County approves list of festival to be funded through tourist tax

County Commissioners on Tuesday approved a long list of festivals, events and tourist facilities that will be funded through the county’s Tourist development tax over the next fiscal year. The tax – which was approved by local voters in 2004 – collects two percent on every home and hotel room rented in the county; that money is then used to enhance local tourism. The county on Tuesday approved a list of 29 groups that will share in 188 thousand dollars in TDC funding. The list of recipients includes a number of well established events like the St. George Island chili cookoff, Camp Gordon Johnston Days, and the Annual Seafood festival in Apalachicola and the Riverfront festival in Carrabelle. There are also some new events on the list including the Water Street Festival of Ice, the Crooked River Lighthouse Lantern Fest, and the 1st annual St. George Island snowbird day. 5 groups will receive 20 thousand dollar sustaining grants which are designed to provide year round support for museums and theaters. This year’s recipients of the sustaining grants include the Camp Gordon Johnston Museum in Carrabelle, the St. George Island and Carrabelle lighthouses as well as the Dixie Theater and Raney House in Apalachicola. TDC chairperson Helen Spohrer said the group worked hard to be fair and to fund as many events as possible adding that the TDC’s primary goal is to put heads on beds in Franklin County and that’s what they are doing. Miss Spohrer added that this year’s bed tax collections are looking pretty good; collections are down about 3 percent from last year, but that’s much better than in some other areas of the state where bed tax revenue has declined 12 to 14 percent.