TAMPA — What does good news about Hillsborough County's tourism industry have to do with Tampa's hopes of luring the Tampa Bay Rays?
In a word: everything.
Visit Tampa Bay president and CEO Santiago Corrada told Hillsborough commissioners Wednesday that the county is on pace to collect $30 million in tourism taxes by the end of the year, the first time passing that threshold.
It's not just a symbolic goal. State law allows counties that surpass $30 million a year in room taxes to raise the fee collected from 5 cents on every dollar spent to 6 cents.
And that extra cent could go toward financing a portion of a Hillsborough County stadium that would be the future home of a Tampa-based Rays team, advocates of a move say.
"It's a big deal," Commissioner Ken Hagan. "It's huge."
Tourism taxes, collected on every dollar spent on hotel rooms, rentals, RV parks and campgrounds, have restricted uses. They can be used for promoting tourism to the county or for financing projects like museums, convention centers and stadiums.
Counties that unlock the sixth cent are considered "high tourism impact" counties. Pinellas County became the eighth in 2013 when it surpassed the $30 million threshold.
But it wasn't until two years later that the county commissioners there voted to increase the tax from 5 percent to 6 percent. Now, it figures to be a key piece of that county's attempts to keep the Rays on that side of the bay.
It will take a super majority of Hillsborough commissioners, five of seven, to vote to raise the levy.
Last week the Republican-controlled Hillsborough County commission demonstrated its lack of appetite for any tax hikes when it killed off a half-cent sales tax increase to fund much-needed transportation projects. And it's always a tough sell to persuade residents to spend millions of dollars on sports teams owned by millionaires and billionaires.
But a fee that is assessed on tourists who stay in Hillsborough's hotel rooms may be more palatable to commissioners than a sales tax paid primarily by locals.
Commissioners haven't had trouble spending room tax money in recent months on sports stadiums. Renovation proposals for Raymond James Stadium and George M. Steinbrenner Field were both funded with the tourist tax.
"I think it will be a healthy conversation," Corrada said. "We want to make sure in our organization that they have the option to have that conversation."
If reached this year — and Corrada said he's "very, very confident" the county will hit the mark — it would be ahead of schedule. Visit Tampa Bay's goal was to surpass the $30 million threshold by the end of 2017. Hotels and other lodging establishments have collected $14.2 million in taxes since the start of the fiscal year in October, $1.8 million more than the same point last year.
Reaching the goal a year earlier doesn't necessarily affect negotiations with the Rays, Hagan said, but it was always anticipated to be an important piece of the stadium conversation. Hagan, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn and the rest of the Hillsborough team hoping to lure the Rays are meeting today.
It likely won't be the only piece, though. Local leaders expect that an incentive package for the Rays will likely include a creative mix of other sources, like revenue generated through Community Redevelopment Area funds. Less likely is a direct tax on residents, like the Community Investment Tax used to build Raymond James Stadium for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But if and when the sixth cent becomes available, there will be other local tourist attractions eager to get their hands on it, Hagan predicted. In addition to renovations at local stadiums, the tourism tax also pays for Visit Tampa Bay's budget and it supports venues like Lowry Park Zoo and the David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts.
The sixth cent is expected to bring in another $6 million a year, but how much the tax will generate in the future and how much it could finance for a stadium could be capped. While Hillsborough has gone far on its convention crowds and marquee events like the NCAA National Championship game, it doesn't have the beaches or attractions of Florida's other high-profile tourist destinations.
Corrada also said that with tourism booming, there aren't many rooms available in Hillsborough County right now, and that's not expected to change. Unlike Pinellas County, where new hotels are springing up all the time, Hillsborough doesn't expect much new inventory any time soon.
"I anticipate there will be a money grab once we get there, for lack of a better term," Hagan said. "But it's an appropriate source to consider for a public-private partnership (to build a baseball stadium) and it will help us to get there."
Contact Steve Contorno at scontorno@tampabay.com. Follow @scontorno.