| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to the Broward County Tourist Development |
| 3 | Council; providing legislative findings; providing for |
| 4 | appointment of additional members to the membership of the |
| 5 | Broward County Tourist Development Council; specifying |
| 6 | requirements for the council members; providing for |
| 7 | duties, responsibilities, and procedures of the council; |
| 8 | providing for superseding certain provisions of general |
| 9 | law; providing construction; providing an effective date. |
| 10 |
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| 11 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 12 |
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| 13 | Section 1. Legislative findings.--The Legislature finds |
| 14 | that, in 1980, Broward County first levied its tourist |
| 15 | development tax and created the Broward County Tourist |
| 16 | Development Council as authorized in s. 125.0104, Florida |
| 17 | Statutes. The Legislature also finds that the population of |
| 18 | Broward County has grown from just over 1 million persons in |
| 19 | 1980 to almost 1.8 million today, and with over 30 percent of |
| 20 | the present population being of foreign birth as opposed to 11 |
| 21 | percent in 1980. Furthermore, since 1980, Broward County has |
| 22 | experienced tremendous growth in its tourism industry and |
| 23 | tourist sector economy, including attracting over 10.6 million |
| 24 | visitors to the county in 2007 and generating in excess of $8.8 |
| 25 | billion dollars in economic activity. Given Broward County's |
| 26 | exceptional growth in population, its diversity, its tourism |
| 27 | industry, and the tangible economic benefits produced for both |
| 28 | the county and the state, the Legislature declares it to be |
| 29 | appropriate to authorize the governing board of Broward County |
| 30 | to expand the membership of its tourist development council from |
| 31 | nine to 11 members. |
| 32 | Section 2. Broward Tourist Development Council.-- |
| 33 | (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 125.0104(4)(e), |
| 34 | Florida Statutes, limiting the composition of a tourist |
| 35 | development council to nine members, the governing board of |
| 36 | Broward County shall increase the composition of the Broward |
| 37 | County Tourist Development Council from nine to 11 members. The |
| 38 | county's governing board shall amend its current ordinance |
| 39 | within 60 days after the effective date of this act to reflect |
| 40 | the increased number of council members and must appoint the two |
| 41 | additional members no later than October 1, 2009. Consistent |
| 42 | with s. 125.0104(4)(e), Florida Statutes, in appointing the two |
| 43 | additional members authorized in this section, the governing |
| 44 | board shall endeavor to appoint one minority person involved in |
| 45 | the tourist industry who has demonstrated an interest in tourist |
| 46 | development and appoint one person from an area with a |
| 47 | multipurpose county regional park capable of hosting local, |
| 48 | national, and international sports championship events. In |
| 49 | appointing future members of the tourist development council, |
| 50 | the governing board of Broward County may consider and balance |
| 51 | its appointments to reflect the diverse demographic and |
| 52 | geographic representation within the county. For purposes of |
| 53 | considering geographic representation, the governing board may |
| 54 | take into account the location of tourist venues and |
| 55 | attractions, location of accommodation facilities, county areas |
| 56 | consistently attracting a greater number of visitors or |
| 57 | generating the greater share of economic activity including |
| 58 | tourist development taxes, potential tourism growth areas within |
| 59 | the county, planned locations for new tourist venues, |
| 60 | attractions and accommodation facilities, traditionally |
| 61 | underserved areas that may benefit from increased tourist |
| 62 | development activities within such areas, and other factors as |
| 63 | the governing board of Broward County may specify by ordinance. |
| 64 | (2) Except as provided in this section, the Broward County |
| 65 | Tourist Development Council shall have all the duties and |
| 66 | responsibilities as provided for tourist development councils by |
| 67 | general law. |
| 68 | Section 3. Nothing in this act shall be construed to |
| 69 | affect the terms of those members serving on the Broward County |
| 70 | Tourist Development Council on the effective date of this act or |
| 71 | any actions taken by the council prior to the appointment of any |
| 72 | additional members authorized in section 2. This act supersedes |
| 73 | the provisions of s. 125.0104, Florida Statutes, to the extent |
| 74 | of any conflict. |
| 75 | Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming law. |