Letter: TDC funding for St Augustine Beach

Letter: TDC funding for St Augustine Beach

Bill Jones
St Augustine Beach, FL

Dear Editor:

The Beach Blast Off is a boon to our local economy in the City of St Augustine Beach.

Over 10,000 attend this event and many local businesses enjoy the residual effect of the influx of people. Hotels, motels, restaurants and other local businesses enjoy a post-Christmas bump because of this event.

While our weather in late December is pleasant compared to states located to our north, it is not usually warm enough to swim. Our hotels and restaurants have enjoyed the positive economic impact of the Beach Blast Off.

For that matter so does St Johns County as the evening of the Beach Blast Off is also the biggest sales day for Beach Passes, far exceeding any other day on the calendar.

This event is vital to our local economy and deserves to be supported. I do not understand the rationale behind the decision of the Tourist Development Council’s Arts, Culture and Heritage funding panel to deny the request for this very worthy project.

The funding panel is hurting everyone by denying funds to, or by partially funding, popular events that either attract visitors to, or enhance the experience of, St Augustine Beach visitors. Perhaps the biggest injustice here is what appears to be the funding panel’s lack of appreciation for the “32080 ZIP code”. This ZIP code continues to raise a larger portion of the bed tax than any other in the county.

If the events disappear, or if the quality of the events diminishes, the visitor experience becomes less meaningful; and, we run the risk of these visitors going elsewhere. The bed tax collection will drop. Instead of building on recent success, and growing, St Johns County will lose visitors and dollars.

I have asked Glenn Hastings and the TDC Funding Panel to respond to these concerns and take any action necessary to insure St Augustine Beach is treated in a manner that is reflective of its significant contributions to the tourism industry in St Johns County.