Monroe County warns of new state rules for tourism grants

Monroe County is telling nonprofits and event organizers that a new state law is changing how Tourist Development Council grants and event funding work in the Keys. County officials say Monroe County and the TDC must review grant applications and funding allocations for compliance, adding a new hurdle for groups that depend on tourism-tax dollars.

That matters because TDC money reaches deep into the local calendar. County documents show funding is split among destination and turnkey events, cultural umbrella events, fishing umbrella funding and bricks-and-mortar or capital projects, with district advisory committees recommending awards before the TDC endorses them. In practice, that means festivals, heritage programs, sports events and tourism marketing campaigns now face another layer of review before money is released.

The county is also warning repeat applicants not to assume last year’s rules still apply. Monroe County materials say tourist development tax revenues may be used only for specified purposes, and the current outreach indicates organizations will need to re-check eligibility, documentation and any procedural changes tied to the new law before filing again. The message is aimed at groups that have historically used the grants to book talent, secure venues and promote events across the island chain.

The pressure has already shown up in Key West. Some LGBTQ events have lost funding under Florida’s new DEI law, and a burlesque director has described the dispute as a First Amendment issue. That makes the compliance review more than a paperwork change: it can determine which community events stay on the calendar and which have to scale back or disappear.

Monroe County’s Tourist Development Council says its mission is to manage the county’s tourism marketing efforts to ensure long-term economic benefits to Monroe County. Its fiscal 2024 annual report, covering the year ending Sept. 30, 2024 and submitted Jan. 31, 2025, was the 35th annual report under Monroe County Ordinance 003-1990, showing how long tourism tax money has sat at the center of local planning.

For applicants now, the urgent task is to match every request to the new state-law review before budgets are set. Any group seeking county-backed tourism money has to account for a stricter approval path, and the result could be fewer events, smaller productions or higher fundraising costs if grants come in lower.