Beachgoers who have parked at some of Pinellas County’s most popular waterfront parks for years on a flat $6 daily fee may soon be asked to foot a much larger bill, as county commissioners weigh a fee restructuring that could push costs as high as $28 a day.

Under the proposal, the county would scrap its longstanding $6 beach paid parking flat rate at Fort De Soto, Sand Key, and Fred Howard Parks in favor of a $3.50-per-hour charge. County officials have floated a $15 daily cap, but it has not been formally adopted, meaning an uncapped hourly rate could make a family spending a full eight hours at the beach pay nearly five times what they pay today.

The change wouldn’t stop at the parking lot gate. Officials are also eyeing higher rates for boat-ramp access and for the annual passes that regular beachgoers rely on to avoid daily fees altogether. The county’s current $75 annual beach pass and $110 combined beach-and-boat-ramp pass could both climb under the plan.

Taken together, county estimates put the new fees on track to generate nearly $2.8 million a year in additional revenue — money commissioners say is needed to close a budget gap without raising property taxes.

Commissioner Brian Scott defended the increase as overdue rather than opportunistic. “We hadn’t adjusted the rates in about 20 years,” Scott told WTVT. “We’re really long overdue, and we’re quite honestly trying to solve some budget shortfalls.”

That framing deserves scrutiny. A county government that hasn’t touched a fee structure in two decades has had ample time to plan for rising maintenance and staffing costs through ordinary budgeting, rather than reaching for a sudden multiplier increase on a public amenity that costs residents nothing to build in the first place — sand, sun and salt water. Commissioners are also bracing for a November referendum that could strip $122 million in property tax revenue countywide, raising the question of whether beachgoers are being asked to absorb costs that a leaner county budget might otherwise handle without new fees.

For everyday visitors, the math is already causing hesitation. Braden Marsh, a 16-year-old fisherman who visits the parks regularly, said the current rate reflects fair value. “For six bucks, it’s pretty nice to come out here,” he said. “I admit that it’s good that they’d be getting a little more funding, but I guess we’d have to see it implemented first.” Marsh warned that steeper costs could keep families away entirely: “I think people may not visit as much.”

Nothing has been finalized. The $6 daily rate remains in effect for now, and any increase requires a formal commission vote. The county’s next budget work session is scheduled for September 3, followed by public hearings on September 10 and September 24 — the public’s clearest opportunity to weigh in before Pinellas taxpayers find out what a day at the beach is really going to cost them.

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