentinel; ClickOrlando; Spectrum News 13; Central Florida Public Media; WFTV).

Your stake: if you live in Orange County, this money comes from a 6% tax on hotel stays and short-term rentals, not your property tax, and the $350 million alone is about 91% of the $384.6 million the tax brought in for fiscal 2025, committed before a new board and mayor arrive (Florida Politics; WKMG; our arithmetic).

The board that voted is about to change

The seven-member commission grows to nine voting members, and voters choose up to six new members on Nov. 3; another seat could be filled by the governor in the coming months, the Sentinel reported. Demings is nearing the end of his term, Uribe and Commissioner Maribel Gomez Cordero are leaving, Commissioners Mike Crabb and Mike Scott face re-election, and two new districts elect members (Orlando Sentinel; Florida Politics).

Hotel leaders and union workers asked the board to slow down. Robert Agrusa, president and CEO of the Central Florida Hotel and Lodging Association, said, “We’ve raised concerns about the rushed timeline, the limited industry engagement, and the lack of comprehensive, consistent return-on-investment analysis.” Ella Wood of Unite Here Local 737 said: “Don’t rush nearly a billion dollars out the door today.” Tiffany Moore Russell, the Democrat running for county mayor, said the new commission and mayor “will inherit the consequences of the decisions being made today” (Florida Politics; Central Florida Public Media; Orlando Sentinel).

The convention center got nothing

Tourism boosters hoped more time would win money for an Orange County Convention Center expansion, which Demings left off his list. Crabb, appointed by DeSantis in July, was the only commissioner to argue for it, writing that delays since its 2018 approval had “cost the county over $100 Million due to construction inflation alone” (Orlando Sentinel; Florida Politics; WFTV).

Other approved items include $52.5 million for a Camping World Stadium parking garage, $46 million for a UCF track and soccer stadium that Demings added after his task force passed over UCF’s original $119 million request, $25 million for a Winter Garden children’s museum, $20 million for Eatonville’s Heritage Tourism District, a $60 million Eatonville museum sponsored by Dr. Phillips Charities, and $12.5 million for downtown Orlando’s Immerse Festival. Outlets put the package at $786 million, about $800 million, more than $780 million or $862 million over 10 years (WFTV; Florida Politics; WDBO; Spectrum News 13; Orlando Sentinel; Central Florida Public Media).

Their side

Demings said: “Yes, our tenure for some of us is just months away, but it doesn’t mean ... that we should just sit here and do nothing,” and “I believe that there’s something in this for everybody.” Linda Chapin, the former county chair who led the task force, urged the board to “seize the moment” and questioned whether the tourism lobby was stalling “to control the process and move money back to the convention center.” Semrad, the lone no, said, “I don’t believe cars sleep in hotel rooms” (Orlando Sentinel; Florida Politics).

The rules on the money could change

State law requires the county to spend at least 40% of the tax on tourism marketing and now bars spending it on transportation or affordable housing. Both leading candidates for governor, Republican Byron Donalds and Democrat David Jolly, told the Sentinel they support letting hotel taxes be spent in ways the law does not now allow. Some grants stretch over the next decade (Orlando Sentinel).