The Okaloosa County Tourist Development Council on Thursday rejected a proposal by Sheriff Larry Ashley to fund beach patrols with bed tax money.
TDC members cited a tight budget and shaky legal ground among the reasons for voting down Ashley’s request for $350,000 to pay for four beach patrol deputies and two marine patrol deputies.
“I just think the time’s not right,” Chairman Dale E. Peterson said. “... After what we’ve been through with this county ... I don’t think we should even tempt impropriety.”
Read Sheriff Ashley's proposal.
Ashley appealed to the advisory board, saying the need is clear because the increase in local tourists has placed a burden on his agency.
He said calls for service for tourists constitute 80 percent of the Sheriff’s Office’s call volume.
“I’ve been told a number of times, ‘Sheriff, live within your budget.’ There is no such thing when your population increased and your calls for service increased.’ ”
An analysis of the past five years shows that calls for service surge during peak tourist season.
The Sheriff’s Office specifically looked at the categories of ordinance violations, sexual battery, traffic crashes, driving while intoxicated, alcohol offenses, boating issues, distressed swimmers, trespassing, missing persons, battery and shoplifting.
In 2013, there were 263 traffic crashes in the off-season compared to 806 in the summer months.
Ashley also argued that the TDC’s practice of funding lifeguards for the past six years has set a clear precedent.
But some county officials are leery of expanding bed tax uses after the state Auditor General questioned the county’s practice of funding lifeguards, citing a 1990 Attorney General opinion.
Councilwoman Rachel Joyce said the request is too costly.
“The bottom line is we can’t afford it,” she said. “Whether other counties are doing it doesn’t even matter.”
Five members of the public also spoke in opposition to Ashley’s plan, telling the council its priority should be marketing the area to visitors.
“This county has been dark too long in terms of promotion,” said Martin Owen, regional marketing director for ResortQuest. “It needs every cent it can get to promote itself.”
Owen and others said they don’t think TDC revenue should be viewed as a way to fix shortfalls within other county departments.
The issue will be revisited when Ashley’s budget request goes before county commissioners this summer.
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Kari C. Barlow at 850-315-4438 or kbarlow@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KariBnwfdn.
