2026 CAPITAL PROJECTS FUNDING

INSTRUCTIONS:

The following are instructions for application for Pinellas County Tourist Development Council (TDC) Capital Projects Funding. It is very important to follow all instructions in the application, and to provide ALL requested support materials. Please read the application in its entirety. Complete every question in the application, or type “n/a” if a question is not applicable to you. Please refer to Florida Statutes § 125.0104, Pinellas County Code Sec. 118-32, and the Capital Projects Funding Program Guidelines if you have questions about the Program. The granting of funds under this program is discretionary and not an entitlement; not all eligible projects may receive funding.

 Applicants must submit:

• Application certification and compliance statement (Application Section A) signed in the spaces indicated 
• Application Sections B through E
• All required supplemental and/or supporting documents

 

NOTE: FAILURE TO PROVIDE A COMPLETE APPLICATION MAY DISQUALIFY
THE APPLICATION/FUNDING REQUEST. No supplements or changes to an application will be allowed after the application has been submitted, unless specifically approved by VisitSPC, and/or its consultants and lawyers. Individuals with accessibility needs may request a paper application and submit to the staff member listed below.  

DEADLINE TO SUBMIT COMPLETED AND SIGNED APPLICATIONS IS NO LATER THAN 5:00 PM ET, January 15, 2027. 

Please direct any inquiries to;

Kylie Diaz, VP Community Engagement 

Visit St. Petersburg/Clearwater

8200 Bryan Dairy Road Suite 200

Largo, FL 33777

Kylie@visitspc.com

727-464-7231

Please find 2026 Capital Funding Program Guidelines Here.

I further certify that the information contained in this application is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and that I have read the Capital Projects Funding Program Guidelines and will abide by all legal, financial, and reporting requirements established in the Guidelines, Pinellas County Code, and Florida Statutes.

I also acknowledge and understand that receipt of any funding for this event is contingent upon a fully executed agreement, prepared by the County, that includes the County’s required terms and conditions.

Please have an authorized corporate or municipal officer sign below. 

Pinellas County Government is subject to the Florida Public Records law (Chapter 119, Florida Statutes), and all documents, materials, and data submitted to it are governed by the disclosure, exemption and confidentiality provisions relating to public records in Florida Statutes. Except for materials that are “trade secrets” or “confidential” as defined by applicable Florida law, ownership of all documents, materials, and data submitted in response to the solicitation shall belong exclusively to the County.

To the extent that Applicant or Applicant’s Agent desires to maintain the confidentiality of materials that constitute trade secrets pursuant to Florida law, trade secret material submitted must be identified by some distinct method that the materials constitute a trade secret, and Applicant or Applicant’s Agent shall provide an additional copy of the application and supporting documents that redact all designated trade secrets. By submitting any materials that are designated as trade secrets Applicant or Applicant’s Agent acknowledges and agrees:

(i)    that after notice from the County that a public records request has been made for the materials designated as a trade secret, the Applicant or Applicant’s Agent shall be solely responsible for defending its determination that submitted material is a trade secret that is not subject to disclosure at its sole cost, which action shall be taken immediately, but no later than 10 calendar days from the date of notification or the trade secret designation of the materials will be deemed waived;

(ii)    that to the extent that the application and/or supporting documents/materials with trade secret materials is evaluated, the County and its officials, employees, agents, and representatives, including Tourist Development Council members, that are in any way involved in processing, evaluating, negotiating, approving any funding request, or engaging in any other activity relating to the competitive selection process are hereby granted full rights to access, view, consider, and discuss the materials designated as trade secrets through the final funding award;

(iii)    to indemnify and hold the County, and its officials, employees, agents, representatives and Tourist Development Council members harmless from any actions, damages (including attorney’s fees and costs), or claims arising from or related to the designation of trade secrets herein, including, but not limited to actions or claims arising from the County’s non- disclosure of the trade secret materials.

(iv)    that information and data Applicant or Applicant’s Agent manages may be public record in accordance with Chapter 119, Florida Statues and Pinellas County public record policies. Applicant or Applicant’s Agent agrees that it will implement policies and procedures, to maintain, produce, secure and retain public records in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and County Policies including but not limited to Section 119.0701, Florida Statutes.

Attachment A 
 
Economic Impact Study Requirements 

All Consultants completing economic impact analyses related to a Capital Project for an Applicant must submit as part of the application all information and analyses as detailed in the following Qualifications and Resumes and Consultants Scope of Work sections of this document. It is the County’s intent in requesting the information as outlined in the Consultants Scope of Work section to receive the information and estimates in a way that the methodology and calculations utilized in estimating the impacts can be followed, understood and vetted for reasonableness.  
 
