Brevard Commission backs funding derelict vessel removal, rejects tourism/lagoon grants
The Brevard County Commission rejected an advisory board's recommendation to reinstate a grant program for projects that would benefit both the Indian River Lagoon and tourism.
Instead, county commissioners unanimously voted Tuesday in favor of a proposal from Commissioner John Tobia to designate up to $150,000 from tourist development tax revenue for the removal of so-called derelict vessels from local waterways. The county will save the rest of the money for future beach renourishment projects.
The advisory Brevard County Tourist Development Council last month unanimously recommended that the county fund the Tourism + Lagoon Grant Program in the amount of $500,000 for the 2024-25 budget year that begins Oct. 1, with a maximum individual grant of up to $50,000. Under the proposal, the money would come from the Space Coast Office of Tourism's beach fund, generated by revenue from the county's 5% tourist development tax on hotel and motel rooms, vacation rentals and other short-term rentals.
County commissioners, however, overrode that recommendation.
Previously approved grants: Brevard commissioners approve 10 grants for projects to help restore Indian River Lagoon
Tobia contended that most projects that would have applied for the Tourism + Lagoon grants instead could try to tap into county money through the much-larger Save Our Indian River Lagoon Program for projects designed to improve the condition of the lagoon. That program was created with a special half-cent sales tax that Brevard County residents voted to impose on themselves in 2016 for the following 10 years, with 62.4% support from voters. The lagoon tax has generated more than $378 million so far.
Tobia said the county's derelict vessel program would not qualify for Save Our Indian River Lagoon Program grants. So he wanted to push for this county allocation to help continue efforts to remove unsightly abandoned boats from local waterways.
He said tourist development tax grants have been a regular funding source of derelict vessel removal by the county's Natural Resources Management Department. During the previous three budget years, a total of 133 vessels were removed, with the help of $283,750 from the tourist tax.
In the last 16 years, a total of 310 vessels have been removed from local waterways at a cost of more than $1.4 million. They had a total of 930 tons of materials; 450 gallons of fuel and oil; and 42 marine batteries.
Among other funding sources for the county's boat removal program have been the Florida Inland Navigation District, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the Brevard Boating Improvement Funds, derived from the county's portion of vessel registration fees.
The Tourism + Lagoon Grant Program previously was funded for up to $1 million for several years. This grant program was suspended for the 2023-24 budget year, as a result of the expenditure of all tourist-tax-generated beach funds in order to repair the South Beaches because of damages from several storms in late-2022.
In the 2022-23 budget year, 10 projects received a total of $939,343 through the Tourism + Lagoon Grant Program. Among them were ones designed to help seagrass restoration, shoreline stabilization. oyster and clam restoration, and mangrove restoration.
Tobia pushed his proposal to help have enough money in reserves in the Office of Tourism beach fund to pay for beach renourishment, including if future hurricanes or other storms wash away sand from local beaches.
Tobia said the $8 million now in beach fund reserves may sound like a lot, but could be depleted by a single storm.
He noted that researchers at Colorado State University earlier this month published a forecast predicting an “extremely active” 2024 hurricane season, with 23 named storms, including 11 hurricanes and five major hurricanes.
For every dollar in tourist tax money that goes toward beach renourishment, the county typically gets $8 to $9 from federal and state funding sources. But there usually is a long wait before the county receives these reimbursements.
Dave Berman is business editor at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Berman at dberman@floridatoday.com, on X at @bydaveberman and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dave.berman.54
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard Commission OKs derelict vessel removal, not lagoon grant program
