Should Orlando consider tying tourist tax dollars into a bid to bring Major League Baseball to Orlando?
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It’s an appealing vision, especially since the Tampa Bay Rays still look stealable in the eyes of many, including our own Mike Bianchi. And the idea carries the support of a broad phalanx of local investors, entrepreneurs and, well, billionaires, collectively known as the Dreamers.
But a simple glance at recent state news should make things clear. This is the wrong time for a baseball stadium — or anything that looks frivolous or smacks of cronyism.
In fact, when Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said he was reviving the 2023 discussion of Orange County’s tourist development tax, we were not thinking of professional athletes, luxury skyboxes or a team name that goes with Orlando. Nor were we thinking of adding to the 7 million square feet of space at the Orange County Convention Center, much of which is predictably empty right now. We were thinking:
This might be the way Orange County survives.
It could also be the best option for guarding Orange County’s golden-goose tourist economy. But local officials will have to be smart about it— smart, and a little audacious.
Timing is everything
Fortunately, Demings already has two far-thinking leaders on the job: former County Mayor Linda Chapin and Lift Orlando CEO Eddy Moratin will head the new task force, which will pick up where the group appointed to study the tax left off.
The rest of the group hasn’t been appointed yet. But we expect most of them will understand: T[his is not the time to lavish money on a soaring new stadium. Even the projects approved in the last examination of tourist-tax revenue (an expansion of the convention center, improvements to Camping World Stadium and the KIA Center, and arts and cultural venues) would look risky if approved today.
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That’s because Florida is facing a November ballot question that could erase $550 million from Orange County’s annual budget and millions more from local cities. The risk: Voters will look at those projects and think, “Well, if you have enough money for that, you clearly have more than you need.” They might not care that tourist-money comes from visitors, not homeowners. They may not understand that the tax — which is levied on short-term lodging — can only be spent on certain kinds of projects.
Go big or go again
But voters definitely know what the biggest local problems are, and “we’re short a major-league sporting stadium” is not among them. They see many of Central Florida’s most-used roads turn into parking lots during rush hour. They see standing water and even flooding in areas that were never soggy before. They see an emergency-response network that is being strained to the point of inadequacy. They see people standing at bus stops for up to an hour, and understand that many of them are just trying to get to work. They hear about people committing crimes after their families tried, and failed, to get them help with mental illness.
Most of all, they see their friends and neighbors struggling. Nearly 50% of Orange households do not earn enough to reliably meet their own basic needs (like housing, food, childcare, and healthcare). And many of those people are working very low-paid jobs, and thus ineligible for most anti-poverty programs.
Why does Orange County have so many families living on the jagged edges of the local economy? The answer leads right back to tourism. The hospitality industry relies on a steady supply of low-paid labor — loading theme-park visitors into rides, cleaning their hotel rooms, bringing them pizza and pancakes at 2 a.m. and stuffing souvenir plushies into plastic bags.
Demings’ task force should not regard any idea as off-limits. They should look for ways to spend the money they already have on the biggest needs this community faces. That, more than anything, will earn voters’ trust. And headed into the coming debate over all the potential impacts of the property-tax amendment, voters’ trust could make all the difference.
The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Krys Fluker, Executive Editor Roger Simmons and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. Use [email protected] to contact us.
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