CLAY COUNTY – The Clay County Tourist Development Tax continues to have a strong and lasting impact on the local economy.

Here’s how it works: a 5% Resort Tax, also named the Tourist Development Tax or TDT, is charged to a renter of a transient accommodation such as a motel, hotel, apartment or other sleeping accommodation for rentals of six months or less.

The tax is then levied against the owner or the property agent. The agent’s owner is responsible for collecting the tax from the renter and remitting it to the Clay County Tax Collector. Much like a state sales tax, it is an add-on tax.

The county collected $1,081,559 in the Fiscal Year 2019-20, $1,413,562 in the FY 2020-21, and $1,673,681 in the FY 2021-22.

Collections dropped in 2019-20 due to the COVID-19 pandemic but immediately increased in 2020-21. The county earned 30.7% more in 2020-21 than it did in 2019-20.

Then, after collecting nearly $1.7 million in tourist tax monies in 2021-22, the figure shot up again by 18%, with a gain of $260,119 from 2020-21.

Clay County is slightly behind pace from last year’s numbers after the first two months ($122,232 and $265,098 in Oct-Nov FY 2021-22 as compared to $143,291 and $105,645 in Oct-Nov FY 2022-23). Still, substantial numbers are expected from Dec-March, which should hopefully put the county above last FY’s total, according to Kimberly Morgan, Director of Tourism.

Visitors come from everywhere, but statistics show that Clay’s most substantial base of visitors comes from Atlanta, Gainesville, Jacksonville and Orlando.

District 1 County Commissioner Mike Cella has served as Chairman of the Tourism Development Council since he was elected in 2016.

Cella said one driving factor behind tourism in the county is the myriad of outdoor activities offered in Clay that are often more widely available than in other areas.

Outlets for ecotourism, like fishing, walking, biking and kayaking on the county’s long and winding land and water trails, are a big part of the picture. So are big ticket events like the Clay County Agriculture Fair, MotoSurf, Cattle at the Cove by the Clay County Cattlemen’s Association and the Florida Peacemakers’ Cowboy Mounted Shooting Match.

After a walk in the woods, a unique event experience, or a quick bite for breakfast before heading back home, visitors can find their way into one of several local, family-owned, authentic, mom-and-pop restaurant establishments offered throughout the county.

“Those things certainly add up as reasons or why people come to Clay. They are trying to get a sample of what it is like to be a local,” Cella said.

“People want that unplugged, homey, small-town kind of feel when it comes to events and activities. We have lots of things going on in Clay,” Morgan said.

The TDT is beneficial to the county in several ways.

“The first thing that it does is that it gives us a source of revenue. The good part about that is the average resident does not spend any money to do that,” Cella said of the short-term hotel rental tax nicknamed the “bed tax.”

“Those dollars help our hotels, businesses, and restaurants garner new business. People visit, spend their money, and then go home,” he explained.

If the entire tourism industry for Clay was under one roof, it would be a top five employer in the county, and tourism supports 3,400 jobs.

As the county saw a 7% uptick in households, the tourism industry continues to help more residents experience hundreds of dollars in tax savings.

“It’s a wonderful thing when people can visit our community, invest in it, and then not use the infrastructure that they helped fund,” she said.

According to Cella, the bed tax produces approximately $300 in tax savings for each dwelling unit.

“Clay County is a great place to unplug from the business of life and truly experience a friendly, welcoming destination where you can go have a cup of coffee and become friends with the business owner. People want to do business with people they like, and the businesses here love doing business with people that they know and they love to make friends. That is the type of experience (visitors) are looking for,” she said.