COCOA BEACH, Fla. – After a county commissioner said he’d be willing to raise taxes to put more lifeguards on Brevard beaches, the Cocoa Beach mayor says that as much as he’d like to see more lifeguards on beaches without one, lifeguards can’t be funded everywhere.
“I mean, I hate to say it. It’s a tourist issue,” Mayor Keith Capizzi told your Cocoa Beach Community Correspondent James Sparvero.
It’s not like a local beachgoer has never gotten themselves caught in a rip current.
However, in most cases, like the man and the woman who drowned Tuesday in Cocoa Beach, the county said they were from different states.
[WATCH: Putting lifeguards on every Brevard beach would take ‘significant budget increase,’ says commissioner]
The city said they drowned nearly a mile away from the nearest lifeguard tower - where Sparvero met Mayor Capizzi Friday - Coconuts on the Beach.
“With more tourism than ever, are lifeguard services keeping up with the demand to keep people safe,” Sparvero asked the mayor.
“You know, I think they are,” Capizzi answered. “The issue is not everybody swims near a lifeguard.”
Sparvero followed up by asking if tourism brings so much money to the local economy, does the community have a responsibility to protect all tourists?
Capizzi answered, “We absolutely have a responsibility to protect tourists as much as possible, as much as feasible.”
On Thursday, county commissioner Thad Altman told Sparvero he’d back what he said would be a significant budget increase to put lifeguards on all beaches.
The story led to a huge conversation on Facebook, with dozens of comments and many people opposing an increase in local taxes.
On Friday, Sparvero followed up to find out just how much more money it would take, meaning what a hypothetical tax hike would cost you.
The commissioner said he’s working on getting those numbers.
In the meantime, former lifeguard Kassidy Austin shared her idea to make the beach a little safer.
“If we had more flags out all the way down, told you more about what you were getting into when you got to the beach, at least that would be some awareness that maybe we could work on before we got to the step of getting lifeguards out here,” she said.
Because the county does so much advertising to bring tourists here, Mayor Capizzi said he thinks the Tourist Development Council should be leading this discussion to find solutions.
If the TDC shares its stance on protecting beaches, News 6 and ClickOrlando.com we’ll add the response.