Things To Do In SW Florida

Tourist-tax revenues in July were down from June and flat compared to July 2023, but collections for the year to date remain nearly on par with the historically high levels from a year ago.

July receipts totaled $26.6 million, down $3.9 million from June and about $600,000 less than July 2023.

Revenues for fiscal year 2023-24 are about $1 million behind the pace of fiscal year 2022-23, which pulled in a record $359 million, said Orange County Comptroller Phil Diamond, whose office tracks collection and spending of Tourist Development Tax (TDT) funds. That should give the county some additional money to funnel toward construction projects, since Diamond had forecast a down year and revenues are ahead of his projected pace by about $35 million.

Fiscal year 2023-24 ends Sept. 30.

TDT is a 6% surcharge on the cost of a hotel room, an Airbnb or other short-term lodging rental.

The tax, first assessed in 1986, has generated more than $5.2 billion over the decades with more than half the total proceeds going to build, expand, update and operate the Orange County Convention Center. The tourist tax also provides most of the funding to operate Visit Orlando, which promotes Central Florida’s attractions to the U.S. and the world. By contract, Visit Orlando gets 30 cents of every dollar collected. read more

Erik Wasson and Enda Curran | (TNS) Bloomberg News

WASHINGTON — Republican nominee Donald Trump and running mate JD Vance are campaigning on a grab bag of tax cut proposals that could collectively cost as much as $10.5 trillion over a decade, a massive sum that would exceed the combined budgets of every domestic federal agency.

Even if Congress were to eliminate every dollar of nondefense discretionary spending — projected to be $9.8 trillion over the next 10 years — it still wouldn’t offset the estimated expense of the wide-ranging tax cuts Trump and Vance have floated in recent weeks.

The price tag is based on rough, initial estimates from tax and budget specialists because the Trump campaign hasn’t released detailed policy plans for its tax promises.

The Trump campaign said in a statement the former president will cut wasteful spending and increase energy production to pay for the tax cuts and lower the national debt. The campaign didn’t offer more detail.

Though Democrat Kamala Harris also has proposed a few large tax cuts — she would exempt tips from taxation and expand the child tax credit — the impact on the nation’s finances pales in comparison. She calls for offsetting the lost income, which one think tank estimates at roughly $2 trillion, with tax increases on corporations and wealthy individuals. read more

Blue Man Group’s ceremonial groundbreaking for its Icon Park theater Thursday morning included an arty moment with colorful paints, leaf blowers, three blue guys and an assist from Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings.

There are no visible signs of construction for the project, which was announced in June. But the goal remains for performances in a 580-seat theater by the end of 2024, said Jack Kenn, Blue Man Group managing director.

“There’s a lot of fingers and toes crossed. We’re just waiting in the permitting process. It’s been a little bit of a process with some of the changes,” Kenn said.

“We’re able to design it from ground up. I mean, what theater company gets to do that?” he said.  “We usually take over these small areas and make the best of it. But here, we’re able to really think about it and put our design into it.”

The theater will go up in the grassy area on the Universal Boulevard side of the Icon Park property, near the base of the Orlando Eye, the 400-foot observation wheel. If looking toward the Eye from the Universal Boulevard vantage point, the stage will be on the left end of the plot, with the audience entrance on the opposite end. read more