Credit: Inside The MagicEarlier this year, as a way to help lower or eliminate the state’s property tax, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis proposed a statewide tourist tax that would add significantly more to your next Disney World vacation. The problem that DeSantis and the state legislature ran into was that a tourist tax would not make up for the amount paid on property taxes in the state, requiring a lower rather than an elimination of the state’s property tax.
The legislature ultimately scrapped the proposal, instead opting to adjust how property is taxed in the state. However, that proposal could be reinvestigated during the next legislative session, and one of Walt Disney World’s rivals is pushing for an increase in Orange County’s tourism tax to help pay for major infrastructure projects.
Frank Santos, the new CEO of Rosen Hotels & Resorts, the largest independent hotel chain in the state, is backing a proposal in Orange County that would increase its tourism tax by one to four percent. The current tourism tax is six percent on all hotel rooms in the county.
The Orange County Tourism Tax generates over $360 million annually, but Santos believes it could be higher to help with infrastructure projects in the area. In an interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Santos noted that Orange County has one of the lowest tourism taxes of any major destination in America.
While the Florida Legislature resisted a statewide tourism tax, it introduced a bill that would change how counties use the money they collect. Currently, counties can only use 25 percent of their tourism tax for marketing, but they could also use some of the collected funds for infrastructure projects. However, the legislature did not adopt the bill thanks to pushback from the tourism industry.
However, most of Orange County expects an updated law to pass in the next legislative session, and the county will be able to use tourist tax funds to build critical infrastructure. An increase in that tax will greatly benefit Orange County at the cost of the tourists who visit Disney World and the Universal Orlando Resort.
Next time you head to Central Florida, you may end up paying for its latest projects.
What do you think of Central Florida raising its tourist tax to pay for infrastructure projects? Let us know in the comments.