Florida House speaker Richard Corcoran is suing the city of Tampa alleging it impose an illegal tax on hotel rooms.
The City recently approved and began charging a $1.50 fee for stays at downtown Tampa and Ybor City hotels to help fund tourism marketing.
The ‘fee’ which the city says is not a tax, is charged at check-out and not added into the room rate.
It is expected to raise about $1.5 million for marketing which is controlled by the Hillsborough County Hotel and Motel Association.
The hotel association’s executive director Bob Morrison says it is a special assessment district ‘fee,’ and not a tax so is permitted without authorization from the state legislature.
Corcoran called it an underhand way to avoid scrutiny.
"Florida is second to none as a tourism and economic development destination. Many local agencies do great work to keep Florida in that position. Some, however, continue to waste taxpayer dollars and then insist that taxpayers have no right to see what their money is being spent on," he said.
"To say that this is one of the most egregious cases of spitting in the face of the (state) constitution is an understatement," Corcoran added.
The fee currently only covers about a dozen hotels but the City of Tampa had planned to expand it.
