New state law lets tourist tax pay lifeguards; Flagler officials discuss how to use it

Flagler County and six municipal governments discussed whether to use recently changed state law to pay for lifeguards with Tourist Development Tax revenue.

The change — discussed by county administrators and municipal leaders at a joint workshop Aug. 27 — follows passage of House Bill 731, which the county attorney and staff say allows TDT revenues to be used for lifeguard payroll if allocations are tied to traveler versus local visitation.

That mattered because the lifeguard program’s budget is not trivial: participants said the last full study put the total cost a little below $400,000. Eric Cooley, City of Flagler Beach, said the legislative change is "favorable" and noted tourists account for the majority of rescues: "The tourists and nonresidents of Flagler Beach are the vast majority of the ones getting pulled out of the water." Rick Dahlheimer, vice mayor of Flagler Beach, said using TDT funds would relieve pressure on municipal general funds: "This would certainly be a help to both the city and the county because the city wouldn't have to pull money from their general fund."

Officials outlined constraints and next steps rather than making decisions. County staff noted a two-thirds County Commission vote is required to use TDT funds and that local allocations require a clear method to split payments between visitor-driven and local usage. Several elected officials asked staff to assemble data showing where visitors go and how frequently lifeguards are used at guarded accesses, so jurisdictions can judge whether a TDT contribution is appropriate.

The group also reviewed an existing interlocal agreement (ILA) that governs the current program. A municipal official noted the agreement was amended in 2020 to include a three‑year commitment and an automatic renewal provision unless notice is given; the agreement now also includes a cost-of-living adjustment mechanism. Several speakers urged revisiting the ILA so lifeguard funding does not become an annual budget line-item that can be removed during hard budget years.

Participants discussed the possibility of expanding guarded areas beyond the central Flagler Beach access to reduce crowding but did not reach agreement. No formal motion was taken. Instead, staff were asked to return with usage data, a cost breakdown that shows how the just‑under‑$400,000 total is allocated, and proposed revisions to the ILA for each governing body to consider during their next budget cycle.