Tourism debate goes to voters
NANCY KLINGENER
nklingener@herald.com
Published Friday, November 12, 1999, in the Miami Herald
After three months of arguing over tourism in the Florida Keys, the Monroe
County Commission and Florida Keys Tourist Development Council have decided to try a new
tactic: asking the voters what they think. All 49,000 of Monroe's registered voters should
receive a five-page survey asking for their attitudes and expectations toward the industry
that pumps more than $1 billion a year into the Keys economy.
Since the summer, dissatisfaction with traffic, development, pollution and bad
reviews in some tourist guides has been largely aimed at the TDC, which administers the
three-percent bed tax collected on lodging in Monroe County. The tax generates about $10
million a year.
A fourth cent, known as the tourist-impact tax, is split between the county's
general fund and the Land Authority, which buys property for environmental preservation,
affordable housing and parks.
Currently, about three-quarters of the bed tax is spent to promote tourism
through advertising, public relations and special events. The remaining quarter goes for
capital projects, such as beach restoration and historic preservation.
The Florida Keys Citizens Coalition, an umbrella group of civic and
environmental organizations, has called for at least half the bed-tax collections to be
spent on ``improvements to the natural and cultural environments of the Keys.''
`SEE WHAT HAPPENS'
Partly in response to citizen complaints, the TDC and County Commission decided
to send out the detailed survey to all registered voters. The effort is expected to cost
about $20,000, shared by the TDC and the county.
``We have a lot of visitor surveys. Now we're going to survey the residents and
see what happens,'' said TDC Chairman Bill Wickers, who was part of the six-member group
that drew up the survey.
``The tourist industry in the last several months has come under criticism. What
we were saying to the county is, `Let's get some information so we have something to go on
before you make any real drastic changes,' '' said Wickers, a Key West charter boat
captain. ``This is our economy.''
The survey asks respondents to rank benefits of tourism, such as jobs, lower
taxes and recreational opportunities. It also asks them to rank disadvantages such as
traffic, loss of community character and environmental degradation.
It also includes questions about the composition of the five district advisory
councils, local groups that determine event funding and choose capital projects. And the
survey includes questions about the appearance of U.S. 1.
`EQUAL BIAS'
Elliot Baron, a TDC critic who represented Last Stand in the Citizens
Coalition's tourism discussions, said he's pleased with the questionnaire.
``It made no attempt to be an unbiased survey,'' he said, ``but it had equal
bias on both sides, which I think is an interesting way to go.''
County Commissioner Nora Williams, who also served on the survey group, said
she's looking forward to finding out whether Keys residents are satisfied with the current
levels of tourism. Before deciding on changes, the county must choose its starting point
for the economy, she said.
``The people that should be determining what the base line is for Monroe County
should not be the TDC, should not be the board of county commissioners,'' she said. ``It
should be the people of Monroe County.''
TOP
