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Escambia County Contributes $25K In Tourist Funds To Beulahfest
December 28, 2014
Beulahfest has received a financial boost from Escambia County.
The annual event will receive $25,000 in county funding — $20,000 from discretionary funds from Commissioner Wilson Robertson and $5,000 from Commissioner Steven Barry — to assist with costs. The funds are the from the 4th Cent Tourist Development Tax.
The next Beulahfest will be held March 20-21 at the Pensacola Interstate Fairgrounds. The music festival has been held since 1986 when it was the Beulah Sausage Festival always raising money for local charities and providing funds for firefighter training and recruitment.
Pictured: Last year’s Beulahfest entertainers Lynyrd Skynyrd (top), Charlie Daniels (inset), and Rodney Atkins (below). NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
17 Responses to “Escambia County Contributes $25K In Tourist Funds To Beulahfest”
Beulah has no access to ecat.
Is the 4 percent tourist tax the 4 cent tax increase on a gallon of gas (at the first of the year) to help fund ECAT?
I’m pretty sure Don is talking about the people of Beulah who started this years ago with a band from Beulah sausage being cooked by people in Beulah. Children running around having fun. An event that the people could afford and still help the fire dept. I’ve lived in Beulah for now over 40 years I’m not sure what help all that money does out here. But I can say we had a clean sweep one time that was great cause code enforcement had to actually make some of these people clean their yards. Yes I can say that’s the best thing I’ve ever seen. Can we get one of those MR.Morgan.
With most operating in the Beulah community?
Its not an out of control monster. Sure, it may not have the feel it used to, thats because people love the hometown feel and its gotten so popular because its good and wholesome. Want something with a rubber stamp, demonic, sexual overtones, go to Disneyworld.
And Don, i dont remember St.Annes ever being for tourists. My old man started the round-up with Father Licari in the 60’s as a chicken fry and he stopped cause it got to be too much for him at his age. But it always was hometown.
To answer a few additional questions, the proceeds from BeulahFest go to support local charities in the Beulah and surrounding communities. Our impact for the economy last year for a two day festival was over $300,000. We brought in over 3,000 people who did not live, work, or worship in Escambia County.
The money received is from the tourism tax and like John said is tourist dollars spent at hotels etc. It does not come from our local tax dollars.
Fire department funds come from the MSBU collected by the county. It has been this way for over 15 years.
Once again we appreciate all of the community support.
Hello everyone as the spokesperson for BeulahFest I’ll ask you to consider that in our 29 years of operations we have never received any kind of assistant such as this.
Greed has not ruined BeulahFest, as the event has grown from the demands of our audience we have had to seek out bigger venues. The Fairgrounds was the best spot that was as close as possible to Beulah. It is our audience that allows us to take our proceeds each year and donate to local charites with most operating in the Beulah community. We appreciate all of the sport we get from the community.
Can we please vote to get Beulah out of its name it is such an embarrassment. This is not what our festival was about it is out of control very expensive and its not even in Beulah. GREED has ruined it.
john;;;; I understand what you are saying, but tax dollars are tax dollars, they can put money in a bucket and say anything they wish but most is not true.(remember lipstick on a pig is still just a pig)
why are they saying commissioners giving money,sounds like they giving out of there own pocket,,, wrong again, it never comes out of their pocket. yes if its our tax paying dollars then why are they charging so much for us to get in? use to be fun when it was smaller but now its become a money maker for the county,to use as they see fit. it should all go to the fire depts.and the comissiomers should not control it.
It is not “our” tax dollars that are paying for this. It is tourist development tax that is funding this $25,000. This tax is the additional tax (above our local sales tax) that is charged at hotels, motels, etc. So unless you are staying at hotels in Escambia County “your” tax dollars are not paying for this. Florida statutes have strict guidlines on how these tax dollars can be spent and the TDT tax cannot be spent on the general operations of the County and they have to be used to promote tourism. The event does bring in some tourist so why not give them some of this money.
A year or so ago the County decided to set aside $250,000 of TDT monies each year and let the commissioners use it as they see fit. Each commissioner gets $50,000 to fund tourism-related events in the County. In this case Wilson gave $20k of his funds and Barry gave $5k.
So our tax dollars go to the Beulahfest….this does nothing to help the economy. Beulahfest was fun when it was a sausagefest to raise money for the fire dept. Now it has gotten expensive to get in and it is not as much fun. And our tax dollars pay for this? Then why are we charged admission if we are paying for it anyway?
One question—where do the profits from the “new and improved”Sausage Fest go?
I wish we could take Beulah out of the name. I remember when the sausage festival started it was fun for us all. Funny how things change. I remember Rocky with his band that’s been so long ago…..good times.
I remember when this was simply the Beulah sausage fest to raise funds for the Beulah volunteer fire dept. It’s grown out of its pants now and just another high priced monster that no longer has the local community feel to it,,like St.Ann’s,it too will become a tourist trap excluding locals..
Jeeperman is smarter than the average bear.
Sounds good to me! No different than the SRIA bank rolling various music fests on the beach promoted by others.
If the funds are from the “4th Cent Tourist Development Tax” then what is the mention of $20k and $5k “from” Robertson and Berry?.
I am going to guess that the “4th Cent Tourist Development Tax” funds the discretionary fund of each commissioner ?
And can be spent on just about anything?