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Sarasota News Leader September 13, 2013 Page 43 ministration Center on Ringling Boulevard in downtown Sarasota. The worst-case scenario, Chief Financial Planning Officer Steve Botelho told the County Commission, would be the opening and immediate closing of the hearing and advertisement of another public hearing if tweaks the board and the county's Tourism Development Council (TDC) recommended in the ordinance language were too significant to enable the proceeding to go forward. However, County Attorney Stephen DeMarsh said he felt the changes commissioners suggested during their Sept. 10 discussion would not hamper holding the public hearing. Although the TDC already discussed the proposed ordinance changes during its June 20 regular meeting, that board will consider them again on Sept. 19 during a session from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Commission Chambers in Sarasota. THE DETAILS During her Sept. 10 presentation to the County Commission, Virginia Haley, president of Visit Sarasota County — the county's tourism office — explained that the funds generated by 12.5 percent of one penny of the TDT revenue is expected to generate about $400,000 a year. (See related story in this issue.) Her board's idea, she said, was to use that money primarily for projects that would entice more visitors to stay overnight in Sarasota County, with the emphasis on "new or increased tourism." A portion of the revenue could be allocated to a major destination event, she pointed out. The Ringling Museum of Art is one of Sarasota's well-known tourist attractions. Photo by Norman Schimmel