Erosion and storms like Hurricane Matthew are gradually eating away at the beautiful beaches and dunes in Flagler County, Florida. To raise revenue to help protect and preserve these important natural resources, the Florida county has decided to increase its tourist development tax.

The tourist development tax rate on transient rental transactions within Flagler County will increase from 4 to 5 percent as of June 1, 2017. This will bring the combined tax rate for Flagler County transient rentals to 12 percent (6 percent state sales tax, 0.5 percent small county surtax, 0.5 percent school capital outlay surtax, and the 5 percent tourist development tax). Additional information about the rate increase is available from the Florida Department of Revenue.

Initially, the additional tax revenue will fund beach repairs. By the third year, “The share going to beach repair will fall to $500,000, while the share going to tourism promotion, advertising, salaries and travel will increase to $1.5 million a year.” By year three, the rate increase will also raise revenue for capital improvements for tourism.

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