ORLANDO, Fla. – On Monday, Sen. Carlos Guillermo-Smith D-Orlando, revealed his tourism tax reform bill is now part of the state senate tax package.
This bill mentions changes in how a county can use the funds it gets from the tourism development tax. Specifically, if passed it would require that no more than $50 million yearly can go towards advertising or promoting tourism.
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“The inclusion of our TDT reforms in the Florida Senate tax package are a critical first step towards transformational change in how local government can use hotel taxes to fund community needs,” Guillermo-Smith said in a prepared statement.
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The Florida Senate Finance and Tax Committee met Tuesday and approved the tax package bill, SB 7034 — but it still has a couple of ways to go before it makes it to Gov. DeSantis.
Meanwhile, the tourist development taxes are from guests staying overnight at hotels or other vacation spots, and they can only be used to invest in tourism. It has funded projects such as upgrading the Orlando Science Center and improving the Winter Park Playhouse.
As News 6 previously reported, in its last fiscal year, Orange County raked in nearly $360 million in tourism tax dollars and $99 million went to Visit Orlando. This exceeds the budget for Visit Florida, the state’s tourism marketing agency, which received $80 million that year.
Guillermo-Smith celebrated the movement in his bill on social media, calling it a huge win. He also spoke with News 6 before the legislative session began, explaining how this tourism tax reform is necessary as it can be used to improve public transportation, roads and workforce housing throughout Orange County.
“Because if we are going to fully realize our tourism potential in Central Florida, we have to be able to find funding sources to connect SunRail to the airport, to promote mass transit and have the infrastructure we need to support the full expansion of tourism in Central Florida, and that’s why we’ve put this legislative package forward,” Guillermo-Smith said.
Now, there is a companion bill, HB 6031 filed in the House by Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando but it has not seen any movement since March 5.
To check out the full breakdown of the Florida Senate tax package bill, click here.
