Tourism tax revenues collected in Indian River County for the fiscal year that ended Oct. 31 soared to more than $5.5 million, setting a new record and exceeding budgeted expectations every month. “I am thrilled,” said Ben Earman, vice president of Tourism and Marketing for Visit Indian River County. “This proves that people are seeing our advertising, that folks are looking to escape from the big cities, even from within the state of Florida, and of course from the cold up north.” This year’s total was $5,564,956, an increase of $882,067, or 18.8 percent, over the $4,682,889 collected in the prior fiscal year, Earman said. The final tally is also 13.2 percent higher than the budgeted projection of $4,916,251 million. “We’re just getting started,” Earman said. “The pressure is on to make sure the 2025-2026 fiscal year performs as well, or hopefully even better. So far, we are on track for October and November.” About half of the county’s visitors last year came from outside of Florida, an increase of 8 percent over the previous year, according to visitor data. Most Florida visitors came from Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Daytona Beach and Melbourne. Currently, 55 percent of tourist tax revenues go to help pay for beach renourishment and restoration projects, while 40 percent of the revenue is plowed back into funding tourism development, including marketing, promotions and visitor centers. The final 5 percent is used to cover the county’s lease obligations for the Jackie Robinson Training Complex (formerly Dodgertown). Indian River County voters first approved a 4-percent tourist tax – sometimes called a “bed tax” – by referendum in 1987. The tax is paid by those who stay at hotels, motels, RV parks and short-term rentals for less than six months. Voters approved adding another 1 percent to the bed tax in 2024, which went into effect Jan. 1, 2025, powering this year’s strong numbers. The increase in bed tax cash could benefit lifeguard services. Legislation passed in July allows Florida counties to use a portion of their tourist tax revenues to fund those services, and local officials have discussed tapping the bed tax to pay lifeguard salaries. County commissioners would have to amend the county tourist tax ordinance to allow it. While the bed tax numbers are impressive for a small, still mostly rural county, Indian River is poised to see tourist tax revenues climb even higher over the next half-dozen years as some 900 proposed new hotel and motel rooms come online on the mainland. Proposed projects include: <ul> <li>The Three Corners project at the junction of 17th Street and Indian River Boulevard, where plans call for two hotels with a total of 264 rooms.</li> <li>A 116-room TownePlace Suites by Marriott planned for a 4.7-acre site north of Aviation Boulevard near the Star Suites hotel at 1550 Flight Safety Dr.</li> <li>An 84-room, three-story Tru by Hilton planned at 9075 Americana Dr., adjacent to the intersection of State Road 60 and Interstate 95.</li> <li>An 80-room, three-story Home2 Suites by Hilton proposed for construction on Americana Way near Vero Beach Outlets.</li> <li>An 82-room Hampton Inn approved for construction at 11360 S. Indian River Dr. in Sebastian.</li> <li>Plans for the Providence Point Vero Beach Planned Development, located between 49th Street and 53rd Street west of 58th Avenue, call for construction of 57 hotel rooms as part of the project’s commercial phase of development.</li> <li>Plans for Mandala Village near 53rd Street and 58th Avenue include a 100-room hotel.</li> <li>And after DTS Properties purchased the Indian River Mall property in May 2024, the developer submitted a multi-phase site plan that includes a 130-room hotel. The hotel plans exceed the county’s height restriction by 10 feet, so the number of proposed rooms is likely to be revised as the project moves forward.</li> </ul> These projects are in various stages of permitting and planning, and some of them may not come to fruition, but they give rough idea of how the county’s lodging capacity will expand in coming years. Conservatively speaking, these new rooms could eventually generate $1 million or more annually in additional tourist tax revenue.