9 Investigates: Brevard County's decision to spend $5M on AstroTurf draws criticism

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — The Tourist Development Tax. You’ve paid it, but for the most part it’s paid by someone else -- someone visiting your community.

In Brevard County, there is a 5 percent tax on hotels, motels and short-term rentals.  Now, thanks to new legislation, some of that money can be used to clean up the Indian River Lagoon.

Instead, it’s being used to replace the real grass at the youth soccer fields with fake grass.

“We have boat captains that are going out of business. I have constituents calling, saying they are selling their paddleboards because they don’t think it’s safe in the water,” said Rep. Randy Fine, R-Palm Bay, of Brevard County’s Indian River Lagoon.

Fine pushed for the change to state law.  His intention was to open up an extra revenue stream for the county to use to deal with the Indian River Lagoon.

“The lagoon is worth $1 billion a year for tourism, and we’ve opened up the option to spend $13 million a year to fix that lagoon without raising anyone’s taxes,” Fine said.

But the county said it's focusing on the lagoon.

In 2016, Brevard County commissioners put a half-cent sales tax on the ballot to pay for lagoon projects.

That money, approved by voters in November 2016, is already bringing in an extra $40 million a year, which is helping to pay for 42 projects aimed at cleaning up the Indian River Lagoon.

The county also points out that it has invested $139 million in sewer projects designed to replace pipes and fix infrastructure to keep wastewater out of the lagoon.

“We are doing an awful lot,” said Commissioner Curt Smith at the March 20 commission meeting.

“It’s not like we’re ignoring the lagoon or turning our back on the lagoon. We are moving forward with these projects -- dredging projects, de-mucking projects and septic to sewer projects.”

“If they jumped up and said, 'Two million (dollars) is going to fix the lagoon,' they’d have my attention, but I haven’t heard that so far,” Commissioner Rita Pritchett said.

Commissioners argue that the $5 million for AstroTurf at the Viera Regional Park’s soccer fields will bring in tournaments and teams from outside the area.

The commission, which voted 3-2 in favor of the AstroTurf, said the added tourism dollars will benefit the lagoon in the long run.

“Make no mistake, the No. 1 tourism driver for Brevard County is the Indian River Lagoon,” Commissioner John Tobia said. “We need to focus on what is most important, and it is certainly not AstroTurf in Viera.”

Earlier this month, scientists studying the lagoon reported what they called “concerning levels” of algae in the Indian River Lagoon. The report comes two years after widespread algal blooms led to one of the worst fish kills on record for Brevard County.

Cox Media Group