A federal judge has given a green light to Monroe County to pursue its claim of unpaid resort taxes from third-party Web sites that book hotel rooms in the Florida Keys.

Industry and government officials nationwide are watching Monroe County vs. Priceline.com Inc., et al., in which Monroe County claims sites such as Orbitz, Expedia, Priceline and Travelocity are evading taxes by failing to pay the full amount of resort taxes owed to local government.

Federal judge Michael Moore on Thursday denied a motion in which the online companies claimed that even if all the facts Monroe County presented were accurate, the county is not entitled to win its case.

Filed in January, Monroe County's lawsuit claims the companies pay the 3 percent bed tax on wholesale rates they negotiate for rooms, then rent the rooms online at a higher rate to turn a profit. The companies pocket the difference between the tax they pay on the wholesale rate and the tax they'd pay on the higher rate.

"They were arguing that even if you took the allegation and construed it in the light most favorable to the county, we're still not entitled to relief, but the judge said no, there's a claim here and we're moving forward," Assistant Monroe County Attorney Bob Shillinger said Monday.

Monroe County also is seeking class action status on behalf of all Florida counties that collect a tourist tax. The county has two weeks to file that claim and is scheduled to appear in court on that matter next month, Shillinger said.

Monroe County has hired Miami-based attorney Bob Aronovitz to argue the case, but Shillinger is coordinating documents and witnesses. The case is expected to be tried at the federal courthouse on Simonton Street in Key West.

The county says it has not yet been determined how much money is being lost, but the figure is significant.

"We're talking millions of dollars," Shillinger said. "Substantial money. Not pennies or nickels."

County Administrator Roman Gastesi declined to speculate on the amount, but said it was large enough to warrant the litigation.

"That's part of the reason we wanted to move forward, to see just what we have on the table," Gastesi said. "I've heard guesses that are all over the board, but it's significant enough to move forward. At this point we just don't know."

Art Sackler, executive director of the Interactive Travel Services Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade organization, could not be reached for comment Monday, but he told The Citizen in January that the lawsuit is without merit because taxes owed on the hotel rooms are sent to the hotel operator. That hotel operator then has the responsibility to send the tax revenue to the proper authority, he said.

In a case in Pitt County, N.C., the U.S. Court of Appeals' 4th Circuit this year ruled the "online companies have no role in day-to-day operations of hotels, so they cannot be said to operate these hotels. A business that arranges for rent, but does not provide the rooms, is not a subject to occupancy taxes."

alinhardt@keysnews.com