Summary
Members of the Pinellas County Tourist Development Council discussed expanding allowable uses of tourist development tax dollars to include "beach park facilities" and targeted capital improvements that support tourism, but they emphasized limits on using TDT funds for routine maintenance and municipal services.
Members of the Pinellas County Tourist Development Council discussed whether to amend the tourist development plan to allow funding for beach park facilities and targeted capital improvements that serve tourists and residents, and they signaled support for narrowly targeted projects rather than ongoing municipal maintenance.
Council members repeatedly emphasized two themes: (1) funding should be tied directly to tourist attractions or demonstrable visitor draws, and (2) routine municipal maintenance or recurring city-level trash pickup and services are not appropriate uses of TDT revenue. "If we're talking about parks where we can specifically tie the funding to the data, then I would be interested in learning that data," Mayor Bruce Rector said, urging data-driven eligibility.
Legal staff clarified that the current tourist development plan allows funding for public facilities that can be shown to be directly associated with tourism and suggested that adding "beach park facilities" to the plan is possible but would require plan amendments and parameters to define eligible investments. Staff noted that a beach-park facilities category typically covers things such as bath houses, picnic shelters, signage and other park improvements directly connected to visitor draws; they also said the plan could be limited to facilities with independent evidence of tourism impact.
Council members suggested candidate locations for targeted capital funding: Sand Key Park, Fort De Soto and other high-profile beach parks with measurable visitor activity. Several members argued for using the existing capital application and evaluation process rather than creating a new funding channel, and they urged staff to return at the next joint meeting with proposed language and parameters. "I think at this point I would prefer the application process that's already in place rather than try to recreate the wheel," one board member said.
Ending: Staff agreed to draft proposed plan language and parameters for the board’s consideration at an upcoming joint meeting with the Board of County Commissioners and to include guidance on what metrics will be used to demonstrate tourism association.
