Commission plans top-down overhaul of TDC

Commission plans top-down overhaul of TDC

By PETER GUINTA
peter.guinta@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 05/13/09

The 2010 Tourist Development Council budget proposed just weeks ago should be thrown out and another one developed, St. Johns County commissioners suggested at a workshop Tuesday.

This was not the first time they had mentioned the idea, but it was the first time they put it on a list of items for County Administrator Michael Wanchick to research and to come back with recommendations.

The board brainstormed, also mentioning the idea that the Visitors and Convention Bureau -- a long-time subordinate of the TDC -- should be split from it and a new marketing plan developed for it.

Commissioner Mark Miner said, "Right now, both (the TDC and VCB) are more or less one entity."

Those ideas seem like good ones, Commission Chairwoman Cyndi Stevenson said, adding, "My primary concern is to consider why we want to change."

That was the crux of the meeting: figuring out why commissioners and the public were dissatisfied with the TDC right now.

Residents had complained they didn't know what county bed tax money was buying for the county, or even how to find that information, leading to accusations of secrecy.

The subject also came to public attention when the commission began discussions on hiking the bed tax from 3 cents to 5 cents.

The county collects $5.5 million per year with the 3 cent tax. That money is spent on tourism advertising, the St. Augustine Amphitheatre, cultural events, festivals, beach restoration, fireworks and other aspects of attracting tourism.

But add two more cents, and bed tax collections could go to serious money -- $8 million.

Hoteliers don't want to charge their customers more tax unless they see it will be used to attract even more tourists.

The commission will be talking about that in other workshops, Commissioner Ken Bryan said.

Increased attention to bed tax expenditures began in earnest after the commission hired a consultant and held public discussions about a county master tourism plan. Millions of dollars will be collected in advance of St. Augustine's 450th birthday celebration. Businessmen, artists, attraction owners and tour companies, among others, wanted a say in where it will go.

Bryan organized the workshop and outlined bed tax ordinances. In 1986, voters approved a 2 cent levy, though they rejected earlier attempts in 1977, 1978 and 1981, Bryan said.

In 1991, the voters approved a third cent, but the commission at the time mistakenly, Bryan said, slotted the proceeds all toward advertising without consulting the voters.

Other suggestions the commissioners considered Tuesday included:

* Dismissal of the current TDC board of directors. That idea was later thrown out.

* Review of the Visitors and Convention Bureau contract.

* Fixing that "mistake" made by the 1991 commission.

This workshop, the second one held on the TDC, indicated that the board wanted to provide more accountability and transparency to the TDC.

Commissioner Phil Mays said the board wants to examine the overall use of bed tax money.

"It's a new day for the TDC," he said.

Vice Chairman Ron Sanchez said he didn't see any problem in raising the bed tax.

"I don't know what the damage would be. They're charging 5, 7 or 8 percent everywhere else," Sanchez said. "Right now, let the TDC function as it is.

"We're looking at a couple of months before we make any decision on this. (But) if there is something we want to change, we'll have to send it to the voters."

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