§ 31½-18. Tourist development council.  


Latest version.
  • (1)

    Creation . There is hereby established, pursuant to the provisions of Section 125.0104, Florida Statutes, and Section 1 of Chapter 2009-259, Laws of Florida, an advisory council to be known as the "Broward County Tourist Development Council," hereinafter referred to as the "council." The council shall be composed of eleven (11) members. The mayor of the board of county commissioners of Broward County or any other member of the board as designated by the mayor shall serve on the council. The board of county commissioners shall appoint an elected official from the most populous municipality in the county. Each member of the board of county commissioners shall appoint one (1) member of the council. Council members shall represent the following classifications ("council classifications"):

    (a)

    One (1) member shall be an elected municipal official;

    (b)

    Six (6) members shall be persons who are involved in the tourist industry and who have demonstrated an interest in tourist development, of which members, not less than three (3), nor more than four (4), shall be owners or operators of motels, hotels, recreational vehicle parks, or other tourist accommodations in the county and subject to the tourist development tax;

    (c)

    One (1) member shall be a minority person involved in the tourist industry who has demonstrated an interest in tourist development; and

    (d)

    One (1) member shall be from an area with a multi-purpose county regional park capable of hosting local, national, and international sports championship events.

    The appointment of council members shall be determined by draw by the board of county commissioners. The draw shall establish the council classification and term of the council member that is assigned to each member of the board of county commissioners. All members of the council shall be electors of Broward County. The mayor of the board of county commissioners of Broward County shall have the option of designating the chair of the council or allowing the council to elect a chair. The chair shall be appointed or elected annually, and may be reelected or reappointed. With the exception of the member of the board of county commissioners who serves on the council, the members of the council shall serve for staggered terms of four (4) years. Members of the council may be reappointed, provided they continue to meet the qualifications of membership. Qualifications of membership must be demonstrated annually on or before October 1 of each year by each member of the council. The board may remove any member of the council for cause or if said member ceases to meet the qualifications of membership. A vacancy on the council not occurring by expiration of a term shall be filled by the board of county commissioners, or by an individual board member as established by the draw set forth herein, by appointment for the unexpired term, as the case may be.

    In appointing future members of the council, consideration may be given to balance council classification appointments to reflect the diverse demographic and geographic representation within Broward County. For purposes of considering geographic representation, the board or the individual commissioner, as the case may be, may take into account the location of tourist venues and attractions, location of accommodation facilities, county areas consistently attracting a greater number of visitors or generating the greater share of economic activity, including tourist development taxes, potential tourism growth areas within Broward County, planned locations for new tourist venues, attractions and accommodation facilities, traditionally underserved areas that may benefit from increased tourist development activities within such area, and such other criteria as may be prescribed by ordinance.

    (2)

    Powers and Duties.

    (a)

    The council hereby established shall, from time to time, make recommendations to the board of county commissioners for the effective operation of the special projects or uses of the tourist development tax revenue and perform such other duties as may be prescribed by ordinance or resolution.

    (b)

    The council shall continuously review all expenditures of revenue from the tourist development trust fund and shall receive at least quarterly expenditure reports from the board of county commissioners or its designee. Expenditures which the council believes to be unauthorized by the provisions of this article shall be reported to the board of county commissioners and the Florida Department of Revenue. The board of county commissioners, upon receiving notification of expenditures believed to be unauthorized by the council, shall review the council's findings and take such administrative or judicial action as it sees fit to ensure compliance with this article and the provisions of § 125.0104, F.S.

(Ord. No. 80-70, § 3, 9-9-80; Ord. No. 81-61, § 1, 6-18-81; Ord. No. 87-7, § 1, 3-10-87; Ord. No. 93-35, § 1, 10-12-93; Ord. No. 2009-66, § 1, 9-22-09; Ord. No. 2012-06, § 1, 2-14-12)