Broward County Commission Regular Meeting
Director's Name: Stacy Ritter
Department: Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau
Information
Requested Action
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MOTION TO AUTHORIZE County Administrator to establish a one-time supplemental tourism place of interest sponsorship program to provide operating assistance funding to tourism-related organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic, conditioned upon the organization seeking financial assistance from other available COVID-related funding programs, such as the federal CARES Act, and County funding not to exceed the total amount of eligible expenses not funded by other COVID-related funding sources; waiving certain requirements of Section 13.32(d) of the Broward County Administrative Code; and authorizing the President of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau to execute sponsorship agreements using the form sponsorship agreement reviewed by the Office of the County Attorney for legal sufficiency after the list of recommended awards is approved by the Board of County Commissioners.
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Why Action is Necessary
Board authority is needed to authorize the County Administrator to establish a supplemental tourism place of interest sponsorship program, authorize the President of the GFLCVB to execute sponsorship agreements, and transfer funds from reserves.
What Action Accomplishes
Authorizes the County Administrator and GFLCVB President to take the referenced actions and provides the one-time funds, subject to Board approval of the recommended awards.
Is this Action Goal Related
No
Previous Action Taken
None
Summary Explanation/Background
One of the impacts of COVID-19 in Broward County is the suspension of services by tourism organizations and visitor sites. As a result of the pandemic, many tourism events and other activities that would have been sponsored by the County through various GFLCVB sponsorship programs will not be proceeding and have therefore not been funded. As the County and the country looks forward to moving through and eventually out of this pandemic, local organizations that provide services to tourists and attract tourists to Broward County will need to engage in additional promotional activities to attempt to bring tourists back to Broward County.
This item will authorize the County Administrator to establish a one-time supplemental tourism place of interest sponsorship program (“Supplemental Sponsorship Program”) created for the purpose of assisting local organizations with permanent places of interest for tourists during the remainder of the 2020 Fiscal Year. This would be in lieu of the otherwise planned 2020 place of interest sponsorship program. The item would further waive the processes for places of interest sponsorships that were newly added to Section 13.32(d) of the Broward County Administrative Code to facilitate expedited review and approval of funding of this one-time sponsorship program.
Eligible applicants for the Supplemental Sponsorship Program will be limited to Broward County entities that operate a place of interest for tourists and would be eligible for Tourist Development Tax funding under Section 125.0104, Florida Statutes. Funding will be provided to assist these organizations in connection with their operational costs during the remainder of the 2020 Fiscal Year as they continue to promote Broward County to tourists and, once they are able to reopen, promote Broward County as a tourist destination and provide services to tourists coming to Broward County. As a condition for applying for the Supplemental Sponsorship Programs, organizations, if eligible, must have applied for COVID-related funding under applicable federal and state programs such as the federal CARES Act, and organizations receiving a sponsorship could not use County funding to cover expenses funded under other COVID-related programs. The total County funding would be reduced, if necessary, to not exceed the total amount of eligible expenses not funded by these other funding sources.
An application for the Supplemental Sponsorship Program will be published on the GFLCVB website for a two-week period, after the Board has considered the item and taken action to approve it. Upon approval, the expected dates for publishing the program are from May 6-20, 2020, which, May 20th will serve as the application deadline. At that point, GFLCVB staff will review all applications to ensure they are complete and submit only completed applications for consideration to the GFLCVB President. The GFLCVB President will make recommendations to the Board for final approval at its June 2, 2020, meeting.
The maximum funding for the Supplemental Sponsorship Program is $150,000, with individual awards not to exceed $20,000 per organization. All funding for the Supplemental Sponsorship Program would come from existing funding for GFLCVB sponsorship programs approved by the Board for the 2020 Fiscal Year but which have not been utilized to date.
Source of Additional Information
Stacy Ritter, President, Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, 954-765-4466
Fiscal Impact
Fiscal Impact/Cost Summary
Any funding needed for this project will be reallocated from existing appropriations.