State Auditor General David W. Martin has modified his stance on whether Okaloosa County can spend bed tax revenue on lifeguards, beach patrols and beach shuttles.
In a preliminary report released Dec. 18, Martin said such uses of tourist development tax money aren’t allowed under state law. He also said the county should restore $2.47 million spent on those services from May 2010 to May 2012 to its bed tax account.
But on Friday the auditor general’s office changed that recommendation. It advised the county to seek an opinion from the Florida attorney general “as to the allowability” of the $2.47 million in questioned expenditures. If the attorney general calls for it, the county should restore the money to its bed tax accounts, the auditor general said.
Read a portion of that report. >>
“I think he made the right decision,” County Commissioner Nathan Boyles said Wednesday.
Boyles said it’s important for the county to use bed tax money to “provide reasonable considerations for safety” on local beaches. Those safety measures, in turn, foster the tourist industry, he said.
County Commission Chairman Don Amunds agreed, adding that the board has deemed that use of bed tax money as vital to promoting tourism.
“I think we have the responsibility to do what we can to protect our swimmers, and especially our tourists,” he said.
Amunds said many other counties in Florida do the same thing.
“There are tons of counties that have determined this to be a public need,” he said.
In the initial report, Martin based his recommendation on a 1990 attorney general’s opinion that determined bed taxes can’t be used to pay for lifeguarding “or general governmental functions owed to the public at large.”
From May 2010 to May 2012, Okaloosa County paid $1.9 million to fund a portion of lifeguard and beach patrol services provided by the Destin Fire Department and Okaloosa County Beach Safety. The county also spent $564,000 to fund a portion of the beach shuttle service.
The auditor general’s preliminary report was released seven months after his office began an operational audit of the county’s oversight of the Tourist Development Council. Sheriff Larry Ashley requested the audit after county officials discovered an extensive fraud scheme put in place by former tourism head Mark Bellinger.
The preliminary audit report contains 25 key findings in 11 areas that range from oversight and fraud prevention to travel expenses between May 2010 and May 2012.
The county has 30 days to respond to the audit’s recommendations and submit a set of corrective actions to the state.
County commissioners are scheduled to discuss their response and the corrective actions at their meeting Jan. 8 in Crestview.
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Kari Barlow at 850-315-4438 or kbarlow@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KariBnwfdn.
