A provision in Senate Proposed Bill (SPB) 7034, published Monday by the Florida Senate Committee on Finance and Tax, would place a new limit on how much counties can spend from tourist development tax revenues on public infrastructure projects. The proposed cap would restrict counties from spending more than $50 million per year on public facilities, and only after they allocate at least 40 percent of total tourist development tax collections toward advertising and promoting tourism.
Tourist development taxes, also known as bed taxes, are collected on short-term lodging and are used by counties to fund tourism promotion, marketing, and tourism-related capital projects. Current law allows counties to use the revenue for projects like sports stadiums, convention centers, and certain public infrastructure such as water, sewer, transportation, and pedestrian facilities that support tourism-related businesses.
Under the proposed change, counties that collected at least $10 million in tourist development tax revenue in the prior fiscal year would be subject to the new limitations. They would still need to meet existing requirements to use the funds for public infrastructure, including a two-thirds vote of the county commission, a funding plan showing that at least 30 percent of the project cost comes from non-tourism-tax sources, and an independent study showing that the project would benefit tourism in the area.
The $50 million annual cap would apply regardless of how much revenue a county collects in total. For counties like Orange, Miami-Dade, and Hillsborough that collect large amounts of tourism tax revenue, the new limit could affect long-range planning for large-scale capital projects tied to tourism.
The provision is one of several included in SPB 7034, which outlines a broader set of tax policy changes estimated to reduce state and local revenues by more than $2.1 billion in the 2025–26 fiscal year. Other parts of the bill include multiple sales tax holidays, new corporate tax credits for rural investment and nonprofit contributions, property tax revisions, and a statewide study of the property tax system.
If enacted, the infrastructure spending limit would take effect on July 1, 2025. The legislation is under review by the Senate Committee on Finance and Tax and is expected to be considered during the 2025 legislative session.
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