Flagler County presents countywide beach-renourishment funding plan; municipalities ask for more detail

FLAGLER COUNTY — At a joint workshop on March 12, 2025, leaders from Flagler County and six municipalities reviewed a draft countywide beach management and funding plan that centers on a proposed half‑cent sales tax, a $160 per‑property benefit unit for barrier‑island properties and targeted uses of the Tourist Development Tax to pay for initial construction and periodic renourishment.

County Chair Andy Dantz said the plan “really rests on the fact that the beach is a countywide benefit,” and described a funding package that combines county sales tax revenue, a portion of inland municipalities’ sales tax allocations, tourist development tax revenue and a municipal service benefit unit for barrier‑island properties.

The proposal aims to spread the cost of constructing and maintaining an expanded dune and renourishment program across residents, visitors and municipalities. Under the draft distribution the Flagler County Board of County Commissioners would contribute the county’s full share of the half‑cent sales tax — approximately $4,700,000 in the first year — while inland cities such as Palm Coast and Bunnell would reserve 50% of their sales tax allocation for local needs and make the remaining 50% available to the county pool. The county also proposes asking the Tourist Development Council to allocate the next three years of a capital set‑aside (one‑fifth of the 5% bed tax by statute) to…