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ORLANDO, Fla. - A group of volunteers from the public, appointed by Orange County Commissioners, listened to presentations from entities asking for tourism development tax funding, and made a report about their recommendations.
That report included levels of interest and justification for that sentiment, which was based partially on financials and partially on enthusiasm for the concept itself.
The Board of County Commissioners had some reservations about how the report was developed, but ultimately decided to accept the report and the recommendations.
The Board does not have to make its decisions based on the recommendations. They could allot funding differently from how the Citizens Advisory Board envisioned.
Recommended for funding
The projects with the highest score from the Citizens Advisory Board included:
- TDT Application Review Committee (ARC)
- Arts and Cultural Affairs
- Eco-tourism
- Natural Resource Tourism Infrastructure
- Dr. Phillip’s Center
Recommended to deny funding
- Florida Museum of Natural History
- Orlando City Baseball Dreamers
- Alcrest Capital
- Orange County Public Schools
- UCF
Other recommendations
The Advisory Board also recommended the Commission explore avenues to expand other uses of TDT money, including transportation and affordable housing. Multiple members suggested lowering the 40% threshold for tourism promotion.
The Board of County Commissioners' concerns
The Board did ultimately vote to accept the Citizen Advisory Board’s final report, and its recommendations.
But that only happened after quite a bit of debate.
Commissioners Mike Scott, Mike Crabb, Mayra Uribe, and Dr. Kelly Martinez Semrad all said they think the task force did the best they could with the data they had and the time they were given, but they weren’t comfortable voting to approve the Committee’s work.
"I think there’s problems with the process. I think we move forward with the best that we got, but I don’t accept this final report," said District 5 Commissioner Dr. Kelly Martinez Semrad.
District 6 Commissioner Scott asked about the methodology, and the things the task force actually considered when picking their recommendations.
"Sentiment is not usually a determining factor in whether or not you fund something. You look at financial analysis," said Commissioner Scott.
The Mayor and Commissioner Wilson both had a bit more faith in the Advisory Board.
"If we've assigned them that task, and they've done that work, and they come back to us with recommendations, I believe we have a responsibility to make sure that we're listening to those, and to follow those recommendations," said District 1 Commissioner Nicole Wilson.
What's next:
There will still be a lot more discussions and further economic studies before the Board makes decisions about how to spend TDT money.
The Source: Information in this story was gathered from FOX 35's Marie Edinger.