Mote Marine requested and will receive $5 million in Manatee County tourist tax dollars for marketing.
The Manatee County Tourist Development Council voted to fund a much lesser amount at its Feb. 10 meeting.
During a meeting Feb. 25, the Manatee Board of County Commissioners voted to allocate $5 million for Mote’s marketing from the tourist tax coffers.
Commissioner Misty Servia, TDC chair, pushed for the funding. She was the only no vote when the TDC voted to recommend an allocation of $1.25 million over 25 years.
At the TDC meeting, Elliott Falcione, executive director of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, presented a list of planned projects in Manatee County — including the expansion of the convention center and funding the World Baseball Championships next year — ready for TDC dollars.
After the presentation and weighing several options, the TDC voted to fund $50,000 a year for 25 years to total $1.25 million.
Now, based on the commission vote, Mote will receive $1 million over the next five years for marketing its aquarium in Sarasota County. The money will be used for marketing and promotion, as Manatee County’s tourist tax dollars cannot be spent on construction outside county limits.
Tourist tax dollars are the bed taxes collected at a rate of 5% on overnight rentals of six months or less.
The funds may be used for the maintenance of certain tourism-related infrastructure, marketing and tourism-related capital projects.
Do you have any idea what Mote gets in funding? $ 1,023,925 from license tag sales, $ 18,000,000 for red tide reseacerch, $ 50,000 a year for the from FWC, $ 16, 200, 00 endowments and much more. I don’t think Dr Eugenie Clark planned for her research lab to change into to a money making tourist attraction. This new aquarium is some management grand show. Mote has a large auditorium that would perfect for many environmental meetings but won’t let others groups use it.