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Orlando Magic co-founder Pat Williams, leading the Orlando City Baseball Dreamers’ bid to bring Major League Baseball to Orange County, urged the panel to stand and stretch as if it was the seventh-inning of a ball game. There will be opportunities to present the details in the future.”īut some could not resist the podium or the microphone. Tony Jenkins, the panel’s co-chair, advised applicants that Friday’s meeting was “not an appropriate time to pitch your project to the task force. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)ĭiamond, the county’s elected fiscal watchdog, used the analogy to help a citizens task force understand the volatility of the 6% tax added to the cost of a hotel room or other short-term lodging. At a news conference Tuesday, Orlando Magic co-founder Pat Williams shows rendering of a proposed new domed baseball stadium he hopes will help lure a Major League Baseball team to Orlando. “That’s a little bit less of a roller-coaster and a little more Tower of Terror,” said Diamond, suggesting the Hollywood Studios thrill ride was a more apt comparison for the revenue plunge blamed on the recent pandemic. With hopeful applicants –– including a group that wants to bring big-league baseball to Orlando –– lining up for a share of tourist tax funding, Orange County Comptroller Phil Diamond instead used a theme-park attraction Friday to describe the ups-and-downs of the levy currently on a 14-month record run.Ī statistic graph showed the line of revenues undulating like a roller-coaster, rising in good times but dropping after the 9/11 terror attacks, dipping in 2009 spurred the Great Recession, and plummeting in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
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