Tourist development tax protection and Visit Florida funding
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Thank you, Marcy. Okay, and then uh the next issues that we're gonna address, and let's see, is Adam here? Adam's here? Okay. Yeah, he's I'd be. Come on up, Bad.
So now the issues that you're going to be hearing now again it's uh as Joanna said, is this something that we want to include when these usually are addressed annually and it's part of other associations uh that that do this as well, but it's worth talking about and and and having our support behind it.
That being said Good afternoon, Commissioners. Uh uh Adam Thomas, Tourism Director for Pasco County. First I'd like to thank uh Commissioner uh Chairman Jack Mariano for storming the Capitol with me during Tourism Day to speak to our legislation uh about these uh tourism initiatives. Uh And they are our legislative positions for 2023. Uh first is the stop expansion of the use of the tourist development tax. Uh the industry as well as uh our own Pasco County uh tourist development
council opposes legislation that would expand the use of tourist development tax. Destinations Florida and the industry is against any expansion of the use of the tourist developments act for purposes other than tourism.
We saw this last year when a representative filed a bill that would drastically change our our business model um as well as visit florida um bringing five percent of our own local tourist development tax dollars back to fund visit florida and seventy five percent of that funding uh that's collected on an annual basis would have to go towards uh marketing rural counties also funding uh marketing the uh states forestry
as well as the state park system as well as marketing the uh rural counties as well so uh that would actually hurt our business model and the way we effectively market and communicate with our consumers out in the marketplace. Uh I next is um
can I just say say one thing I was at the Florida League of Cities um conference last week Orange County, uh Central Florida is really big into uh doing what you're saying, by the way. Um it's a it's a major, major issue over there and I expect this issue.
It will be in FAC. It er it is every year. Yeah. So Although you we have one county that I think is my uh that that that does ask if they could do it. It's like you're you're and everybody speaks up and says, If you start you know, tweaking it, you're gonna have that problem down the line. So go ahead.
Secondly, we have uh funding for Visit Flor uh Florida. We want to uh maximize the opportunity for funding for Visit Florida so that Florida industry tourism industry can create jobs, promote economic growth, keep resident tax space low, and also generate sales tax revenue. Uh Destinations Florida, as well as the industry, supports uh fully funding Visit Florida to enable DMOs such as myself, ourselves, to maximize our marketing efforts and co-ops. We're seeing at this this year
that Visit Florida their budget was raised from $50 million to $75 million. And I can tell you right now, we're actually planning for our bus our biggest co-op marketing buy with Visit Florida without them. Coming on board and co-opting our marketing efforts, we would just be a raindrop in the ocean. So we need to visit Florida and we need to maximize their funding.
And I'll say the uh the governor did a great job I thought leading the way to put that extra money into it to put the legislature to go that way and that kinda like squashed the other stuff that was being talked about and put the money in. So I think it is a big thing we we push that. That's that's when we can give him a big attaboy on the right support.
I agree. And finally is a short-term rental taxation support legislation that codifies fully full collections and remittance of the tourist development tax by short-term rentals and requires a Department of Revenue number or similar unique property identification number to be included on all short-term rental advertisements.
Anything further with that? I think it has unanimous support there. No complexity. See that Stacy? No complexity. Nice and easy. Of course they didn't. Thanks for your support. Thank you.
I just want healthcare. I'm definitely gonna have Sean McGarvey come up.