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bic

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JFW657
JFW657

We should give the panhandle to Alabama and Georgia.

spenser1058
spenser1058

Actually, until SCOTUS ruled for "one man, one vote" in the 1960s it was the other way 'round. Florida's rural Pork Chop Gang ruled the state for decades and starved fast-growing urban areas of much n

spenser1058
spenser1058

Orlando earns perfect score for LGBT equality   http://touch.orlandosentinel.com/#section/1233/article/p2p-81952416/   "This perfect score demonstrates the progress our community has made and vali

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jcast Unincorporated Area

jcast

Posted
Posted

I just spoke to my boss about this, and he said that he received an email from Home Depot, and they said it is all rumors and that they are not looking to move.

I wish if they did move, it would be to Orlando, and that the email was only a smoke screen of sorts.

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speck76 Whistle-Stop

speck76

Posted
Posted

Speck, I don't agree with you on this one...why do they deserve a say? they already benefit directly from the vast majority of the tax (convention center and marketing) and the purpose behind the tax is to offer local governments a source of revenue for civic facilities such as performing art centers and civic arenas, especially for those communitites that are impacted by the tourism trade...

it shouldn't be too much to ask that a portion, a relatively small portion, of a tax designed for civic facilities and tourism marketing be actually used for civic facilities that benefit residents and not just tourists...

just my humble view...

Hotels are not the only facilities that benefit from the resort tax.....local restaurants, local attractions, malls....they all get the tourism benefit, but do not contribute to the tax revenue.

We could, and should, tax these facilities too.....but we wont, because that tax would also effect the locals to a large degree.....and we all know what this is about....we want these new facilities....and we want the tourists is pay for them....because we do not even want to pay for a mass transit system or better roads.....

We blame the tourists for all of our problems, and the tourism facilities for paying low wages....yet without them, Orlando would still be a small town.

It should not be too much to ask to get a small portion of the tax, but $400+million is NOT a small portion...

If priority 1 is to pay for the debt of the convention center (not that I was ever for the expansion....but what is done is done) and the remainder of the money (currently) is being used for the funding of the CVB (along with funding the science center and a few other facilities)

If the rest of the new "additional" tax is going to get used for the debt of the sporting facilities....that is fine....but what happens when the economy fails again, and the tax shrinks....does the CVB still get its fair share....after all, in a bad economy that is when they are needed the most....or do the bondholders for the new arena and facilities get priority? Does the science center close?

If the CVB gets priority, does the shortfall come from the taxpayers?...who holds the ultimate responsibility to pay for the new facilities?

We would be FAR better off raising the sales tax 1 cent...which would generate far more money....and only cost the average family in Orange county about $350 per year......(and would generate $300million per year in tourism related tax revenue, instead of $25million)

But we wont....because it would effect "us"

At least we are not spending 5%+ of our income in a state income tax....like most states are... (you can thank tourism for that)

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neon9 Hamlet

neon9

Posted
Posted (edited)

Hotels are not the only facilities that benefit from the resort tax.....local restaurants, local attractions, malls....they all get the tourism benefit, but do not contribute to the tax revenue.

We could, and should, tax these facilities too.....but we wont, because that tax would also effect the locals to a large degree.....and we all know what this is about....we want these new facilities....and we want the tourists is pay for them....because we do not even want to pay for a mass transit system or better roads.....

We blame the tourists for all of our problems, and the tourism facilities for paying low wages....yet without them, Orlando would still be a small town.

It should not be too much to ask to get a small portion of the tax, but $400+million is NOT a small portion...

If priority 1 is to pay for the debt of the convention center (not that I was ever for the expansion....but what is done is done) and the remainder of the money (currently) is being used for the funding of the CVB (along with funding the science center and a few other facilities)

If the rest of the new "additional" tax is going to get used for the debt of the sporting facilities....that is fine....but what happens when the economy fails again, and the tax shrinks....does the CVB still get its fair share....after all, in a bad economy that is when they are needed the most....or do the bondholders for the new arena and facilities get priority? Does the science center close?

If the CVB gets priority, does the shortfall come from the taxpayers?...who holds the ultimate responsibility to pay for the new facilities?

We would be FAR better off raising the sales tax 1 cent...which would generate far more money....and only cost the average family in Orange county about $350 per year......(and would generate $300million per year in tourism related tax revenue, instead of $25million)

But we wont....because it would effect "us"

At least we are not spending 5%+ of our income in a state income tax....like most states are... (you can thank tourism for that)

Yes, Orlando would be a much smaller town...and wouldn't have the problems we're complaining about. In fact, I imagine a lot of us would not be here. But fact is we are and tourism does indeed cause problems. The rub seems to be spending money on 'ourselves' (greatly oversimplifiying, but whatever). If that is greedy, then I guess you can call me greedy. At least have the honesty to admit the hoteliers are greedier, because their only thought is to make more money, at least we are trying to improve the general quality of life here in our hometown. Isn't that 400 million number over 20 or 30 years? God knows, we've subsidized tourism in many ways here, again I don't think a few million a year is really asking too much or is going to kill the industry. Does Seattle feel the need to advertise in China for Boeing? Does (did) Rochester advertise in Japan for Kodak? Yet it could be said these cities depend on those (much better paying) industries as much as Orlando does on tourism now. Speaking of, I don't believe Washington has a sales tax either, and I know Oregon does not. When's the last time you heard of either of those states being a major tourism destination?

