October 30, 2025

As a reminder, next Tuesday, November 4, 2025 will be the General Election for the Orlando City Commission races. On behalf of the Central Florida Hotel and Lodging Association’s PAC and PC, we are proud to endorse and support each of the following three candidates for the upcoming 2025 General Election.

Please share this Voter Guide with your co-workers, family members, and friends, as CFHLA is proud to stand with each of these pro-hospitality candidates. Remember one vote can make the difference and together, let's get out the vote and support these Hospitality Champions!

If you have any questions regarding your voting precinct, voting locations and hours, etc. for the upcoming General Election, please visit the Supervisor of Elections website.

CLICK HERE to visit the Orange County Supervisor of Elections Website.

Last week, the CFHLA Governmental Affairs Committee held its October meeting at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Orlando at SeaWorld (Thank you Jason Lopez, General Manager, CFHLA Assistant Treasurer and GA Committee Chair).

The Committee was proud to host former Congresswoman and 2026 Orange County Mayoral candidate, the Honorable Stephanie Murphy as our featured guest. We are grateful to the former Congresswoman for her time and we thank her for sharing her vision for the future Orange County. We also appreciate the opportunity to discuss a variety of issues and priorities that are important to the Central Florida hospitality industry.

Additionally, the committee approved CFHLA's draft priorities for the upcoming 2026 Florida Legislative Session. These priorities will include the continued protection of the Tourist Development Tax (TDT), increased funding for our local transportation and infrastructure needs, additional funding for our hospitality and culinary programs at our local high schools and higher educational partners, priortizing funding for workforce housing, and much more.

Tomorrow, Friday, October 31st is the last chance to nominate a CFHLA member to serve on the 2026 CFHLA PAC/PC Board of Directors.

The CFHLA Board of Directors will review all of the nominations and 15 CFHLA Members will be selected to serve on the bi-partisan committees that protect the interests of the hospitality and tourism industry. We currently have three (3) open seats and another twelve (12) board members who are eligible for re-appointment.

If you are interested in serving on the CFHLA PAC/PC Board of Directors, you must be nominated by a current CFHLA PAC/PC Board of Director and be an annual contributor to the CFHLA PAC/PC.

If you have any questions about the CFHLA PAC/PC Board Nomination process, please contact Zack Brodersen, Government Affairs Manager at Zack.Brodersen@cfhla.org.

Over the next few months, we'll be sharing more information on the positive impact of TDT and how the proper investment benefits our community.

This month, we begin with Seminole County.

Did you know that Seminole County collected $7.1 Million in TDT throughout the FY 2024-25?

These funds are then used to fund the bonding and maintenance of the Boombah Sports Complex, a 100-acre, tournament-quality sports complex that can accommodate a variety of sports, including softball, soccer, football, baseball, lacrosse, field hockey, rugby, cricket, and even Quidditch! This provides a great venue for sports teams of all ages and Seminole County uses another 10% of TDT (or $710K) annually to attract sporting events to Seminole County with incentives not paid by local taxpayers.

Additionally, Seminole County is the home to the Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens. Throughout the FY 2024-25, Seminole County allocated 5% of TDT dollars (or $355K) to help support the Zoo’s work, by encouraging travelers to visit Seminole County and enjoy the unique experience it can offer.

Lastly, Seminole County is now investing over 40% of annual TDT (or $2.8M) on tourism marketing and collecting its Tourism Improvement District tax of $1.75 per room for hotels with 60+ rooms. The county anticipates collecting an additional $3.2M per year, and those dollars will be put towards a new, multi-use indoor, sports and entertainment complex.

Several local county delegation meetings were held throughout the month of October including Orange, Seminole and Osceola County. These delegation meetings are in preparation for the upcoming 2026 Legislative Session and our CFHLA leaders attended each of these meetings and addressed the priorities of the Central Florida Hospitality Industry.

First, the Orange County Delegation held its meeting on October 21st and it was comprised of State Representatives and State Senators that represent parts of Orange County. Among the local government officials, community organizations, and members of the public was our CFHLA President/CEO Robert Agrusa who addressed the delegation and advocated for CFHLA’s 2026 Legislative Priorities, including the protection of the TDT, continued investment into workforce housing, and increased funding for our educational partners and transportation infrastructure.

Then, the Seminole County Delegation met on October 23rd and the Osceola County Delegation met on October 27th. CFHLA Government Affairs Manager Zack Brodersen proudly represented the Central Florida hospitality industry and addressed both delegations as he advocated for CFHLA’s priorities.

Last month, the CFHLA Political Action Committee (PAC) held its annual Tee-It-Up for Tourism Fundraising event at Eagles Edge at Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate. The event hosted over 250 attendees, five (5) event sponsors, and elected state and local officials who joined us from across the Central Florida region. 

Thanks to the generosity of the sponsors and attendees, the CFHLA PAC raised over $38k! The net proceeds from this fundraising event will go towards the CFHLA PAC, which will fight to protect and support the interests of the Central Florida hospitality and tourism industry throughout the 2025 and 2026 Election Cycles. This includes educating and mobilizing our members to become more politically active and to support a bipartisan slate of state and local candidates, that we consider "pro-tourism" and hospitality champions.

Now more than ever, our industry must rally together to help educate and advocate for state and local leaders who truly understand just how vital the industry is to the economic success of our region.

