Opinion: Can The Lifeguard Program Save The Tourist Development Council?

As you know I believe all Tourist Development Tax (TDT) dollars should come straight into the county coffers with no Tallahassee limitation. Turns out, the Speaker Pro Tempore believes much of the same and those dollars should be used for property tax relief. 

More importantly, a super majority in the house are on board, and have the legislative momentum to make it come to fruition. 

Enter the lifeguard program and projects like the cleaning up of Lullwater Lake. Last session, thanks to Senator Jay Trumbull the Tourist Development Council (TDC) can now fund our lifeguard program. 

So how does that help save the TDC? 

The TDC can now help with direct property tax relief and can stand in the gap where the state to some extent has abdicated its responsibilities to keep the highways and byways free and clear. 

The lifeguard program costs PCB roughly two million dollars a year. Now that number needs to go up by about ten percent so we can give our lifeguards a twenty percent raise to retain the ones we have and attract new talent, but we will save that for another day.

Roughly speaking, there are ten thousand homesteaded properties in PCB. So, if I were a member of the TDC I would recommend we fund the program in total and those dollars be used for a homestead exemption from the special assessments. 

Now look at what you have done. The TDC in Bay County has shown they are in total alignment with the legislature; they have created ten thousand lobbyists on their behalf and have a rational basis to petition the legislature for relief. 

Then I would highlight given the governor has vetoed the funding for the clean up of Lullwater Lake. Which is an integral part of flood control on the beach, and that the TDC is willing to step into the gap and fund that project. 

But why is that important. The legislature realized all waterways flowing onto the beach impact the quality of those beaches and allowed the TDC to fund their maintenance. 

See here is the thing. If Tallahassee mandates all TDT dollars to go directly to property tax relief, projects like the cleanup of Lullwater Lake and beach restoration will never get done. 

Good, bad or indifferent mustering the political will to get any board of commissioners to vote to spend fifteen million dollars on the cleanup of Lullwater Lake or beach restoration would be uncertain at best. When the residents perceive those dollars are coming straight out of their pocket and not from the Tourist Development Tax. 

So, if I were representative Griffiths I would sue for peace with the speaker and meet him halfway. Mandate fifty percent of TDT dollars go straight to property tax relief, twenty five percent for approved projects and twenty five percent to marketing. 

And just like that the TDC, business owner, locals and tourists alike all win. 

Local Panama City Beach Rumble Podcaster - Blogger Divorce Or Civil War
www.RexLeeReid.com

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