ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Orange County advisory task force finalized its recommendations for how to use millions in revenue from the county’s lucrative tourist development tax.
Orange County attracts more than 76 million visitors a year, and its Tourist Development Tax or “bed tax” is a 6% tax on hotel stays and short-term rentals.
Historically, Orange County collects the largest share of TDT revenue of any county in Florida.
According to Orange County, for fiscal year 2024-25, the county’s total collections were $384.6 million, the highest in its history, which county officials have attributed to the opening of Universal’s fourth park, Epic Universe.
Since mid-July, a citizen advisory task force has met five times sorting through project proposals from over a dozen organizations vying for a piece of the extra funding raked in from the bed tax.
On Tuesday, the task force advanced a $750 million request to upgrade the Doctor Phillips Center. The proposal includes a plan to create more $1,150 onsite parking spaces, interior improvements, several new theaters, and an 800-seat banquet & event space.
It comes as a separate $60 million request by Doctor Phillips Charities for a history and cultural center for Eatonville, which has also been advanced.
The project promises a “full day of discovery with an immersive museum and outdoor event space” and year-round educational programming. The organization says the museum will attract about 150 thousand annual visitors, generating more than 30,000 hotel room nights.
“TDT dollars were meant to encourage tourism. And we know what tourism has done for Orange County. So there’s a whole new set of proposals and plans and ideas that have to be evaluated,” said former Orange County Commissioner Christine Moore, who served on the task force.
The group also recommended a $54 million request to extend Camping World Stadium by creating a parking garage and rooftop sports field capable of hosting events.
“This is a value-add project; this is what will allow us to bid for the bigger projects. The higher-end projects. The projects where people don’t want to schlep four blocks in the rain through the mud at 105-degree weather and go to a game,” said Tico Perez, a task force member and an Orlando-based attorney.
“Having gone to many events there and having to walk across OBT and all these other streets is very dangerous. I think it’s going to be an enhancement,” added Vance Guthrie, a task force member and a councilmember for the city of Maitland.
The task force notably left several proposals off their recommendation list.
A nearly $1 billion-dollar request to build a 45,000-person Orlando Dreamers stadium was dismissed by the task force as “too premature.”
The proposal by the Orlando Dreamers to build the stadium included an onsite hotel and a connected museum attraction.
The organization described the space as a venue for all kinds of entertainment that would span beyond Major League Baseball. According to the Orlando Dreamers, the organization has already obtained about $2 billion in funding to be invested for stadium construction and team acquisition.
The Orlando Dreamers argued that as MLB begins to review bids from ten separate cities in 2027 for new teams, the funding would provide a competitive advantage.
However, the task force ranked the project in the bottom four.
The task force also rejected a $523 million request from the Orange County Convention Center for a new multi-purpose venue with retractable seating.
The Convention Center stated that the project would generate an estimated 150,000 in additional annual attendance to the convention center, but the task force voted against recommending the proposal, with some members stating they did not see enough return on investment.
The task force recommendations will ultimately head to Orange County Commissioners, who will have final say on which projects will receive funding.
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
©2026 Cox Media Group
