Brent Batten: Ideas for various uses of tourist tax revenue coming down the road

It was half a lifetime ago, but County Commissioner Donna Fiala still remembers the time Bing Crosby came to Naples for a golf tournament at the Golden Gate Country Club.

Brent Batten

“This goes back a way long way,” she said. “I took my kids to get autographs.”

Crosby and his wife, Kathryn, were a big draw at the golf course, which was one of only a handful of courses in the county at the time.

The memory brought a moment of inspiration to Fiala, who in addition to being a commissioner, sits on the county’s Tourist Development Council.

“I thought, ‘That’s tourism,'" she said.

County Commissioner Donna Fiala

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Fiala shared that inspiration with her colleagues Tuesday. “One thing that keeps sticking in my head is that Golden Gate golf course. I don’t even know if it would work. We’re not building golf courses anymore, but we continue to attract people who come on down (to golf). If we bought that, maybe the tourism department, realizing that there would be a tourism benefit, they might even assist us,” she said.

Her idea, tap into the county’s tourist tax revenue to help buy the course then operate it as a public facility, got no immediate reaction from the other four commissioners.

While Fiala has a point in that an affordable option for golf would benefit tourists — and residents — it runs up against some hard numbers.

Mainly, the county’s tourist development tax revenue is already spoken for.

About 43 percent goes to beaches and 10 percent goes to museums.

Going forward, about 14 percent is earmarked for a new amateur sports complex to be built just down the road from the Golden Gate course, which is tied up in litigation over its owners’ desire to rezone it and sell it off for housing.

About a third of the tax goes to promotion of tourism and any money for the purchase of a golf course would likely have to come from that. Hoteliers and others who benefit from the county’s aggressive marketing campaign are unlikely to agree to a reduction.

The idea of using tourist tax money to help with the purchase may be new, but the idea of the county buying it and running it is not. Previous studies have shown that operating a course at a rate below what the other courses charge in season would be a money loser for the county, just as the current owners say they are losing money now to the tune of $600,000 a year in recent years.

Fiala says she wouldn’t support subsidizing the course operation with tourist tax revenue.

Early on, Fiala’s idea is gaining little traction with fellow commissioners.

“Yes, tourists play golf, but less and less tourists play golf every year. It seems to be waning,” said Commissioner Penny Taylor.

“I personally don’t think the county needs to be in the golf business,” said Commissioner Andy Solis.

Commissioner Burt Saunders said the tourist tax needs to be used for its stated mission of protecting beaches and promoting tourism. “I do not believe a golf course accomplishes that goal at all,” he said.

That doesn’t mean he isn’t interested in acquiring the property.

A sales tax referendum planned for the fall would bring in an estimated $70 million a year for seven years if approved by voters.

Part of the money would go toward “strategic” land purchases.

At 160 acres inside the urban area, the Golden Gate property would qualify as strategic, Saunders said. He said maintaining the property as county-owned green space may be preferable to operating it as a golf course, however.

Fiala’s idea to divert money from the traditional uses of tourist tax revenue isn’t the only one floating about these days.

Bills advancing in the Florida House and Senate would enable counties to use tourist tax revenue for a variety of projects, including roads, the theory being that traffic jams could harm tourism.

In their latest iteration, the bills say using money for such projects would require a supermajority vote of the local board. In Collier’s case that would mean four of five commissioners.

There would also have to be studies showing a benefit to tourism.

Saunders, acknowledging that the diversion of funds would be a local decision, said he thinks it would be a bad idea.

“It begins the process of eroding what these dollars should be used for,” he said.

Even Fiala, who’s considering tourist tax money for a golf course, doesn’t support the uses outlined in the bills. “We’re going to get revenue, hopefully, from the sales tax to build roads,” she said.

Taylor doesn’t like the idea. “It sounds like a developer’s dream,” she said.

Solis said he might support it, if the money spent can be shown to benefit tourism. “We would have to make sure of the nexus between roads and tourism,” he said.

Fiala realizes her golf course suggestion is unorthodox. “Believe it or not, this is an original Donna Fiala idea. I’m just throwing it out there,” she said.

Connect with Brent Batten at brent.batten@naplesnews.com, on Twitter @NDN_BrentBatten and at facebook.com/ndnbrentbatten.