We find ourselves agreeing with Celebration Alliance representative Randy Johnson speaking at the Tourist Development Council meeting Tuesday that we should proceed with extreme caution on spending a limited supply of tourist tax dollars when it may be only a matter of time until the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico starts hitting Florida beaches, driving tourists to other destinations.

When the oil does come ashore – and many officials say it’s not a question of if, but when – it could be a devastating blow to an already fragile industry here in Osceola County and statewide. We should be ready for that possibility, especially since tourist tax revenue for the fiscal year so far is 6.7 percent below last year’s numbers.

We also agree with Johnson that most requests for tourist tax funding are “well-intentioned,” but the bottom line is we can’t fund them all, and if we fund any of them, we have to be sure the end result will be additional tax revenue of the scale corresponding to the size of the investment – and a return on our dollars spent should come sooner rather than later.

Two proposals for shuttle service along West U.S. Highway 192 came before the council Tuesday. One proposal – needing a legal loophole to make tourist tax funding legal – wanted to turn two shuttles into “mobile museums.” As was mentioned at the council meeting, rules are “not to be gotten around.” This proposal was an attempt to do just that.

Also at the council meeting, new information was provided about the proposed museum of military history at the former Coggin dealership on West U.S. Highway 192. One thing that irritates us about this proposal is that now there has to be a discussion about an environmental cleanup on the property and who might pay for it. The original $5 million price tag looks like it could grow significantly.

We’ve already said we don’t believe this museum would produce the needed tourist tax revenue to make it worthwhile, and the additional cost only adds to our argument. Plus, Tuesday was the first time the project ever went before the Tourist Development Council, according to council Chairman Jim Murphy. A number of other proposals never went before the council either, including the proposed $67 million United States Specialty Sports Association sports complex. That’s inexcusable.

The Osceola County Commission recently passed a resolution making sure that projects of more than $100,000 must go to the council first for proper vetting. As we have said before, that resolution was long overdue.