With Orange County commissioners poised to cut Visit Orlando’s $100-million-plus budget, State Sen. Linda Stewart has proposed legislation to make that harder to do.

“There is no reason to decrease Visit Orlando’s funding,” the Orlando Democrat said. “I don’t know why they’re cutting it.”

Her newly-introduced bill, SB 1594, would require at least a two-thirds majority vote of a county’s governing board to reduce funding for a destination-marketing organization if the agency gets less than 40% of tourist-tax revenue. That language targets the situation involving Visit Orlando, a marketing organization which gets 30% of every tourist-tax dollar collected in Orange County, totaling about $107.7 million in 2023, according to Stewart.

If Stewart’s legislation passed, it would take at least five members of the seven-member county commission to cut Visit Orlando’s budget. That’s a high hurdle, provoking the ire of some local elected officials.

“We ask Tallahassee to stay out of local government because we know what’s best for our community,” Commissioner Mayra Uribe said.

The Tourist Development Tax, or TDT, a 6% surcharge on hotel rooms and other short-term lodging, produced a record $359 million in fiscal year 2022-23, which ended Sept. 30. Collections through the start of 2023-24 have been lower, but would raise over $350 million, the second-largest haul ever, if receipts stay at the current pace.

Stewart, an Orange County commissioner from 2002 to 2010, said not-for-profit Visit Orlando, funded mostly by TDT revenue, helps the Orange County Convention Center and smaller attractions — and is not meant for “any of those big guys.”

“They have their own PR firms,” Stewart said of theme park colossi, Disney, SeaWorld and Universal.

She said Visit Orlando’s promotion of Central Florida’s charms in competitive U.S. and global markets has been crucial to the financial health of local hoteliers, restaurants and hundreds of other small businesses which depend on tourists.

But Uribe said Stewart’s proposal to protect Visit Orlando would frustrate local efforts to solve funding challenges for other needs, including more affordable housing.

“All I’ve ever wanted is transparency and balance in how we spend the money, realizing we have other pressing issues,” Uribe said.

Casandra Matej, Visit Orlando’s president and CEO, was traveling and unavailable for comment.

But in November, Matej said Orlando boasts an annual hotel occupancy rate of 75% but still has room to grow.

“What we know is if we can grow the occupancy number by even one or two percentage points that could be hundreds of millions of TDT dollars to use within the community,” she said, noting the metro area has over 130,000 rooms.

The marketing agency’s funding grew from about $62 million in 2019 to over $100 million last year when its share of the lucrative revenue stream became a debate topic for commissioners weighing competing requests for future millions.

The board approved a convention center expansion estimated to cost more than $600 million and green-lighted a $90 million pledge to upgrade FBC Mortgage Stadium at the University of Central Florida.

Visit Orlando funding will come before the board again Jan. 23 but Uribe and other commissioners are expected to participate next week in a Sunshine meeting that has the marketing agency and tourist-tax spending on the agenda.

Visit Orlando defends work, $100M budget but Orange County plans ‘haircut’

Under an agreement approved by commissioners in 2019, Visit Orlando’s TDT share grew incrementally over four years from 23% to a 30% cap in 2023 with funding intended for promoting the region and luring conventions.

Commissioner Emily Bonilla has proposed a cap of $75 million or 25% of collections — whichever is less.

“I’m probably more around the $80-million mark,” Uribe said.

In defending her bill this week, Stewart also trumpeted Visit Orlando’s civic involvement.

“It does more than just promote the destination,” she said, crediting volunteers from the agency who helped clean lakes and traveled to the Panhandle to lend a hand after a hurricane. “It steps in with muscle to help where it’s needed.”

Stewart’s proposal is one of two TDT-related bills she introduced for the new session.

In the other legislation, Senate Bill 872, Stewart has proposed expanding authorized uses of tourist-tax proceeds to allow the offer of funding incentives to encourage the production of motion pictures, made-for-TV movies or television series within the county.

shudak@orlandosentinel.com