Walton County TDC: pending Florida bills could shift tourist tax to property credits, imperil tourism funding

Walton County Tourist Development Council members at a public workshop warned that several Florida bills moving through the Legislature could substantially change how the county’s Tourist Development Tax (TDT) is used and reduce funding for tourism promotion and beach projects.

Council members and staff said the measures under discussion include what the presenters called “house bills 12 21 and 7 33,” which they said would require that 75% of TDT revenue be applied as a property tax credit, eliminate local tourist development councils by year’s end, and require a public referendum after an eight‑year period on whether counties may continue collecting the tax. Meeting participants said those provisions would “essentially eliminate funding for tourism promotion, marketing, and tourism facilities in the manner that we all know and understand its uses for currently.” (Meeting facilitator)

The council discussed additional legislation described in the workshop as “SB 70 34,” language in which would revise conditions under which TDT dollars may be used for infrastructure. Under current state rules cited in the workshop, local governments may use TDT dollars for capital infrastructure projects only if a specified marketing threshold is met and several other conditions apply. “So the current rule is that you can use tourist development tax dollars for public infrastructure projects… To do that, one of the requirements is that 40% of your budget must be spent on the marketing element of tourism,” said Clay, Walton County legal counsel. He illustrated the rule this way: “If you collect $10,000,000, you've got to spend $4,000,000 of it on marketing.”

Workshop presenters said Walton County currently spends about 24.3% of its TDT budget on marketing, well below the 40% marketing threshold cited in the bills discussed. One bill provision discussed would redefine the 40% test as “at least 40% of all TDT revenue collected in the county up to a total of $50,000,000 annually are spent to promote and advertise tourism,” a revision that staff said could change how local funds qualify for infrastructure uses.

Presenters also flagged language they described in “HB 70 33” that would expand which counties may use TDT funds for lifeguards, and a summary of “senate bill 16 64” that would require renewal of some local option taxes by referendum before 2033 unless the referendum sets a new expiration date. Council members emphasized that, based on reports from statewide associations and contacts in Tallahassee, there currently appears to be limited appetite in the Senate and at the governor’s office for passage of the bills in their current form — but they cautioned that the situation could change and said they would continue monitoring developments.

The workshop included an economic-impact presentation from county staff citing a local research analysis that estimates the tourism economy supports more than 30,000 jobs in Walton County. Presenters said a 10% reduction in visitation would translate to roughly 1,100 jobs and about $55,700,000 in lost labor income locally; they warned deeper declines would multiply those losses. County staff also said that if the county needed to replace roughly $60,000,000 in TDT‑funded programs through property taxes, finance officials estimated it would require a 1.5‑mill increase in the county millage rate — an increase the presenter characterized as an approximately 42% property‑tax increase.

Workshop participants described the statutory conditions that must be met for TDT funds to be used on capital projects beyond marketing: a two‑thirds vote by the Board of County Commissioners, and an independent professional study demonstrating a connection between the proposed infrastructure improvement and tourism benefits. Clay said the independent analysis requirement has been “the part that most have had the hardest time” meeting because it must be produced by a party without conflicts, not by an industry consultant or contractor seeking the project.

The council also discussed “Senate Bill 16 22,” described in the workshop as the repeal of previously implemented customary‑use legislation. Clay said that bill appears headed to the governor for signature and that, for Walton County specifically, the county’s customary‑use litigation was largely resolved more than two years ago with limited exceptions on appeal; he said the county welcomed an amendment to the bill that addresses beach restoration projects. The workshop noted Walton County’s existing penny dedicated to beach renourishment and said those projects — cited at Miramar Beach as an example where renourishment reduced public access disputes — could be supported by the bill’s language.

Council members and staff said the organization is preparing and standing by messaging to describe the value of tourism to residents and to ask for public advocacy should bill language move forward. “We’re currently working on that messaging and pushing some of that messaging out as well,” the facilitator said. No formal policy or vote on advocacy was taken at the workshop. The meeting ended with a motion to adjourn.