CLEARWATER — Pinellas County officials could change how tax money collected from hotel and short-term rental stays is allocated, with an eye toward making more of those dollars available to capital projects such as beach renourishment and sports venues.
That was the central conversation Thursday inside the Sheraton Sand Key Resort in Clearwater Beach, where county commissioners had their semi-annual joint meeting with the county’s Tourist Development Council, the appointed group of elected officials and businesspeople that makes tourism-related recommendations to the County Commission.
Changing the current funding formula, which puts 60% of tourist development taxes toward operational expenses including advertising, and the rest toward building or improving tourist attractions, would take a vote by county commissioners; so far, nothing is scheduled. But commissioners over the past year have repeatedly floated the idea of moving to a 50-50 split, and the assumption that they’ll…
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