Legislature shouldn't use local tourism tax dollars as chip in high-stakes political game

Political brinkmanship can be a dangerous game, particularly when it puts the state's top economic engine at risk.

Tourism officials across the Treasure Coast are rightfully concerned about a bill that would essentially shift responsibility for funding Visit Florida, the state's tourism agency, to county governments. A bill pending in the Florida Legislature would require 62 of the state's 67 counties to redirect portions of their tourism tax collections to cover Visit Florida's expenses.

The revised funding plan would generate about $75 million for Visit Florida. Last year, the program received $50 million from the state, but the state's share of funding would apparently go away if this legislation becomes law.

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Counties would have the option of holding a referendum every six years (after an initial three-year grace period) to renew tourist-development taxes, which are tacked onto tourists' hotel bills. At least 60% voter approval would be required for a referendum abolishing the funding to pass.

In other words, the bill would place what has been a reliable (and pain-free for local residents) source of income for county governments very much in doubt.

This money has historically been used for a variety of purposes, including debt service on renovations for Port St. Lucie's Clover Park, spring training home of the New York Mets and summer home of the St. Lucie Mets; improvements to the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum, A.E. Backus Museum & Gallery and the Zora Neale Hurston Dust Tracks Heritage Trail, all in Fort Pierce; beach renourishment projects; visitor centers; tourism-related staff positions; and marketing campaigns.

“If this happens, we would be in trouble because we have a $20 million bond that we did for the Mets stadium renovation,” said St. Lucie County Commissioner and Tax Development Council Chairman Chris Dzadovsky, “… If that (change) were to be done by the state, and force us to take it from the general fund, that would be catastrophic."

Yes, and good luck in the future trying to secure bond funding tied to tourism taxes if the legislation is approved. Most bonded projects are repaid over 20-year terms, but this could potentially put the tourism taxes at risk every six years with the referendum provision.

That's not likely to put bonding agencies at ease.

Visit Florida has pooled its resources with counties in the past on marketing initiatives. However, in those cases, counties were free to decide whether they wanted to participate.

“We don’t have any control," Martin County Tourism Director Nerissa Okiye said of the proposed change. "We would be giving funding to Visit Florida, but then it does not benefit us back. Whereas now, when we do co-ops and we do programs, there’s a direct benefit."

Every year, it seems local governments are trying ― often unsuccessfully ― to fend off the Legislature's efforts to strip away some of their ability to make decisions they believe are in the best interests of their constituents.

If the bill becomes law, local governments would be losing some of the control they have over how to spend money collected within their borders.

"The state mandating how our local taxes should be spent is an attack on home rule," said Charlotte Bireley, St. Lucie director of tourism and marketing. "... That's essentially starting to slash our budget for a state-funded operation."

The good news, if you want to call it that, is this may all be part of a political game.

Some conservative lawmakers have been talking about doing away with Visit Florida and Enterprise Florida, the state's business recruitment agency, for years.

As USA TODAY NETWORK — Florida capital bureau reporter John Kennedy outlined in a story this week, the proposed elimination of Visit Florida's state funding may be a part of the give-and-take that occurs during every legislative session.

Enterprise Florida may have fewer political allies and less of an obvious constituency than the tourism agency does. As a result, threatening to end state funding for both programs, then eventually "settling" on eliminating only Enterprise Florida's has the appearance of being a political compromise. Even if getting rid of Enterprise Florida was the primary goal all along.

In any case, forcing counties to pay for Visit Florida would upset a status quo that had been working just fine. Whatever legislators decide they want to do with Visit Florida, they shouldn't put much-needed county tourism funding at risk.

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This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Counties shouldn't suffer in state political flap over Visit Florida