I agree that we should increase the sales tax 0.5%, but to pay for transportation improvements as was previously proposed. Even that was voted down by the 'ax the tax' crowd that somehow things infrastucture grows mysteriously out of the ground. Maybe that's part of the reason for pushing this, it ISN'T our money and ISN'T voted on by yahoos who are trying to kill all government. But you're right, although you have jumped from argument to argument...we are going to have to accept responsibility if the tax doesn't collect enough to pay the bills. As you noted, that didn't stop the convention center expansion.

Edited by neon9
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bulldogger Town

bulldogger

Posted
Posted

I just spoke to my boss about this, and he said that he received an email from Home Depot, and they said it is all rumors and that they are not looking to move.

I wish if they did move, it would be to Orlando, and that the email was only a smoke screen of sorts.

After a little snooping, I can only see that Jacksonville was mentioned in some emails, but I'm not sure of any details. The only thing about Orlando seemed to be a Mega Center going in somewhere on Old Winter Garden Rd.

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demon Hamlet

demon

Posted
Posted

Hotels are not the only facilities that benefit from the resort tax.....local restaurants, local attractions, malls....they all get the tourism benefit, but do not contribute to the tax revenue.

We could, and should, tax these facilities too.....but we wont, because that tax would also effect the locals to a large degree.....and we all know what this is about....we want these new facilities....and we want the tourists is pay for them....because we do not even want to pay for a mass transit system or better roads.....

We blame the tourists for all of our problems, and the tourism facilities for paying low wages....yet without them, Orlando would still be a small town.

It should not be too much to ask to get a small portion of the tax, but $400+million is NOT a small portion...

If priority 1 is to pay for the debt of the convention center (not that I was ever for the expansion....but what is done is done) and the remainder of the money (currently) is being used for the funding of the CVB (along with funding the science center and a few other facilities)

If the rest of the new "additional" tax is going to get used for the debt of the sporting facilities....that is fine....but what happens when the economy fails again, and the tax shrinks....does the CVB still get its fair share....after all, in a bad economy that is when they are needed the most....or do the bondholders for the new arena and facilities get priority? Does the science center close?

If the CVB gets priority, does the shortfall come from the taxpayers?...who holds the ultimate responsibility to pay for the new facilities?

We would be FAR better off raising the sales tax 1 cent...which would generate far more money....and only cost the average family in Orange county about $350 per year......(and would generate $300million per year in tourism related tax revenue, instead of $25million)

But we wont....because it would effect "us"

At least we are not spending 5%+ of our income in a state income tax....like most states are... (you can thank tourism for that)

These facilities will not only be here for our benefit but will bring more tourists.

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  • 1 month later...
speck76 Whistle-Stop

speck76

Posted
Posted

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_poli...sinks_surc.html

Gov. Jeb Bush today shot down a bill that would have asked voters to add an extra $2 per day to the cost of renting a car, a plan that supporters said could have raised as much as $40 million a year in tourist-rich Central Florida to help pay for everything from new roads to better bus service.

Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer had already even unveiled a plan showing how they would spend the rental-car surcharge money, which included giving 50 cents of every $2 to the Lynx bus system.

But Bush vetoed the bill, saying the surcharge amounted to "taxation without representation on a large scale" because it would have been paid mostly by tourists.

umm.....yet the resort tax is ok?

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corpkid Whistle-Stop

corpkid

Posted
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It is beyond me how ANYONE could have voted for him OR his moron brother.

Remember, you can't spell Bullsh*t without B-U-S-H.

You know, I think because he's a contender (though it's not official) for the presidential elections, he may be trying to run on a "low taxation" platform. Of course to which this would be completely counter to, should it have passed.

Just speculating about that, but I

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speck76 Whistle-Stop

speck76

Posted
Posted

You know, I think because he's a contender (though it's not official) for the presidential elections, he may be trying to run on a "low taxation" platform. Of course to which this would be completely counter to, should it have passed.

Just speculating about that, but I

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neon9 Hamlet

neon9

Posted
Posted

You know, I think because he's a contender (though it's not official) for the presidential elections, he may be trying to run on a "low taxation" platform. Of course to which this would be completely counter to, should it have passed.

Just speculating about that, but I

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JRS1 Town

JRS1

Posted
Posted

So did that gas leak yesterday at Pine and Magnolia have anything to do with the construction at Plaza/Solaire?

I went by there yesterday as part of my afternoon jog and I could smell the gas from a block away.

that's at Pine Street Bar & Grill. howw the hec did I miss that?

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