House wants local tourist tax spending public, repurposed

Arek Sarkissian
USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida
House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O'Lakes, center, addresses legislators and media at the end of the special session Friday as Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, left, and Gov. Rick Scott look on.

TALLAHASSEE - A trio of bills House Speaker Richard Corcoran unveiled Thursday would force local tourism and economic development agencies to publicize lucrative contracts, undergo regular audits and stop using trade secrets to hide financial deals.

Local tourism agencies across the state rely on more than $890 million in tax revenue that state economists expect counties to collect this year from hotel stays. Corcoran, R-Land O' Lakes, said local governments should take note of how that cash is spent and then consider pushing it toward more critical issues.  

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"Should we purchase the fleet of cars for our traveling roadside service or is it better to stop pumping hundreds of thousands of gallons of sewage into our waterways?" Cororan said. "I think that's a good question for local government to wrestle with."

Corcoran said new transparency measures passed by the Legislature earlier this year for VISIT FLORIDA  also apply to local tourism groups. But the new transparency proposal would make those measures clear. 

"What we're trying to do now is make it clear to the world that those rules apply," Corcoran said. "That's what we've been fighting with them about for the past 12 months." 

But Robert Skorb, executive director of the Florida Association of Destination Marketing Organizations, said local tourism offices are already transparent and Corcoran's proposal would only add bureaucracy and redundancy. 

"If there are ways to further strengthen accountability, we welcome the opportunity to have a dialogue on an approach that protects the jobs of 1.4 million Floridians whose livelihoods depend on tourism," Skorb wrote in a statement. 

The law governing the tourism tax limits its spending to items related to attractions, including beaches. But other issues not listed in the law could impact tourism. For instance, Rep. Randy Fine, R-Brevard, wants to use $14.1 million in tourism tax revenue to fix aging sewer lines. 

"So we're going to build another 18 stadiums even though the others we already built are being utilized just fine, and meanwhile we're going to let sludge and sewage seep into the ground all day long," Corcoran said. "Randy is onto exactly what we should be doing here and he should absolutely be a pit bull about it."  

Two other bills filed by Rep. Ralph Massullo, R-Lecanto, would tighten open records exemptions protecting trade secrets. At least one local tourism agency uses the trade secret exemption to shield financial details in vendor contracts. 

"Our impetus was this, if you spend one dollar of taxpayer money, then you don't have a trade secret," Corcoran said.  "To the extent that you have a contract and you're getting one dollar of taxpayer money we want that to be public."

Corcoran said he respected that some market-sensitive material would fall under the exemption. But if it is challenged, the vendor would need to get an opinion from a circuit court judge. 

"And they have a choice — they don't have to do business with the state," Corcoran said. "If that's so burdensome, don't do business with the state."

The transparency bill would would require local tourism agencies that receive more than $30 million in locally collected tourism development taxes to undergo an audit every other year. Those that receive less than $30 million in local tax revenue will be subject to random audits every two years.

Corcoran said the catalyst for the tightened trade secret exemption was the lawsuit he filed last year to reveal the once-secret $1 million deal VISIT FLORIDA made with Miami rapper Pitbull. 

The secrecy of the Pitbull deal prompted Gov. Rick Scott to ask then VISIT FLORIDA President and CEO Will Seccombe to resign. The governor also suggested new transparency standards that required the agency to post all 1,400 of its vendor contracts. 

However, the agency did not post all its contracts, including the $11.6 million it paid for a cooking show starring celebrity Chef Emeril Lagasse. Tallahassee TV producer MAT Media has refused to cooperate in a House inquiry into that deal, which led to a subpoena filed earlier this month. 

A House inquiry into the contracts VISIT FLORIDA signed with Tallahassee production firm MAT Media for the Emeril cooking shows has led to subpoenas spurred by indications of fraud. House investigators were unclear if MAT Media spent the money it received in the contracts as promised and the firm's owner, Pat Roberts, refused to provide details. 

The subpoena orders MAT Media owner Pat Roberts to provide the House with details by Nov. 6.