Orange hotel tax collections are coming back, but county still dipping into reserve funds

Orange County’s hotel tax collections are showing signs of life, a year after the bottom fell out of the key funding source amid lockdowns and fear of COVID-19.

Collections were up more than 2,000% in April year over year, collecting a little more than $17 million.

While those collections were down from the month prior, totals have been trending up ahead of what officials anticipate will be a busy summer of business travel and vacationers flooding hotels and theme parks.

“We’re going to continue to have good months,” county comptroller Phil Diamond said. “Last year we didn’t know when this was going to end…it’s starting to turn around now.”

But Diamond said the county again dipped into its reserves to cover expenses tied to Visit Orlando, the Orange County Convention Center, as well as arts and cultural groups. In all, $7.2 million was spent from unrestricted reserves, bringing pandemic totals to $145 million pulled from the fund.

The county has been dipping into the reserve fund that used to have about $180 million in it for the past year, and is now down to $36 million, Diamond said.

Other restricted reserve accounts exist, including $80 million to cover debt on the convention center and another $60 million to cover potential damages to the pentagon-sized structures.

“As far as how soon we might go from an ongoing loss situation to an ongoing increasing situation? Hopefully very soon,” Diamond said.

The county tax on hotel rooms pulled in $17.6 million in March, the highest monthly showing since the pandemic began. The tax, a 6.5% levy on hotel room and short-term rental nights, is seen as a bellwether of the regions robust tourism industry.

Optimism over the return of tourism is rooted in a busy month at the Orange County Convention Center, with 14 events booked, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said. Among those is an Amateur Athletic Union volleyball tournament expected to bring about 139,000 attendees, Demings said.

Also as vaccination rates increase around the state and country, more people willing to travel is likely to fuel increases in the tourist development tax in future months.

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In Orange County, about 54% of people 12 years and older have received at least one shot of vaccine, and nationwide about 61% of that age group has as well.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also dropped Orange County’s risk to “high” for unvaccinated people, though that figure could drop to “moderate” if health trends continue, said Dr. Raul Pino, the local health officer for the Florida Department of Health in Orange County.

Over the past 14 days, 4.1% of COVID-19 tests have been positive for the virus, and for 17 consecutive days, the positivity rate has been below 5%, a key indicator in the health of the county.

However, 11 more deaths have been reported since June 2, Pino said, and two of those were from this month.

That brings the county’s death count to 1,321 since last March.

rygillespie@orlandosentinel.com; shudak@orlandosentinel.com