Business leaders want the Weeki Wachee attraction to stay open because it fuels the economy and defines the area.
By JENNIFER LIBERTO
Published September 29, 2003
WEEKI WACHEE - No one doubts that Weeki Wachee Springs has an impact on Hernando County's economy. But determining the extent of the troubled tourist attraction's impact is difficult, because it is indirect, economists and business leaders say.
"It's an intangible. I don't think you can put a dollar amount to it," said Morris Porton, senior vice president of Community National Bank in Spring Hill. "But it's a landmark, and it brings people to think about Hernando County, which we wouldn't have if Weeki Wachee wasn't here."
The attraction, which drew more than 175,000 locals and tourists in 2002, was given a reprieve last week by the Southwest Florida Water Management District. Swiftmud, as the district is known, had threatened to shut it down because of lease violations and concerns over whether Weeki Wachee can generate enough revenue to make improvements at the park and survive.
A forced closing of the attraction is not a decision that would have played well in the local business community.
Among other things, traffic through the park has a positive effect on area restaurants, stores and hotels.
Nearly 20 percent of business at the Best Western Weeki Wachee Resort in Weeki Wachee stems from the mermaid shows and adjacent water park, said the resort's new owner, Jim DeMaria, who bought the hotel in April for $8-million.
"We get people once they finish the day there on their way back to Orlando," said Tom Rausch, manager of Johnny Carino's restaurant on Cortez Boulevard, about 3 miles east of Weeki Wachee Springs.
Weeki Wachee Springs' payroll has a significant effect on the county. With as many as 175 employees in the summer season, its recent $584,293 annual payroll roughly becomes $1.46-million because employees spend their paychecks in the community, said labor professor Bruce Nissen of Florida International University in Miami.
"These people spend virtually all their money in the local community, and it gets spent on local businesses who take that money and spend it, and it trickles down," Nissen said.
In terms of taxes, county government doesn't make a bundle off the park. In 2002, the county collected about $49,000 in taxes from the park's former owners, paid on tangibles such as the slides and the public address system, and also in leasehold improvement taxes, paid on the buildings.
In 2002, the county school district collected about $7,300 in sales taxes on admissions, which make up roughly 8 percent of all taxable admissions in Hernando County, including movie theater and concert tickets, according to a Times analysis of information provided by Weeki Wachee, the county tourism department and the Florida Department of Revenue.
County schools also garnered about $3,600 in taxes on food, beverage and retail sales at the attraction in 2002.
The park also becomes a contributing factor as business leaders attempt to attract big industry to the county, said Mike McHugh, director of county business development. McHugh said he often points to the park as one of the county's unique cultural and social features when he is trying to persuade manufacturers to consider the county as a nice place to work and live.
One of the best ways to measure Weeki Wachee's economic impact is 27 miles away at the county welcome center off Interstate 75, where at least five people a day walk in and promptly ask about the mermaids.
"Hernando County is not really well-known. But when I say Hernando County - home of the Weeki Wachee mermaids - people know where we're at," said county tourism director Sue Rupe.
Tourism is, by far, the biggest and most direct economic impact for Hernando County, said University of Florida research economist David Lenze.
"If someone's coming down just for the mermaids and spends a few days at the beach and spends money on motel, rental car, gasoline, food, souvenirs and admissions to the park, that's an impact," Lenze said.
The attraction also can influence visitors who are looking for a place to retire or move and like what they see in Hernando County, Lenze said.
"There are a lot of places you can select to live in, but this might be the deciding factor for somebody deciding between, say, Ocala and Hernando County, because Ocala doesn't have mermaids," Lenze said.
Indeed, a few Hernando County real estate agents, including Chuck Morton, have donated to Weeki Wachee recently, realizing how the park draws residents.
"We've been discussing how we can get a handle and consider how (Weeki Wachee) is affecting the real estate industry," said Lisa Gurske, executive vice president of the Hernando County Association of Realtors.
"I'm sure visitors come and say, "Hey, this is a pretty nice area. We should consider retiring here.' How many do? We have no idea. But there has to be some."
- Staff writer Robert King contributed to this report. Jennifer Liberto can be reached at 848-1434. Send e-mail to liberto@sptimes.com
