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Board of County Commissioners Meeting Minutes - Final November 20, 2018 <br /> A. Commissioner Peter I). O'Brvan, Chairman <br /> 14.A.1. 18-2512 Request from Vero Beach Councilwoman Laura Moss to change the County <br /> Tourist Development Ordinance to allow funds to be used to"finance beach <br /> park facilities." <br /> Recommended Action: The Board should have discussion on the subject of changing the Tourist <br /> Development Ordinance, allow comments from the Public, and then the Board <br /> should consider whether to change Ordinance 87-11 to allow for expenditures <br /> to finance beach park facilities. <br /> Attachments: Commissioners Memorandum <br /> Attachment 1-Letter from Councilwoman Moss <br /> Attachment 2-Ordinance 87-11 <br /> Attachment 3-Tourist Tax Report <br /> Attachment 4-TDC minutes <br /> Commissioner O'Bryan provided background,noting that City of Vero Beach <br /> Councilwoman Laura Moss had requested an Ordinance change to allow for <br /> tourist-collected tax dollars to be used to fmance beach park facilities, <br /> specifically to build a new lifeguard tower headquarters at Humiston Beach. <br /> He explained that the Florida Statutes would allow for this,but the County <br /> Ordinance 87-11 does not. Commissioner O'Bryan made mention that the <br /> Tourist Development Council(TDC)'s model does not allow municipalities to <br /> make specific requests, and he felt that following this model had worked well in <br /> the past. He was not in support of changing Ordinance 87-11. <br /> Following discussion from several members of the Board, City of Vero Beach <br /> Councilwoman Laura Moss requested respect for the City's ability to exercise <br /> judgment to make decisions on how to spend money that is generated within the <br /> City and voiced some examples to warrant her request for a change to <br /> Ordinance 87-11. <br /> County Administrator Jason Brown provided a detailed clarification in response <br /> to comments made by Councilwoman Moss,pointing out that the funds she <br /> mentioned are collected as a County revenue source,per Florida Statutes,and <br /> that the County is required to have a TDC,in which the appointed members <br /> make recommendations to the Board. He confirmed that staff was not in <br /> support of Councilwoman Moss's request to make changes to the Ordinance. <br /> Discussion continued amongst the Board,none of whom were in support of the <br /> Ordinance change. Councilwoman Moss offered statistics to help to solidify <br /> previous comments she had made; clarification of the statistics was provided by <br /> members of the Board and staff. <br /> Indian River County Florida Page 17 <br />