Twelve local tourism development councils thought they could avoid new state mandated transparency requirements by ending their partnership agreements with VISIT Florida. Oops! Think again, open government laws still apply.
Historic City News learned today that Speaker Richard Corcoran sent letters to the local councils who withdrew under the false presumption that such an action would shield them from legislative oversight.
“If you take taxpayer money, taxpayers have a right to know how you’re spending it,” Corcoran told local reporters. “It should alarm every Floridian that these 12 organizations, funded with hundreds of millions of dollars of your money, made the choice to hide from transparency rather than embrace it.”
Since November 2016, the Florida House has pursued an aggressive approach to force transparency and accountability in state government. The 2017 Legislature passed HB 1A; a significant reform package embraced by VISIT Florida leadership to bring greater accountability and transparency to its operations.
Speaker Corcoran said, “Let me be painstakingly clear, if you spend one dime of taxpayer money you will do it in a transparent and accountable way.”
The councils who chose to withdraw, thinking they could avoid the more strict disclosures, were:
- Brevard County Tourism (Florida’s Space Coast)
- Experience Kissimmee
- Franklin County Tourist Development Council
- Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau
- Orlando North Seminole County Tourism
- Santa Rosa County Tourist Development Office
- Visit Orlando
- Visit South Walton
- Visit Tampa Bay
- Florida Keys & Key West Tourism Development Council
- Amelia Island Convention & Visitors Bureau
- Discover the Palm Beaches
All told, these 12 TDC’s collect $585 million in bed tax revenue or 62% of total bed taxes collected statewide. Those taxes are collected from both in-state and out-of-state visitors.
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