Bed tax spike in Walton County, Florida [update: 1/2 cent approved]

[Bob Wells]

I would venture to guess they are seeking folk from other locals other than going through the hub stop in ATL. Besides look at the # of flights from ATL to here.

 

[Jdarg]

Bottom line...we've tapped out the "driving demographic," that being those families within driving distance of our beaches. We have done our best to attract those families and saturate those markets with our message. If we want to increase our visibility and widen our net so to speak, then this bed tax is the best way for us to fund that. Attracting a major carrier like Southwest would be a boon to our local economy for two reasons. One: build it and they will come...we would move beyond the driving demographic to a more national (or international) demographic. Two: How cool would it be for us to have the option of flying out of here on Southwest? Not bad. Bay County has already ponied up money to attract Southwest and we said we would do our part in Walton County. It makes sense to me that we hold up our end of the bargain. The better our region does, the better we do.
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Sam Story's explanation regarding the driving distance demographic is also how I interpret the need for bringing in Southwest.

 

[wrobert]

Below is a statement from the new airport website:



Has the local business community contributed the $529,500 or is the bed tax increase envisioned for that purpose?

Why Southwest? Southwest does not even fly out of ATL. It seems that local leaders would want an airline that can connect with other flights at the world's busiest airport three hundred miles away.

Good questions. But unable to establish communication in order to get answers.

 

[SGB]

What puzzles me the most is that our local tax watch dog groups are against this. Their mission statements are to protect the Walton County tax payer. They are lobbying against a "bed tax" paid by non-residents that will go toward a benefit for Walton County taxpaying residents. If the "bed tax" gets shot down, and Walton County still wants to attract more families to our area, then the cost will now come out of Walton County taxpayer wallets. So in a sense, these tax watch groups are lobbying against their own self interest.

WIth the current economic climate, much of this bed tax will end up essentially being paid by the rental home owner, many of whom are local, myself included. Many of the inquiries we have received on our rental home this year have requested a discount. During parts of the year, we have heavily discounted our rates to keep the house rented and visitors coming. The visitors are looking at the total cost of renting, including taxes, and deciding if they can afford to rent your house. So if the tax is $20 more for the week, that's $20 less I can charge for my rental rate. because the total cost can't go up. So in essence, for every dollar I have to collect in taxes, it is one dollar that doesn't go to me or my management company. In many cases, the cost will be coming out of Walton County taxpayer wallets.

 

[wrobert]

Opposition to this tax appears to be overwhelmingly leaning toward the small or single property owner. I have seen support letters from Sandestin, Resortquest, Army Aviation Federal Credit Union so far.

Today and tomorrow are it for letting your commissioner know how you feel. They will be voting on this issue tomorrow night at the south Walton BCC meeting.

 

[cherijean]

Bed Tax Collectors

Can anyone tell me when this increase requests goes before the board AND convince me why it is needed.

thank you!

 

[TooFarTampa]

The meeting is tomorrow night, and nobody here can tell you why it is a good idea because a bunch of us have been asking and so far ... nothing.

 

[30ashopper]

It just amazes me how much we extract from the folks who rent and the folks who stay here, both of which provide a substantial amount of the funding for our infrastructure and government costs -

Question: Are there other taxes I must collect on my rentals?
Answer: Yes. In addition to the Tourist Development Tax, you must collect and remit state sales tax (currently 6%) and local sales tax (currently 1%) to the Florida Department of Revenue. The total tax to charge your guests is currently 11%.

http://clerkofcourts.co.walton.fl.us/default.aspx?id=40

On $5000.00 stay at a nice rental house for a week that's over $550.00 that comes out of the pocket of the renter, rental agency, and rentee, and that doesn't include sales tax on supplies purchased, and property taxes.

For a conservative county, we sure do like to tax the hail out of our people and guests.

 

[cherijean]

You've got that right! When everyone is having to cut back I do not believe that it is to our advantage to increase the tax for our guests to visit. The TDC should cut back and put the money needed for marketing where it is best spent... in my personal opinion!

 

[Lynnie]

FL has always had a high bed tax, I thought.