Hernando County weighs tourism tax to fund road repairs, state asks
Hernando County is asking for more freedom to spend tourist-tax dollars, a change that could ease pressure on roads without raising local property taxes.
Hernando County is asking Tallahassee for more flexibility with tourist-tax dollars at the same time it is still hunting for money to fix roads, a pressure point sharpened by about $89.96 million in top-priority projects and more than $3 million a year in debt service.
Dominique Holmes, the county’s director of communications and government affairs, laid out proposed policy changes for commissioners on May 12 for review before they are sent later this year to the 2027-28 Hernando County Legislative Delegation. The core idea would let tourist development tax revenue do more than market Florida’s Adventure Coast and pay for tourism bureaus and related promotion. Under the draft language, the money could also support tourism infrastructure and economic development projects that support tourism infrastructure.
The timing is no accident. In April, commissioners directed County Attorney Jon Jouben to draft a new one-half-cent sales tax referendum for roadway repair and maintenance after the board previously voted 3-2 to reject a similar proposal. If the state declines to loosen the tourist-tax rules, Hernando will stay boxed into its current spending limits and will have to keep looking elsewhere for big-ticket road money.
The delegation process is the county’s formal route to Tallahassee. The Hernando County Legislative Delegation meets annually as a public hearing where citizens, elected officials and local organizations can testify on local legislation, and local bills move only if commissioners back them with a resolution. The 2025 meeting was announced for Dec. 15, 2025, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the John Law Ayers Commission Chambers at the Hernando County Government Center, 20 N. Main Street in Brooksville, a reminder that these requests are vetted in public before they reach state lawmakers.
State law already limits how tourist development tax, or TDT, dollars can be used. Florida Statutes section 125.0104 generally directs the revenue to tourism promotion and advertising, plus convention bureaus, tourist bureaus, tourist information centers and news bureaus. The Legislature has also been debating broader uses for TDT money in 2025 and 2026, including infrastructure, public safety, workforce housing and transit. That makes Hernando’s proposal part of a larger statewide fight over whether visitor taxes should stay narrow or become a wider tool for local capital needs.
Recent county tourism documents show the same tension inside Hernando itself. A 2025 tourism packet framed the mission around promoting Brooksville and Weeki Wachee while preserving natural and cultural heritage, and a 2026 report described an 80/20 split for tourist-tax revenue between marketing and operations, and destination development, alongside a three-year $2.04 million marketing and media-buy contract. Commissioners have been open to changing the language, but they want any future increase left unspecified so the county can follow whatever the state does next.
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