State economists convening in Tallahassee today will attempt to place a dollar amount on sales tax and other revenue losses attributed to the BP oil spill last year. State and local governments in Florida have received close to $150 million through the Ken Feinberg Gulf Coast Claims Facility so far. According to BP, $1.56 billion has already been paid to federal, state, and local governments in Florida, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. This number probably includes the tourism marketing dollars that BP contributed as well.
Towns like Destin will see little if any BP dollars. This is primarily because Destin sees very little return in sales taxes collected here. While Destin contributes approximately 35% of Okaloosa county’s ad valorem taxes and 40% of the sales taxes, very little actually comes back to the city as expenditures are allocated based on the permanent resident population. Destin has a permanent population of 12,300.
In a nutshell, if Destin could be annexed by neighboring Walton County to the east, Okaloosa County’s budget would be would be devastated.