Democrat David Jolly promotes tourist tax reform as he runs for Florida governor

National admin September 6, 2026 0 Comments

Democrat David Jolly promotes tourist tax reform as he runs for Florida governor

The Democrat in the race to be Florida’s next governor thinks hotel taxes can be spent differently – so the massive source of money can pay for more than just tourism marketing and promotion, and local communities can have more latitude to pay for local needs.

David Jolly said in a recent interview with the Orlando Sentinel that he believes local governments should have more say in how they use Tourist Development Taxes, the tax visitors pay on hotel and other short-term rentals. He also thinks the state could benefit a change that would allow it to use the money to address Florida’s homeowner’s insurance crisis and lagging teacher pay.

But, he added, he wouldn’t support any plan that would harm tourism – spearheaded in the state by the more than 76 million people who visited the Orlando area last year.

“Only a fool would do anything that crimps tourism,” he said, but the tax needs a “sober” study.

“Is there a way to use TDT money with some kind of blended local control that begins to fund some of our needs, that also funds our tourism industry? I think it should all be on the table,” he said. “We don’t have a crisis of convention centers, we have a crisis of teacher pay, we have a crisis of homeowner’s insurance.”

While nearly every Florida county has some form of a tax on hotel stays – totaling more than $1 billion statewide – the largest pool is in Orange County, where millions visit for theme park vacations and business conventions annually.

But state law only allows Orange’s TDT dollars to be used to build, maintain and operate convention centers, stadiums, arenas, and other arts and cultural facilities and events that lure visitors.

After a citizen’s task force last month recommended Orange County make hotel tax reform a legislative priority, the Orlando Sentinel sought interviews with the two leading candidates for governor for their take on the future of the lucrative tax.

Numerous requests for an interview with Republican candidate Byron Donalds weren’t acknowledged.

Jolly said he favors looking at using Tourist Development Tax money to create a catastrophic fund that would allow the state to cover all hurricane and natural disaster losses, instead of leaving it to private homeowners insurance.

He also wants to redirect money toward raising teacher pay by 30%, as well as allowing for more local control of some of the money for local needs.

Orange County’s hotel tax is a 6-cent-per-dollar surcharge on hotel room and short-term rental stays, a lucrative funding source essentially dedicated to paying for tourism marketing and to building venues that create more tourism.

In Orlando, that’s included building the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, the Kia Center, and numerous expansions to the Orange County Convention Center and other venues.

The Central Florida Hotel and Lodging Association didn’t respond to a request for comment on Jolly’s ideas.

Under a 2018 change in state law, however, counties that spend at least 40% of their TDT on tourism marketing and advertising can spend a portion of their hotel taxes on infrastructure, so long as it supports tourism.

Orange County maintains it’s not eligible for such flexibility because it only spends 30% of its bed tax on funding Visit Orlando – expected to be about $120 million this year. But it doesn’t count any spending on its convention center in that calculation.

State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, who has filed bills in recent years to reform the tax, said he’s heard Jolly speak about reform at various Democratic Party events around Florida – and was shocked.

“The first time I heard David Jolly talk about TDT reform, I almost fell out of my chair,” he said. “I didn’t see it coming. It’s such an important local issue here for us that I just didn’t expect a gubernatorial candidate for either party would prioritize it.”

But, Smith said, Orange remaining in control of its tax proceeds – expected to crack a record $400 million this year – is critical.

“Tourists are putting a strain on our local resources,” he said. “The TDT revenue that we receive in Orange County needs to stay here in Orange County and be decided by Orange County’s elected leaders.”

State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, who is running for Orlando mayor next year, has sponsored various hotel tax reforms in the Florida House of Representatives that have not passed. She said she was happy to see the idea continue to gain steam statewide.

“Any effort to reform the TDT for me is a step in the right direction,” she said. “To see a statewide candidate talk about it is refreshing.”

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