Late last year, just before Orange County leaders approved a controversial plan to give up $125 million to Universal Orlando for a new road, they claimed their hands were tied.
Now, they’re about to decide whether to keep their hands tied.
Sometime soon, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and the county commission will likely decide whether to preserve an obscure tax district that is designed to force the county to spend more money in and around International Drive, the tourism corridor anchored by theme-park giants Universal and SeaWorld Orlando, big hoteliers and timeshare operators, and the county’s own Pentagon-sized convention center.
Records show the tax district, which was created under a state law that is supposed to help “slum and blighted areas,” has siphoned about $160 million in property taxes over the past 20 years out of Orange County’s main budget, where it could have been spent on anything from affordable housing to public health across a county of 1.4 million people. That money has instead been committed mostly to a handful of big-ticket transportation projects around the I-Drive area — like the new road Universal will build to its planned Epic Universe theme park.
Initially only supposed to last for 30 years, the I-Drive tax district is set to expire in 2028. That would free up future property taxes generated in the tourism corridor to be spent on needs anywhere in Orange County.
But the Demings administration, which has worked closely with big I-Drive area landowners like Universal, is working on a proposal to extend the tax district until 2040 and continue using most — though not all — of those tax dollars on tourism-district transportation projects, according to a draft of the proposal prepared by a consultant and obtained through a public-records request.
The plan would mean at least another $250 million gets pulled out of the countywide budget in the coming years and reserved specifically for the I-Drive area, according to estimates by the county’s consultant.
Orange County officials say the draft proposal may change before it is presented to county commissioners, which could happen later this month or in January. And Demings said he has not yet made any final decisions about what he will support personally.
Demings said it is still possible that he might recommend allowing the I-Drive tax district to expire, although he also said it is important for Orange County to support its tourism corridor.
“When we talk about the International Drive area, that is an area that is a major or significant part of our local economy,” the mayor said.
But some experts question whether commissioners should allow the I-Drive tax district to continue. That’s because these kinds of districts are meant to help redevelop struggling communities — and International Drive is one of the most prosperous corners of Central Florida.
“The whole purpose is redevelopment dollars that are needed to lift up a community — not to make the rich richer,” said Cliff Shepard, a municipal-law attorney in Maitland.
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Photo credit: Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel
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