Cypress Gardens Deal Hinges on Tourist Tax Revenue

WINTER HAVEN, FL-It isn’t quite high finance, but the deal to save the shuttered 150-acre, landmark Cypress Gardens attraction at a scheduled Feb. 24 closing is still complex, area real estate lawyers following the controversial transaction tell GlobeSt.com.

The deal comes down to a vote by Polk County commissioners on Jan. 21, one day before the purchase contract expires. The elected officials propose to have tourists pay for the county’s $2.5-million acquisition of the 68-year-old park’s 30-acre botanical gardens. They estimated raising the county’s 4% bed tax by a penny on hotel rooms and short-term rental homes would generate $850,000 in annual revenue, or $3.4 million, for the four-year term of the special tax. The tax would revert to 4% after the last payment is made to the Trust For Public Land, a Washington, DC environmental group.

Polk County industrial brokers familiar with the deal tell GlobeSt.com the commissioners’ vote will be unanimous even though some Tourist Development Council members feel the additional penny tax move should be discussed more fully with the entire council.