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Chairmin Bird f elt that the advertising done by the Chamber of <br />Commerce benefits the.entire county, including Vero Beach. <br />Commissioner Adams suggested that we use the cash forward as <br />well as the unspent portion of Vero Beach's 1992-93 grant, <br />distribute the amounts requested to the three organizations that <br />came before us today, and give the balance to the City of Vero <br />Beach. <br />John J. Morrison, member of the TDC, pointed out that <br />according to Florida Statutes, tourist development is a state <br />enterprise that is delegated to the County. The Statute provides <br />for subgroups to be established under County jurisdiction. Mr. <br />Morrison saw no logical reason to have the City of Vero Beach serve <br />as a subgroup, because the City was not qualified to design a <br />program to attract tourists. <br />Mr. Morrison admitted that the TDC was relatively unfocused in <br />prior years and some of the funding was inappropriate. Recently <br />TDC retained the services of Research Associates, and the criterion <br />established was to use tourist tax revenue to attract tourists. <br />The emphasis is on advertising outside the area. Mr. Morrison <br />maintained that, as a result of Chamber.of Commerce efforts, over <br />20,000 European tourists visited this area during 1992. Moreover, <br />three ads in Southern Living magazine resulted in over 4,000 <br />inquiries. In response to Commissioner Macht's question, Mr. <br />Morrison explained that although the number of tourists has <br />increased, they have not been spending as much money because of the <br />tight economy. <br />Mr. Morrison understood that beach restoration has been added <br />as a permissible use of tourist tax funds. He related that the TDC <br />has received funding requests for a number of worthy causes. <br />However, it is questionable whether they will increase tourism. It <br />was Mr. Morrison's feeling that the City of Vero Beach was given a <br />$120, 000 grant during the 1992-93 fiscal year with some reluctance. <br />He argued that use of funds should be kept under County control. <br />He felt that local innkeepers would be resistant to* raising the <br />tourist tax from 2% to 3% in order to grant some of these requests. <br />Kevin Crows, Sandrift Motel, Sebastian, and member of the TDC <br />was opposed to anything that would raise the cost of a room. He <br />agreed with Mr. Morrison that expenditures should be limited to <br />advertising and promotions that bring people in from outside the <br />area. <br />31 <br />BOOK <br />L -JUN -81993 � "I. 1 8 9 pm�, F 78.4 <br />