(The 76ers beat the Pacers 111-105.)

Noticeably absent from the party were Mayor Glenda Hood and Orange County Chairman Rich Crotty. Their public statements to date indicate they will not raise hotel room taxes or move funds from the general property tax bank to help pay for arena construction costs.

DeVos wants the hoteliers to contribute $121.5 million from their room tax monies; Orlando-Orange County, $50 million; and the state, $28.5 million. He also wants $40 million in profits from the new arena.

The Indianapolis arena was built largely from tax dollars and corporate donations. Pacer owners Melvin and Herbert Simon, the shopping center moguls, contributed $4 million cash and $17 million from a ticket tax.

DeVos maintains the $10.5 million he has offered as the team's cash contribution for a similar new arena in Orlando is in line or more than most other NBA team owners have kicked in for their own new courts, including the Simon brothers.

DeVos' offer, considered a low-ball negotiating pitch by Orlando hoteliers and government heads, has triggered a local controversy over how much the billionaire founder of Amway Corp. should actually contribute. He wants taxpayers to pay 80% or $200 million of the new arena's construction cost.

Even as the DeVos party returns to Orlando today, county comptroller Martha Haynie is setting up a financial investigative team to audit the tax-dollar numbers DeVos is suggesting can pay for a new arena.

County chairman Crotty believes the most the county can contribute is about $50 million in estimated future uncommitted hotel taxes but is awaiting Haynie's audit before suggesting other financial avenues.