Janet Begley

Special to TCPALM

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Tourists flocked to Indian River County in 2018 and the county has almost $3 million to show for it.

Tourism taxes, commonly known as the bed tax or hotel tax, pumped $2.96 million into county coffers, up $300,000 — or about 11 percent — over 2017.

That’s almost $500,000, or 20 percent, more than the county projected when it drafted its 2017-18 budget, anticipating $2.48 million in tourism taxes by the end of September, county Budget Director Kristin Daniels said.

More: Six organizations to share tourism money in 2018-19

The county collects a 4 percent tax on all short-term lodging including hotels, campgrounds, mobile homes and timeshares. That means anyone who rents or leases an accommodation for six months or less must pay a total of 11 percent tax: 6 percent state sales tax, 1 percent county sales tax and the 4 percent tourist-development tax.

Each year the Tourism Development Council decides how that tax revenue will be spent. In May it picked six local organizations to share the tourism-tax revenue during 2018-19. The County Commission approved the allocations before the beginning of the last fiscal year.

County Commission Vice Chairwoman and Tourist Development Council member Susan Adams said it’s clear from the revenue up-tick that the tourism program is working.

“There is a collaboration underway to market the county as a whole,” said Adams. “Indian River County, along with its tourism partners, are driving visitors here and we are seeing our efforts pay off. We’re pretty excited about it.”

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Indian River County Chamber of Commerce, the Sebastian River Area Chamber of Commerce, the Treasure Coast Sports Commission, the Cultural Council of Indian River County, Vero Heritage and the Indian River County Historical Society all applied for funds for their tourism initiatives.

“It’s awesome that our partners are doing so much to cover the different niche markets they represent,” Adams said. “Now that the economy has bounced back, we are seeing these great results.”

The two chambers of commerce will share $566,876; the Sports Commission will receive $200,000 for marketing; the Cultural Council, $75,000; Vero Heritage, $20,000; and the Historical Society, $32,000. Organizations must first spend the funds on programs that increase tourism to the county, and then seek reimbursement for their expenditures.



Tourism-tax revenues

2016-17: $2,667,635

2017-18: $2,959,840

Increase: $292,205 (11 percent)

Source: Tourist Development Council, Indian River County