The National Independent Venue Association, a group that represents music venues like The Beacham, The Social and Celine in downtown Orlando, sent a letter to city of Orlando officials Thursday to demand the city suspend the off-duty police protection fees that operators say are threatening their venues’ survival.
The fees were established under an “after midnight” permitting program approved by Orlando City Council in 2023, in response to incidents of violent crime outside bars and clubs downtown.
The program requires downtown establishments to pay for annual $250 permits to sell alcohol between the hours of 12 a.m. to 2 a.m. And if they do so, they also must adhere to stricter security requirements, including hiring off-duty Orlando Police Department officers at rates of up to $99 an hour per officer (inclusive of administrative fees, we’re told), with limited exceptions for hotels, movie theaters and sports arenas like the city-owned Kia Center and Camping World Stadium.
It has created what venue owners now describe as an “unfunded mandate” harming independent venues, costing some of them thousands of dollars each month.
At least 10 downtown Orlando bars have closed since the new rules took effect, according to NIVA, with several of them — including the popular Halloween-themed bar Cocktails & Screams — explicitly citing higher fees and regulatory costs in their closing remarks to patrons.
“Celine has paid the City more than $328,000 for officers who do not work inside our building, on top of the private security we already pay for every night we are open,” said Celine owner Eric Fuller in a statement Thursday. “We book artists from around the world, and we do more than our part to keep our patrons safe. The City now needs to do its part.”
From June 2023 through August 2025 alone, the city invoiced 39 nightlife establishments downtown a total $4.3 million for these police protection fees, according to NIVA. A couple dozen venues were billed more than $100,000 over that 14-month period alone, regardless of attendance at the venues or the venues’ revenue intake.
NIVA is a national group launched by and for venue owners in 2020 to help support indie nightlife during COVID-19 lockdowns. Representing thousands of venues, event promoters and festivals nationwide, the group says there is no other city they’re aware of that similarly imposes off-duty police fees on venues in order to serve alcohol “at amounts approaching these.”
In Kissimmee, for instance, venues under a similar program are required to pay a fee of $250 annually. In New Orleans, the city funds police patrols in the French Quarter through a quarter-cent “quarter for the Quarter” sales tax imposed on money spent in the neighborhood.
“A program that added more than $160,000 to the operating costs of The Beacham and of Celine in 2024 alone, in a sector where roughly two-thirds of operators are already unprofitable, will likely continue to endanger independent venues,” NIVA wrote in its letter to Orlando city officials. “The result could be a loss of the stages where Orlando’s own artists develop.”
Call to action
The group is calling on the city to immediately suspend the off-duty police protection fees on downtown nightlife establishments and to convene a working group of stakeholders — including independent venue owners — within 30 days to discuss alternative safety solutions.
The group is also asking for the city to consider a funding model for downtown safety that is “consistent” with cities elsewhere and to “publish a full accounting of program expenditures, including officer-hours and outcomes, and a list of exempt properties with the basis for each exemption.”
“Two out of three of us already lose money in a given year,” said NIVA Florida Chapter acting president Tom DeGeorge, owner of the recently shuttered venue Crowbar in Ybor.
“We pay for our own security, insurance and staff,” continued DeGeorge, who has testified in front of Congress over the monopoly that LiveNation and its subsidiaries have over ticket sales, leading to higher prices for consumers and little opportunity for indie venues to fight them.
“Now, one city has decided the smallest independent music venues downtown should also cover the police bill for the stadium, the arena and the hotels,” DeGeorge added, referring to the city of Orlando. “No other city in the country does this, and Orlando has already lost 10 of these businesses finding out why.”
Owners of several downtown bars, including Celine, The Beacham and The Social, filed a lawsuit against the city over the police protection rules in 2024. A judge dismissed the lawsuit in September 2025.
Orlando Weekly reached out to the city for its response to the letter, which was addressed both to Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer — who’s said next year will be his last in the office — and the entire Orlando City Council.
Ashley Papagni, a city spokesperson for the city of Orlando, told Orlando Weekly early Thursday afternoon, “We are in receipt of the letter just hours ago and are reviewing it.”
She added, in the meantime, that the city has taken “several measures to enhance public safety in downtown,” including the reopening of Orange Avenue on weekend nights, the city’s own funding of additional off-duty officers downtown, and lighting improvements.
Collectively, she said, these efforts have resulted in a 20 percent reduction in overall crime downtown, with a 4 percent reduction in violent crime specifically since the same time last year.
“Maintaining a safe, welcoming and thriving downtown remains a top priority,” her statement added. “The city takes a comprehensive approach to public safety that combines increased enforcement, enhanced security requirements for businesses, infrastructure improvements and strategic investments that support a vibrant, active urban environment.”
At the same time that independent music venues and bars downtown say that they’re struggling to keep the lights on, the city has also pursued a family-friendly reimagination of the downtown core, including a plan to revive Church Street.
Orlando Weekly will keep readers posted on any additional response provided by the city. If you’re a business owner affected by these downtown nightlife rules who would like to share your thoughts on the situation, please contact us at news@orlandoweekly.com.
