Experience Kissimmee may pull

out of Visit Florida if the state’s new requirements for more disclosure of financial information are enacted.

KISSIMMEE — Experience Kissimmee CEO DT Minich vowed Tuesday against releasing private information — including the salaries for his board of directors — in the wake of lawmakers pushing for more transparency at the Visit Florida tourism agency.

Minich gave an update to officials during Tuesday’s Osceola County Tourist Development Council in Kissimmee.

After the meeting, Experience Kissimmee spokeswoman Jodi DiSalle said the agency could decide later this summer to pull out of Visit Florida if the state’s new requirements pushing for more disclosure of financial information are enacted.

She said leaving Visit Florida wouldn’t change Experience Kissimmee’s status as a publicprivate agency or its mission, although they would miss out on some advantages such as communications.

“We’re all still kind of waiting to see what happens,” DiSalle said. “As an organization, we have to discuss it with Visit Florida.”

Earlier this month, legislators cut a deal that gave Visit Florida $76 million in funding instead of dealing it a major cut. But the state also added a list of new provisions.

One provision Minich said especially concerned him was organizations that were members of Visit Florida and received 50 percent or more of their revenue from the tourism development tax would be required to disclose their board of directors’ salaries — a rule that would pertain to his organization.

Experience Kissimmee received about $16.3 million of its $20.1 million from the tax, according to its 2016 fiscal report presented Tuesday.

But Minich said his agency’s 25-member board is loaded with people who work for major hotels and corporations.

“It can’t happen,” he told county officials about releasing their salaries. “A lot of them have signed confidentiality agreements.”

“It’s a competitive thing,” he said later in an interview after the meeting. “There’s just no way we can do it.”

Minich argued there was already oversight at his agency, including regularly giving information to the county and an independent auditor.

“We’re providing everything we’ve been asked to provide to the county,” he said.

Some lawmakers accused Visit Florida of spending millions with little state oversight. One controversial expense was a $1 million for rapper Pitbull that eventually led to the resignation of the tourism promotion agency’s chief in December. Another new provision: Contracts worth more than $750,000 must be approved by a legislative panel.

About 63 percent of Experience Kissimmee’s budget — or $12.7 million — was spent on “promotional costs.” The budget did not provide a breakdown on what those promotions were.

The next largest expense was $3.6 million for salary costs.

“We’re a very lean machine,” Minich said at Tuesday’s meeting. “We’re putting as much as possible in promotional activities. That’s the organization we are. That’s what we should be doing. … We’re very proud of that.”

“It can’t happen. A lot of them have signed confidentiality agreements.” Experience Kissimmee CEO DT Minich