As tourism booms, so does debate over bed tax dollars

• published: 19 Mar 2015
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Major League Baseball was not a very popular subject at a joint meeting the Pinellas County Commission and its Tourist Development Council. "A majority of economists cannot tell you unequivocally that a sports stadium does anything to the [hospitality] industry," hotelier Tony Satterfield said, referring to a Wall Street Journal article he recently forwarded to county commissioners. "A majority of economists don't agree that sports stadiums add anything other than civic pride." His comments came as the two bodies, one elected, the other appointed, discussed how to allocate "bed tax" dollars. Last year, the five percent tax on hotel rooms and other short-term accommodations raised roughly $35 million. Generally speaking, the industry wants most of that money spent on marketing, while municipalities want more available for capital projects, such as museums, aquariums and stadiums. "I'm just going to put the number out there: we estimate our ask is going to probably be in the range of $4 to 5 million a year," Dunedin Mayor Julie Bujalski told the assembly, referring to negotiations with the Toronto Blue Jays for a new spring training facility in her community. "We cannot afford to pay for that." After the meeting, Bujalski told FOX 13 News the Jays facility would cost between $60 and $70 million, and a deal could be finalized by the end of the baseball season. The bigger surprise was the suggestion of county commission chairman John Morroni to discuss raising the bed tax by a penny, to six percent. That new revenue stream could be bonded to generate $100 million or more for a new stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays. The TDC agreed to discuss raising the tax at its next meeting. St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman sits on the TDC, and later told FOX 13 News "Unless somebody tells me something that convinces me otherwise, I think we ought to put that sixth cent in our pocket for right now and not impose it." Informed of the mayor's comment, Morroni responded "Yeah. And see that was the elephant in the room today -- what's going on with the Rays? We don't know what's going on there." The county's current obligation to help pay for Tropicana Field ends September 30th. That will free up about $7 million a year, which started the discussion about allocating bed tax revenues. The Rays have not asked for any money, and are not expected to ask until they are allowed to explore stadium sites outside of St. Petersburg. Morroni's concern: Pinellas' ability to raise the bed tax depends on collecting $30 million a year in bed taxes. "If we don't act on it now while we're eligible...and say God forbid there's something that happens in the country where tourism goes down again, like 9/11...then we won't be eligible," Morroni explained. "We're leaving money on the table, basically, if we don't go with that sixth percent."