Subject:
Title
Direction, Re: Tourism Development Council’s Recommendation to use Cultural carry forward funds to pay for the Tourism + Indian River Lagoon Grant Program for the Fiscal Year 2023-24
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Fiscal Impact:
$1 million in Tourism Development Tax funds are budgeted annually for the Indian River Lagoon Grant Program from the Beach Fund (1442). A transfer of $1 million from the Cultural Fund (1446) will occur if the Board directs.
Dept/Office:
Tourism Development Office
Requested Action:
Recommendation
It is requested that the Board provide direction to staff regarding the Tourist Development Council’s recommendation to use Cultural carry forward funds to pay for the Tourism + Indian River Lagoon (IRL) Grant Program funded from the Tourism Development Tax (TDT) for the FY 2023-24 fiscal year.
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Summary Explanation and Background:
On March 7, the Board discussed the Tourism Development Council’s (TDC) recommended to suspend Tourism + Lagoon Grant funding for one year. The Board gave direction to staff to take this item back to the (TDC) for review and to make a recommendation on how to pay for Tourism + Lagoon Grants in FY23-24. The three recommendations that the TDC considered:
• Hold the $1 million for Tourism + Lagoon Grants from the Beach Fund unless there are no named storms by September 30, 2024
• Do not award Tourism + Lagoon Grants for FY2023-2024 and increase grant fund to $1.1 million over the following 10 years
• Use Cultural Fund to pay for Tourism + Lagoon Grants
The TDC met on March 22 and recommended, in an 8-1 vote, to use the Cultural carry forward funds in the amount of $1 million to cover these grants. Upon approval of the Board, staff will initiate the transfer of these funds into the appropriate fund category (with County Attorney’s Office guidance) in the 2023-24 budget. In addition, the TDC also voted 9-0 to recommend not diverting further funds from the Beach Fund for other uses beyond beach renourishment until that fund is once again solvent.
On February 22, 2023, the Tourist Development Council voted 9-0 to recommend that the Board of County Commissioners suspend the Tourism + IRL grant program for the FY 2023-24 year due to the allocation of the remaining balance of the Beach Funds to pay for expenses related to beach repair after Hurricanes Ian and Nicole. Repairs for the storms will be $22,488,179, which will utilize all Beach Funds and require an additional $6,442,628 to be drawn from ARPA funds, as was approved by the Board on December 6, 2022. The project is FEMA eligible and staff is expecting that the Beach Fund will be reimbursed; FEMA reimbursements typically occur in about three years. Until FEMA reimbursement is received, if another storm event occurs during the 2023 hurricane season that requires repair, the Beach fund will be depleted.
Clerk to the Board Instructions:
Please provide a memo to the Tourism Development Office and the County Attorney’s Office