ORLANDO, Fla. — It’s not unusual for Visit Orlando, the tourism marketing arm for Central Florida, to undergo financial audits. But a recent review from the Orange County comptroller’s office drew more controversy than most.
Back on Aug. 13 of last year, WFTV first reported that a preliminary audit by Orange County Comptroller Phil Diamond found that Visit Orlando had miscategorized millions of dollars in funding, meaning that public dollars were marked as private, according to the auditors.
“We want taxpayers to see what happens to their tax dollars. And if you call it private, taxpayers don’t get to see it,” Diamond said at the time.
According to that preliminary audit, Visit Orlando was said to have omitted $6.3 million from a required monthly report in 2023.
Now sources tell WFTV that auditors have identified additional funds in dispute, along with other issues. But Visit Orlando has always said it has been transparent, and it’s likely that Visit Orlando will disagree with some of the auditor’s report.
That’s because contract language between the organization and the county has been described as vague, which opens the door to different interpretations and potential oversight gaps.
Visit Orlando has always had communication with the county when it came to the TDT funds under the contract.
The final audit report is expected to include recommendations for how the partnership should proceed. It will likely mean more oversight. That could mean policy change, especially if auditors determine that the issues are serious enough to require revisions to the existing deal. But visit Orlando would have to agree to that.
Such changes could have a major impact on how millions of dollars in taxpayer revenue and marketing expenses are managed going forward.
Neither county commissioners nor Visit Orlando are commenting on the findings before the release.
Stay with WFTV for updates when the audit is finally released Tuesday.
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