Florida Senate - 2026 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 7046
Ì514398QÎ514398
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
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The Committee on Appropriations (Smith) recommended the
following:
1 Senate Amendment to Amendment (782234) (with title
2 amendment)
3
4 Between lines 33 and 34
5 insert:
6 Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (5) of section
7 125.0104, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
8 125.0104 Tourist development tax; procedure for levying;
9 authorized uses; referendum; enforcement.—
10 (5) AUTHORIZED USES OF REVENUE.—
11 (a) All tax revenues received pursuant to this section by a
12 county imposing the tourist development tax shall be used by
13 that county for the following purposes only:
14 1. To acquire, construct, extend, enlarge, remodel, repair,
15 improve, maintain, operate, or promote one or more:
16 a. Publicly owned and operated convention centers, sports
17 stadiums, sports arenas, coliseums, or auditoriums within the
18 boundaries of the county or subcounty special taxing district in
19 which the tax is levied;
20 b. Auditoriums that are publicly owned but are operated by
21 organizations that are exempt from federal taxation pursuant to
22 26 U.S.C. s. 501(c)(3) and open to the public, within the
23 boundaries of the county or subcounty special taxing district in
24 which the tax is levied; or
25 c. Aquariums or museums that are publicly owned and
26 operated or owned and operated by not-for-profit organizations
27 and open to the public, within the boundaries of the county or
28 subcounty special taxing district in which the tax is levied;
29 2. To promote zoological parks that are publicly owned and
30 operated or owned and operated by not-for-profit organizations
31 and open to the public;
32 3. To promote and advertise tourism in this state and
33 nationally and internationally; however, if tax revenues are
34 expended for an activity, service, venue, or event, the
35 activity, service, venue, or event must have as one of its main
36 purposes the attraction of tourists as evidenced by the
37 promotion of the activity, service, venue, or event to tourists;
38 4. To fund convention bureaus, tourist bureaus, tourist
39 information centers, and news bureaus as county agencies or by
40 contract with the chambers of commerce or similar associations
41 in the county, which may include any indirect administrative
42 costs for services performed by the county on behalf of the
43 promotion agency;
44 5. To finance beach park facilities, or beach, channel,
45 estuary, or lagoon improvement, maintenance, renourishment,
46 restoration, and erosion control, including construction of
47 beach groins and shoreline protection, enhancement, cleanup, or
48 restoration of inland lakes and rivers to which there is public
49 access as those uses relate to the physical preservation of the
50 beach, shoreline, channel, estuary, lagoon, or inland lake or
51 river. However, any funds identified by a county as the local
52 matching source for beach renourishment, restoration, or erosion
53 control projects included in the long-range budget plan of the
54 state’s Beach Management Plan, pursuant to s. 161.091, or funds
55 contractually obligated by a county in the financial plan for a
56 federally authorized shore protection project may not be used or
57 loaned for any other purpose. In counties of fewer than 100,000
58 population, up to 10 percent of the revenues from the tourist
59 development tax may be used for beach park facilities;
60 6. To acquire, construct, extend, enlarge, remodel, repair,
61 improve, maintain, operate, or finance public facilities within
62 the boundaries of the county or subcounty special taxing
63 district in which the tax is levied, if the public facilities
64 are needed to increase tourist-related business activities in
65 the county or subcounty special district and are recommended by
66 the county tourist development council created pursuant to
67 paragraph (4)(e). Tax revenues may be used for any related land
68 acquisition, land improvement, design and engineering costs, and
69 all other professional and related costs required to bring the
70 public facilities into service. As used in this subparagraph,
71 the term “public facilities” means major capital improvements
72 that have a life expectancy of 5 or more years, including, but
73 not limited to, transportation, sanitary sewer, solid waste,
74 drainage, potable water, and pedestrian facilities. Tax revenues
75 may be used for these purposes only if the following conditions
76 are satisfied:
77 a. In the county fiscal year immediately preceding the
78 fiscal year in which the tax revenues were initially used for
79 such purposes, at least $10 million in tourist development tax
80 revenue was received or the county is a fiscally constrained
81 county, as described in s. 218.67(1), located adjacent to the
82 Gulf of America or the Atlantic Ocean;
83 b. The county governing board approves the use for the
84 proposed public facilities by a vote of at least two-thirds of
85 its membership;
86 c. No more than 70 percent of the cost of the proposed
87 public facilities will be paid for with tourist development tax
88 revenues, and sources of funding for the remaining cost are
89 identified and confirmed by the county governing board;
90 d. At least 40 percent of all tourist development tax
91 revenues collected in the county are spent to promote and
92 advertise tourism as provided by this subsection; and
93 e. An independent professional analysis, performed at the
94 expense of the county tourist development council, demonstrates
95 the positive impact of the infrastructure project on tourist
96 related businesses in the county; or
97 7. To employ, train, equip, insure, or otherwise fund the
98 provision of lifeguards certified by the American Red Cross, the
99 Y.M.C.A., or an equivalent nationally recognized aquatic
100 training program, for beaches on the Gulf of America or the
101 Atlantic Ocean; or
102 8. To fund operations and maintenance of a commuter rail
103 service as defined in s. 341.301 within a regional
104 transportation authority established under chapter 343,
105 including operations and maintenance funding contributions
106 agreed to in an interlocal funding agreement between the county
107 and municipal commuter rail funding partners allowing the use of
108 such funds.
109
110 Subparagraphs 1. and 2. may be implemented through service
111 contracts and leases with lessees that have sufficient expertise
112 or financial capability to operate such facilities.
113
114 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
115 And the title is amended as follows:
116 Delete line 2246
117 and insert:
118 applicability; amending s. 125.0104, F.S.; revising
119 the purposes for which counties are required to use
120 tourist development tax revenues; amending ss.
121 125.0168, 166.223, and