ORLANDO, Fla. — During its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday, Orange County leaders are expected to question Visit Orlando about how the organization spends it $100 million annual budget. Some of those questions will come from documents Visit Orlando says are inaccurate.
The team that created those documents said it took them two weeks to go through Visit Orlando’s expenses, and they did it because they think Visit Orlando is getting too much money.
“You have too much money on the balance sheet and so that’s another concern that we have,” Tom Callan said.
The father-son team of Matt and Tom Callan made the report from data on Visit Orlando they obtained from Orange County’s previous audit. They say it shows improper spending on luxury items and unauthorized lobbying that they want the county to crack down on.
Visit Orlando leaders say the team’s reports are riddled with errors, but they haven’t yet produced specifics to counter the Callans’ math.
However, they did say items categorized as lobbying actually aren’t, and items categorized as waste are the cost of doing business.
“We look at opportunities when our budget is growing. Are there new markets? Is there new market share to get for our community?,” said Visit Orlando CEO Cassandra Menaj.
It’s contributing to the $95 billion per year that tourism pours into Central Florida, lowering tax bills, they say, by $7,000 per household.
“We’re ready to get back to our focus and our mission, which is to drive visitation for the benefit of this community,” Menaj said.
The Callans say they’re doing what county leaders should’ve done a long time ago by putting independent eyes on Visit Orlando’s budget.
“Visit Orlando appears it would do just as well with the results at $75 million versus $108 million, and that’s kind of the point we’re making.,” Callan said.
Visit Orlando leaders say they see this as a chance to be transparent and show they’re adjusting based on the recommendations of Orange County’s audit.
Callan is Commissioner Mayra Uribe’s personal attorney and the attorney and board chair of her husband’s charity.
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