INDIAN ROCKS BEACH, Fla. — Nearly two dozen Pinellas businesses sent letters to county commissioners urging them to double the amount of tourist bed tax which goes toward beach renourishment from a half-penny to one cent.

“We’re fine up to a penny. That’s a big increase to do. A full point-five increase,” said Robin Miller, Tampa Bay Beaches chief executive officer. “Let’s do something so that the voice of the bed tax collection is heard.”

Miller organized the letter-writing campaign, which was sent to commissioners at the end of June. The hoteliers and short-term rental owners have been concerned the already critically eroded beaches will continue to disappear after the Army Corps of Engineers put an indefinite hold on renourishment because less than half of the homeowners have signed the required perpetual easement.

“Those who have signed, including myself in some cases, have done so for the betterment of the community,” said Todd Plumlee, 54, CEO and president of Plumlee Vacation Rentals. “I do understand that some people don’t think that way.”

Plumlee said he manages 200 individual condos in 36 different beach properties, which collects nearly $1 million in bed tax annually and he wrote one of those letters to Pinellas commissioners.

“If we get this extra half-cent allocated to us, out of the taxes that we’re mainly collecting out on the beach, we could sidestep that issue of funding and move forward with getting our beaches renourished and protecting them for the future,” he said.

In May, the Corps put the Sand Key project, which was supposed to begin next year, on indefinite hold. In July, the Corps also put the Treasure Island and Long Key projects, which were scheduled to begin this fall, on indefinite hold because of a lack of easements.  

During a workshop for commissioners last month, Pinellas Public Works Director Kelli Levy said if the county had to pay for the Sand Key, Treasure Island and Long Key beach renourishment projects without the Corps, it would cost about $80 million. The current beach renourishment fund has about $32 million, according to the Tourist Development Council.

“Under the current tourist development tax allocation, we would plan for and nourish here soon,” Levy said. “The fund balance would be drawn down by ’27. We would need to supplement the Sand Key project and then, at that point, we don’t have funding to work with.”

The Corps has typically paid for about two-thirds of the cost. The Sand Key nourishment is on a six-year cycle, while Treasure Island and Long Key have been on a four-year cycle.

Levy presented five scenarios for commissioners moving forward, and all but one requires more money than the county currently spends on beach renourishment. The only scenario which does not call for additional funds requires 100% of the homeowners to sign easements.

Pinellas Administrator Barry Burton cautioned commissioners against choosing the scenario where the county funds the entire project because FEMA would no longer help rebuild the beaches after a storm.

“If these are not federally authorized projects, if you get a hurricane hit, they’re not coming to our rescue,” he said. “That is a scary thought and that is a worst-case scenario, but that’s what we’re facing with a Corps that’s unwilling to bend. We cannot do it alone. If we do it alone, we’re opening up the risk of a post-storm (damage).”

Burton said as they work on a multipronged solution, the county will move forward with the beach renourishment design process, so it's ready for the Sand Key renourishment project either way.

“We’re preparing for us just doing it while we figure out the best strategy,” he said. “We’re certainly going to make sure that we have our beaches. That is our lifeblood.”

Visit St. Pete/Clearwater estimates the Pinellas beaches bring an economic impact of $10 billion annually to the area. U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna sent another letter to the Corps earlier this month calling for action on the issue.

“I urge you to grant exceptions to the Corps’ perpetual easement requirements, utilizing the flexibility that Corp policy allows for and to not further delay future renourishments,” she wrote. “This is in the best interest of public safety, protection for endangered birds and wildlife.”

Pinellas beaches provide a nesting place for endangered sea turtles and migrating birds, but the Corps' only concern when it comes to renourishment is strictly for storm damage reduction, according to Dr. John Bishop, Pinellas Coastal Management coordinator.   

Plumlee said having a beach is crucial to his Indian Rocks Beach business, and he remembers what it was like in the 1980s after a hurricane washed away the sand and water was lapping up against the seawall.

“It was very difficult for us to rent these condos… there was many times of the year where they were empty. People come for the sand,” he said. “As soon as this beach goes away, I think we’ll see a lot of our guests and our tourists go away.”

In May, the Tourist Development Council voted unanimously to raise the bed tax allocation from a half-penny to three-quarters, but county commissioners must approve before it goes into effect. Last year, the commissioners rejected a similar request.

The current half-penny bed tax allocation is expected to bring in $8.5 million for beach renourishment in fiscal year 2025.