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Nassau County TDC OKs vendor contracts, arts sponsorships and CVB FY25–26 budget
Summary
The Amelia Island Tourist Development Council voted July 23 to recommend tourist development tax funding for six vendor contracts, two arts sponsorships and approved the Amelia Island Convention and Visitors Bureau FY25–26 budget; board members also discussed new state language on allowable uses of TDT revenue.
Amelia Island, Fla. — The Amelia Island Tourist Development Council on July 23 recommended that Nassau County use tourist development tax (TDT) revenues to renew multiple vendor contracts, sponsor two island arts organizations and approved the Amelia Island Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) fiscal year 2025–26 budget.
The council approved six vendor contracts and two event sponsorship requests and voted to accept the CVB’s fiscal update and FY25–26 budget recommendation. The approvals cover photography and video services, branding and media-buying, golf promotion, public relations, website design and in-house creative services; the council recommended funding two local arts organizations that applied for TDT support.
Paul Bierons, vice president of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, presented the vendor contracts and said the bureau plans to continue several multiyear partnerships. “StarMark has been our agency of record for our branding, our media buying, all of our strategy, development,” Bierons told the council, and he said the bureau has budgeted an additional $1,200,000 for incremental media purchases next fiscal year as part of the StarMark engagement.
Votes at a glance - Tab B — Deremer Studios (photography/video): contract renewed at $42,900. Motion: moved by Board member Hartman, second by Commissioner Pointer; outcome: approved. - Tab C — StarMark International, Inc. (agency of record; branding, media): contract for $5,081,280 (bureau cited a $1,200,000 increment for next-year media buys). Motion: mover not specified, second by Board member West; outcome: approved. - Tab D — Florida’s First Coast of Golf, Inc. (golf promotion): $102,000. One board member abstained because of a role with the organization; outcome: approved. - Tab E — Hayworth Creative, Inc. (public relations): $170,000. Motion: approved. - Tab F — Ellen’s Marketplace (website/creative; listed as Ellen W. Jenkins d/b/a Ellen’s Marketplace): $40,000. Motion: approved. - Tab G — Savannah LLC (in-house creative/graphic design): amount not specified in the presentation. Motion: approved. - Tab H — Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival (event sponsorship): request $50,000 for the 2025–26 season (festival runs Oct. 2025–June 2026); motion: approved. Mariela Murphy, director of special events for the festival, told the council the organization has negotiated housing partnerships and expects overnight stays tied to performances. - Tab I — Amelia Island Opera (event sponsorship): request $15,000 for FY25–26 to support added shows and music camps; motion: approved. - Tab J — Fiscal updates and FY25–26 Amelia Island CVB budget: the council accepted the financial update and recommended approval of the CVB’s FY25–26 budget as presented. Motion: approved.
Bierons described the StarMark item as a larger line in the bureau’s budget and said the additional $1.2 million is targeted to media buys next year to sharpen messaging for the destination. The council’s fiscal discussion emphasized alignment with the Nassau County manager’s guidance to hold a flat operating budget while using targeted incremental media money for the brand push.
The board’s financial presenter summarized year-to-date collection trends and the CVB’s expectation that July and August would perform strongly. The presentation included tourism-performance metrics and a detailed budget spreadsheet the bureau attached to the packet; board members moved to accept the fiscal update and the FY25–26 budget recommendation.
Board members who voted in favor were present at roll call earlier in the meeting. Several motions were approved by voice vote with no recorded roll-call tallies in the transcript except where an abstention was explicitly raised for the Florida’s First Coast of Golf item.
Context and next steps The council’s recommendations will go to the Nassau County Board of County Commissioners for final appropriation of TDT funds. Council members also asked staff to prepare information to share with constituents about lawful and permissible uses of tourist development tax revenue in response to questions circulating in the community.