Thank you to all our CFHLA members, proud sponsors, as well as tourism and community partners, who joined us in support of this critically important event! With your continued support, we will collectively advance the tourism and hospitality industry into the future.

CFHLA PAC/PC would like to congratulate the following teams and winners: 

First Place: Evermore Orlando Resort

Runner Up: Lowndes Law Firm

Third Place: Wyndham Lake Buena Vista Disney Springs Resort Area 

Additionally, we'd like to thank our generous Sponsors for their incredible support of this fundraiser:

On Tuesday, October 14, 2025, the Orange County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) voted 5-2 in favor of a new county district map. That new map, dubbed 7-B, adds two new seats to the Board of County Commission. The main difference between the chosen map and the other map that was under consideration, 1-A, is that 7-B puts Winter Park in District 5, containing the more rural east side of Orange County (Goldenrod, University, Baldwin Park, and Bithlo) and more of what is currently District 6, represented by Commissioner Mike Scott, is moved to the newly created District 7 (Pine Hills, Orlovista, and parts of northern Hiawassee Rd.). All Orange County voters will have an opportunity to elect these two new Commissioners in the 2026 Elections.

With the 2026 Florida Legislative Session beginning on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, the Florida Legislature began its preparation with its first two committee weeks in October.

The biggest surprise was the memorandum released by the Florida House Speaker that detailed eight (8) proposals that the House will put forward regarding property taxes during the upcoming 2026 Florida Legislative Session. Seven of these proposals are proposed constitutional amendments (requiring 60% approval by voters) and one is a general bill that would make statutory changes.

These proposals include:

Categorical Eliminations of Property Tax

• HJR 201 by Rep. Steele – This amendment would exempt homestead property from all ad valorem taxes other than school district levies.  Because the proposal eliminates the taxes on homestead properties, it also removes the exemption amounts tied to property valued between $50,000 and $75,000.
  
  
• HJR 203 by Rep. Miller – This proposal exempts the homestead exemption from non-school taxes incrementally by $100,000 for 10 straight years.  Beginning in 2037, homestead property would be fully exempt from non-school ad valorem taxes.
  
  
• HJR 205 by Rep. Porras – This proposal exempts homestead property of persons age 65 or older from all but school taxes, and strikes prior option exemptions related to income requirements.

Additional Homestead Exemptions

• HJR 207 by Rep. Abbott – This proposal introduces a new 25% homestead exemption for levies other than school district levies, applied after the existing up-to-$75,000 assessed valuation. For example, if a home had an assessed value of $500,000, existing law provides an exemption on the first $75,000, leaving the remaining $425,000 to be taxed.  If this resolution was to pass, an additional $106,250 (25%) would be exempt, leaving only $318,750 to be taxed.
  
  
• HJR 209 by Rep. Busatta – This proposal increases the present up-to-$75,000 exemption by an additional $100,000, conditioned on the property being insured by a comprehensive multiperil property policy.

Reforms on Process and Portability

• HJR 211 by Rep. Overdorf – This proposal removes the $500,000 cap on the transferable Save Our Homes benefit for county and municipal levies, allowing for the full accrued benefit to apply upon establishing a new homestead.
  
  
• HJR 213 by Rep. Griffitts – This proposal changes the frequency of homestead property assessment increases from annually to once every three years for all levies, other than school district levies.  This would also maintain the annual cap on school district levies for homestead properties and would raise the maximum permissible non-homestead (second homes, commercial property) assessment from 10% to 15%, applying once every three years rather than annually. 

Law Enforcement Reduction Language – Each constitutional amendment above contains language regarding law enforcement funding in Article VIII of the Florida Constitution. The language would effectively establish a floor on law enforcement budgets set by counties and cities, whether there was an actual cut in property taxes.  The floor would be the higher of whatever was budgeted in 2025-26 or 2026-27.

Lastly, HB 215 by Rep. Albert (Not a constitutional amendment; general law if passed and approved by Governor) would allow married couples to combine their homestead to a $500,000 limit and change how governments increase millage rates.

With four more committee weeks scheduled before the start of the 2026 Legislative Session, CFHLA will be monitoring this issue very closely and its potential impacts.

Upcoming CFHLA PAC/PC Meeting

The next CFHLA PAC/PC Board of Directors meeting will take place Tuesday, November 5, 2025 from 8:15 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. at the Hilton Orlando.

Upcoming Governmental Affairs Meeting

The next CFHLA Governmental Affairs meeting will be held on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, from 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM at Rosen Shingle Creek. 

DONATE to the CFHLA PAC

CFHLA MEMBERS - Please consider making a small donation of $50 via the link below to the CFHLA PAC/PC. All contributions help CFHLA expand its efforts to support Hospitality-Friendly candidates who are running for local and state offices in the future. Throughout the 2024 Election Cycle, 27 of 31 or 87% of the PAC endorsed candidates were elected into office.

Orlando District 1: Incumbent Jim Gray faces 3 challengers in council race - Orlando Sentinel

Orlando City Council District 3 candidates share how they'd tackle the city's biggest issues - Click Orlando

Orange County commissioners approve new redistricting map - Wesh 2 News

House files sweeping property tax cuts package for voters, not lawmakers, to approve or reject - Florida Politics