Florida SB 976: Court-appointed Psychologists

Bill Text

976 
Tourist Development Tax Uses 
2025-12-19T03:42:40Z 
Authorizing a county to use tourist development tax revenues to fund certain commuter rail service operations, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
__ 

 Florida Senate - 2026 SB 976 

 By Senator Smith 

 17-00945A-26 2026976__ 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to tourist development tax uses; 
 3 amending s. 125.0104, F.S.; authorizing a county to 
 4 use tourist development tax revenues to fund certain 
 5 commuter rail service operations; providing an 
 6 effective date. 
 7 
 8 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 9 
 10 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (5) of section 
 11 125.0104, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 
 12 125.0104 Tourist development tax; procedure for levying; 
 13 authorized uses; referendum; enforcement.— 
 14 (5) AUTHORIZED USES OF REVENUE.— 
 15 (a) All tax revenues received pursuant to this section by a 
 16 county imposing the tourist development tax shall be used by 
 17 that county for the following purposes only: 
 18 1. To acquire, construct, extend, enlarge, remodel, repair, 
 19 improve, maintain, operate, or promote one or more: 
 20 a. Publicly owned and operated convention centers, sports 
 21 stadiums, sports arenas, coliseums, or auditoriums within the 
 22 boundaries of the county or subcounty special taxing district in 
 23 which the tax is levied; 
 24 b. Auditoriums that are publicly owned but are operated by 
 25 organizations that are exempt from federal taxation pursuant to 
 26 26 U.S.C. s. 501(c)(3) and open to the public, within the 
 27 boundaries of the county or subcounty special taxing district in 
 28 which the tax is levied; or 
 29 c. Aquariums or museums that are publicly owned and 
 30 operated or owned and operated by not-for-profit organizations 
 31 and open to the public, within the boundaries of the county or 
 32 subcounty special taxing district in which the tax is levied; 
 33 2. To promote zoological parks that are publicly owned and 
 34 operated or owned and operated by not-for-profit organizations 
 35 and open to the public; 
 36 3. To promote and advertise tourism in this state and 
 37 nationally and internationally; however, if tax revenues are 
 38 expended for an activity, service, venue, or event, the 
 39 activity, service, venue, or event must have as one of its main 
 40 purposes the attraction of tourists as evidenced by the 
 41 promotion of the activity, service, venue, or event to tourists; 
 42 4. To fund convention bureaus, tourist bureaus, tourist 
 43 information centers, and news bureaus as county agencies or by 
 44 contract with the chambers of commerce or similar associations 
 45 in the county, which may include any indirect administrative 
 46 costs for services performed by the county on behalf of the 
 47 promotion agency; 
 48 5. To finance beach park facilities, or beach, channel, 
 49 estuary, or lagoon improvement, maintenance, renourishment, 
 50 restoration, and erosion control, including construction of 
 51 beach groins and shoreline protection, enhancement, cleanup, or 
 52 restoration of inland lakes and rivers to which there is public 
 53 access as those uses relate to the physical preservation of the 
 54 beach, shoreline, channel, estuary, lagoon, or inland lake or 
 55 river. However, any funds identified by a county as the local 
 56 matching source for beach renourishment, restoration, or erosion 
 57 control projects included in the long-range budget plan of the 
 58 state’s Beach Management Plan, pursuant to s. 161.091, or funds 
 59 contractually obligated by a county in the financial plan for a 
 60 federally authorized shore protection project may not be used or 
 61 loaned for any other purpose. In counties of fewer than 100,000 
 62 population, up to 10 percent of the revenues from the tourist 
 63 development tax may be used for beach park facilities; 
 64 6. To acquire, construct, extend, enlarge, remodel, repair, 
 65 improve, maintain, operate, or finance public facilities within 
 66 the boundaries of the county or subcounty special taxing 
 67 district in which the tax is levied, if the public facilities 
 68 are needed to increase tourist-related business activities in 
 69 the county or subcounty special district and are recommended by 
 70 the county tourist development council created pursuant to 
 71 paragraph (4)(e). Tax revenues may be used for any related land 
 72 acquisition, land improvement, design and engineering costs, and 
 73 all other professional and related costs required to bring the 
 74 public facilities into service. As used in this subparagraph, 
 75 the term “public facilities” means major capital improvements 
 76 that have a life expectancy of 5 or more years, including, but 
 77 not limited to, transportation, sanitary sewer, solid waste, 
 78 drainage, potable water, and pedestrian facilities. Tax revenues 
 79 ma