ORLANDO, Fla. — Visit Orlando owes more than $3.5 million dollars to Orange County’s Tourist Development Tax fund, according to an audit released by the Comptroller Tuesday.
This more than 60-page county audit lays out why the county believes Visit Orlando miscategorized tourist development tax dollars as private funds.
“Taxpayers need to know what’s going on with it, and you can’t just spend it for anything,” said Comptroller Phil Diamond.
Diamond says Visit Orlando violated the county contract because some of their expenses did not promote Orange County’s tourism.
The audit lists pages of expenses they’re calling into question Skybox tickets, the CEO’s car allowance, and personal items.
“Orange County has hired Visit Orlando to promote tourism. They didn’t hire Visit Orlando to buy sneakers or tuxedos,” Diamond said. “And that’s the question, does this promote tourism or not? That’s their purpose, that’s their goal, that’s why they exist, and that’s what they need to make sure that they focus on.”
The audit also mentions a dinner Visit Orlando hosted in New York City, paying more than $1,800 per person.
Visit Orlando says the event was to promote an Orlando restaurant. 21The county says the restaurant was not prominently featured.
“When we host events and dinners in places like New York, those are critical markets you have to invest in. And there are keys stakeholders in that market where we have to sell the Orlando message,” said Terry Prather with Visit Orlando.
“But for $1,800 a person, do you think that’s excessive?” Channel 9 asked.
“I don’t know the details of what all and who all are there, but if you look at just the dollar and not the entire context of what the promotion was all about, you can come to all sorts of conclusion,” Prather said. “
Visit Orlando says the county’s contract is vague, and they’re working on sorting out the difference in definition of expenses between the county.
The expenses in question are from 2023.
“There are county officials that sit on Visit Orlando’s board. How did it go so long without being noticed?,” Channel 9 asked.
“I think the important thing, let’s fix what’s happened. Let’s make sure it’s done right going forward,” Prather said.
The Comptroller is now recommending designating a county employee to oversee Visit Orlando’s expenses.
Prather told Channel 9 Visit Orlando does not know whether it will reimburse the county for the full $3.5 million.
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