Qualifications and Resumes 

All Consultants completing economic impact analyses related to the Capital Project for the Applicants must include, as part of the application document, their experience in completing hospitality economic impact analyses/projections for similar facility types as are being proposed by the Applicant. Submitted qualifications must include the following: 

1. Brief descriptions of projects the Consultant has participated in that are similar to the type of project referenced in the submission. Information should include the project name, location, date services were completed, opening date (if applicable), and description of services provided. Include references for each described project. References should include a contact person, address, phone number, and email. References should be prepared to be contacted. 
2. Professional resumes of the key individuals assigned to the Applicant’s project; describing education, qualifications, and experience with similar economic impact analyses (including dates worked on each project). 

Consultants Scope of Work 

The economic impact analysis included in the Applicant’s submission shall include the following economic impact estimates and methodology requirements set forth below. Please see the example table in Section 5 detailing how the County prefers to receive the data. 

1.  Direct Impact Estimates 

Consultant shall estimate attendance/visitors, average length of stay, average attendees per party, paid room nights, direct spending per attendee per day, and total direct spending. 

2.  Indirect and Induced Spending Estimates 

Consultant shall estimate total indirect and induced spending estimates, which are to be calculated based off the direct spending estimates utilizing IMPLAN, RIMS II, or other industry-standard input/output modeling software. 

3.  Tourist Development Tax (TDT) Estimates 

Consultant shall estimate TDT based on its estimated paid room nights, using the County’s current TDT rate of 6.0%. 

4.  Methodology Requirements 

In all cases, these impact estimates are to be provided for each of the first 10 years the facility is in operation after completion of the Capital Project. If the Capital Project is for an existing facility, Consultant shall also provide 5 years of historical data and annual estimates during the period until the improvements are completed. If the Capital Project is for an existing facility, the post-improvements estimates must be delineated by base (i.e., estimates for impacts assuming that the Capital Project doesn’t take place) and incremental (i.e., estimates for net new impacts as a result of the Capital Project). The base estimates should be carefully developed to assess whether recent historical performance represents a steady state or whether future performance is likely to shift, positively or negatively, due to changes in market conditions, programming, or other relevant factors, or decline due to the facility’s condition or the competitiveness of its current offerings. If the Capital Project is NOT for an existing facility, the estimates will be solely incremental. 

Consultant shall delineate estimates by attendee location/type, to include: 

a) Local Attendees/Pinellas Residents (from inside Pinellas County, no hotel room nights)

b) Day Tripper Attendees (from outside Pinellas, no hotel room nights)

c) Overnight Attendees staying in paid lodging (to include room nights on the days they utilized the proposed project only*)

d) Overnight Attendees staying in unpaid lodging (i.e.., personal condo/home, camper, or with friend/relatives and to include stays on the days they utilized the  Capital Project only*)

e) Other, which may include performers, teams, traveling event staff/vendors, or other relevant groups, as necessary. These should be delineated using the same classification framework as items (a) through (d) above, as applicable.

Consultants estimates should only capture the overnight stays associated with attending the proposed Capital Project and not include the “shoulder stays,” when attendees may go to the beach or some other area attraction. Utilizing ALL overnight stays may be considered if the Consultant can provide data supporting that the attendees would not have come to the area if the Capital Project were not developed. Meaning, the attendee would not have come to the area if the Capital Project had not been developed. Importantly, a visitor identifying the Capital Project as the primary purpose of their trip does not, in itself, constitute sufficient evidence that the individual would not have traveled to the area for other reasons. If these requirements are not followed, we reserve the right to require that all estimates be revised to remove ineligible shoulder stays. For visitors for whom attending the proposed Capital Project is not the primary purpose of their trip, but rather an added trip experience, visitor spending shall only include expenditures incurred on the day the individual attended the Capital Project. For any overnight visitors in this category, no more than a single room night may be attributed to the project. 
 
The Consultant shall clearly document all data sources and inputs used to support their estimates. This includes a detailed explanation of the methodology employed, including key assumptions. Support may include, but is not limited to, user or attendee/visitor surveys, data from comparable facilities/markets, historical performance data, market/feasibility studies, and relevant industry benchmarks. 

5. Data Table 

Consultant shall provide estimates, as part of their overall analysis submitted to the County, in the example table format below. The information must be supplied for each year, including 10 years of estimated impacts following completion of the Capital Project, and as previously detailed, 5 years of historical data and interim estimates if the project involves an existing facility. For existing facilities, post-improvements estimates must also be delineated for each year between base and incremental impacts, as previously detailed.  

Note that the example table presents estimates for a single year, and the figures are representative only.