Tourist council questions Brevard's plan to use hotel tax to help pay for ocean lifeguards

Brevard County Tourist Development Council members are questioning the legality of the county's use of hotel tax money to help pay the salaries of ocean lifeguards , and want Florida's Attorney General's Office to weigh in on the matter.

The TDC — an advisory board to the Brevard County Commission ― voted 5-1 on Wednesday to ask the County Commission to seek the legal opinion from the Attorney General's Office.

Their action came one day after the County Commission voted 3-2 to fund beach lifeguards in the county's 2024-25 budget through a combination of money from the county's general fund budget; from the county's 5% tourist development tax on hotel room rentals, vacation rentals and other short-term rentals; and from three municipalities ― Cocoa Beach, Indialantic and Melbourne Beach.

"I don't think it's legal" to use the tourist tax for lifeguard salaries, TDC Vice Chair Tom Hermansen said during Wednesday's TDC discussion of the issue.

Hermansen, a hotel owner, disputes the conclusions of a previous legal opinion from Brevard County Attorney Morris Richardson that the use of tourist tax money for lifeguards is legal. Hermansen said he thought Richardson's legal conclusion was "an answer that the majority of the County Commission wanted, and I don't think it will hold muster." Hermansen said the Attorney General's Office might have a viewpoint different from Richardson.

So Hermansen and four other TDC members voted in favor of seeking the attorney general's legal opinion on the matter.

TDC Chair Jason Steele voted against Hermansen's proposal. Steele also chairs the Brevard County Commission, and spearheaded the effort to get commission approval of the $3.74 million funding package for lifeguards for the county's 2024-25 budget year that included use of $1.57 million in tourist tax money.

That funding plan helped get approval from a County Commission majority to continue lifeguard service at four municipal-maintained locations in Cocoa Beach, and one each in Indialantic and Melbourne Beach that otherwise would have been eliminated.

Steele said he trusts Richardson's legal opinion on the issue, and noted that TDC revenue contributed $934,654 toward the $3.98 million in county ocean lifeguard costs in the 2023-24 budget year that is about to end.

Deputy Brevard County Attorney Alex Esseesse told TDC members that the County Commission also had adopted a resolution making a finding that spending on lifeguards is an eligible use of tourist tax revenue.

The TDC's proposal would have to go to the County Commission for final approval before a request could be made to the Attorney General's Office for a legal opinion. There is a possibility that the County Commission would vote against seeking that legal opinion.

Steele said he would recommend to the County Commission that it ask the Attorney General's Office for the legal opinion the TDC is requesting.

"My personal opinion is we are on solid legal ground" with Richardson's opinion, Steele said.

Opening a Pandora's box

County Commission OKs funding package: Brevard approves plan to continue lifeguard coverage at six municipal beaches

Hermansen said he felt that the tourist tax money that was designated for lifeguards should be used for what it was intended. That includes marketing the county to attract tourists; grants for cultural and sports events; and grants to help pay for capital projects that will benefit tourism.

While Hermansen said nobody disagrees that lifeguards are needed on the beaches, he said funding for lifeguards should come out of the county's public safety budgets ― not the budget of the Space Coast Office of Tourism.

He said use of tourist tax money for lifeguards amounts to a move to "open Pandora's box" and sets "a terrible precedent" for the future.

TDC member Julie Braga, a hotel general manager, said she felt the use of the tourist tax for lifeguards represents the latest example of "a raid on tourist development tax funds." Braga added she feels that the TDC has "been under attack," alluding to the County Commission circumventing past recommendations and processes of the TDC and its subcommittees.

Hermansen said only one other of Florida's 67 counties ― Walton County ― uses tourist tax money to help pay for life safety personnel, and that use was established via special legislation approved by the Florida Legislature.

Steele said Hermansen could be opening up a Pandora's box on the other side by questioning use of the tourist tax for lifeguards.

Steele said he felt the lifeguard funding package county commissioners approved that included use of tourist tax money was the only way to get buy-in from a majority of the County Commission in advance of the start of the new budget year on Oct. 1.

"I'm not happy about it at all" that more general fund money did not go toward lifeguards, Steele said, while adding that he felt that his pushing for Tuesday's County Commission action "was the proper thing to do" to get lifeguard coverage implemented.

Steele said getting comprehensive lifeguard coverage along the county's tourist beaches was the most important issue he has dealt with during his 1½ years as a county commissioner. He said Brevard's beaches can be dangerous because of rip currents and shark attacks, and he did not want local tourism to suffer because of negative publicity related to drownings.

Dave Berman is business editor at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Berman at dberman@floridatoday.com , on X at @bydaveberman and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dave.berman.54

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Tourist council questions Brevard's plan to use hotel tax to help pay for ocean lifeguards