Rep. MATT GAETZ Drops Tourism Tax Bill

Reminds me of what Gore Vidal said when Truman Capote died: "Good career move."

Rep. Matt Gaetz drops plan to require sharing of local tourism taxes with state
Posted: December 5, 2015 - 12:14am | Updated: December 5, 2015 - 8:26am
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Tourism officials opposed to bed tax proposal
By TIA MITCHELL
tia.mitchell@jacksonville.com
TALLAHASSEE — Rep. Matt Gaetz said he is no longer backing a plan to send local tourism dollars to the state after hearing complaints from Florida’s counties.
“We brought up the issue of setting aside a dedicated funding source for Visit Florida; the workability of that concept seems to have some real challenges,” Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, told WJHG-TV Channel 7. “So I don’t expect there will ever be a vote on any legislation that will dedicate a funding source for Visit Florida from local tourist development councils.”
Gaetz also said he will no longer push to give the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association more control over which residents serve on local tourist development council boards. Those appointments will continue to come from local commissions.
There were already hints on social media that Gaetz had retreated from his plan, which also would have restricted how tourist tax dollars, commonly referred to as the bed tax, can be used. Asked on Facebook whether he supported sending local tax dollars to the state, Gaetz said Thursday morning that there was no formal proposal.
He said he was shifting focus to a single provision in his proposal that would allow tourist development councils to use tourist tax dollars for public safety costs.
“We did workshop about a dozen ideas, but my priority within them for actual consideration is using some TDC funds for law enforcement,” he wrote.
sponger2 12/05/15 - 07:54 am 20Good. Let's build schools with it.
It's our money. Tourism is developed to where the locals (minus the shop owners an B&B's on central downtown) can't stand it. Let's use this existing revenue stream to build little Marvin's playground paradises and repeal the sales tax rape imposed by the residents of north county, that's 61% of the 21% percent who voted, or 12.81% percent of the eligible voters.

St. Augustine Record Editorial: Bed tax scheme will choke on its own absurdity
Posted: December 3, 2015 - 9:58pm | Updated: December 4, 2015 - 12:10am
The local tourism types are up in arms about a proposed bed tax bill taking root in Tallahassee. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Fort Walton Beach Republican, is pushing new legislation that will allow the state access to the county-generated tourism tax cookie jar.
The Record’s Sheldon Gardner outlined the issue in a Page 1 story Thursday. Basically, the idea as proposed by Gaetz would allow the state to siphon off up to 20 percent of St. Johns and other Florida counties’ bed tax dollars. That money would be diverted to Visit Florida, a nonprofit funding arm of Gov. Rick Scott’s pet agency, the Department of Economic Opportunity. As the name suggests, its scope is much broader than pure tourism, though it gives the economic value of tourism its due. It’s overreaching goal is jobs, not bed nights.
Gaetz’s proposal doesn’t stop there. In addition to taking funding from local control, it seeks to lessen local authority as well. It mandates that local bed tax authorities spend 40 percent of all revenue on marketing local tourism (which, of course, they already do).
It also allows tourism industry groups to sue local councils if they feel the bed tax dollars are being misused or, in practice, not used sufficiently for their purposes.
It would allow up to 10 percent of Tourist Development Council dollars to be spent on local law enforcement, which is the only part of this idea that’s worth considering. Our tourism events here do put a serious strain on our local law enforcement and a strain on their budgets. Perhaps visitors should share the load.
Finally the bill would force the inclusion of select members of the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association on to the local bed tax councils. Currently county commissioners appoint these councils. Under the proposal, the FRLA would appoint six of nine council members, with county commissioners sweeping up.
This is, of course, purely political. Gaetz is running for his dad’s senate seat next year. The senior Gaetz is term-limited out. Insiders say that Gaetz will face a strong opponent in that district. Currying favor with Scott by pumping an estimated $80 million dollars in a dedicated revenue stream annually for Scott’s Department of Economic Opportunity will buy him an endorsement. The FRLA was a major contributor in Scott’s last campaign, and it looks like it may well be one for Gaetz’s senate run as well ...
The proposed legislation is almost comical if it wasn’t being introduced in Tallahassee where the weirdest things can and do happen. But we can’t imagine how this piece of law could get traction, if for no other reason than the House and Senate don’t agree on anything.
Wresting control of locally generated, locally earmarked, locally spent tax dollars is rarely a recipe for anything but disaster. In this case, it only feeds an unending appetite by Gov. Scott and lawmakers to cut taxes predominately on the business community and shift the weight anywhere else.
This notion should be put out of its misery before it ever gets a chance to be mishandled in the coming legislative session