November collections climb 11.4%
In November 2025, for the second consecutive month of the current fiscal year, Sarasota County’s Tourist Development Tax — or, “bed tax” — revenue was higher than it was in the same month of the prior fiscal year, the latest Sarasota County Tax Collector’s Office reports show.
The revenue turned over to the Tax Collector’s Office for November 2025 added up to $3,014,755.41, the reports say. That marks an 11.4% increase, compared to the $2,705,061.55 collected in November 2024.
Altogether, the current fiscal year — which began on Oct. 1, 2025 — has netted $5,675,682.18 in TDT funds. That number is up nearly 32%, compared to the $4,305,844.21 that the Tax Collector’s Office initially reported for the first two months of the 2025 fiscal year. The latest data show that the total for October and November 2025 is higher by $1,246,553.35 than the combined tally for those months in 2024.
Staff members of the Tax Collector’s Office have explained that audits and other enforcement actions can change figures from month-to-month, even well after the first reports have been issued.
The 6% tax is charged on rentals of accommodations for six months or less time. The funds are used for a variety of purposes, in accord with a county ordinance. Among those uses are beach maintenance, upkeep of the county’s two Major League Baseball Spring Training stadiums and the marketing of the county to visitors. The County Commission also contributed $20 million to the construction of the new Mote Marine Science Education Aquarium, near Nathan Benderson Park, using bed tax money.
Another detail in the new reports is that the county has collected $1,081,349.26 in revenue from Airbnb hosts for the first two months of the 2026 fiscal year. That is approximately 83% higher than the figure for October and November 2024: $590,921.75.
With Hurricanes Helene and Milton having wreaked so much damage in the county in the fall of 2024, many accommodations — especially on Siesta Key — were unfit to be rented. That contributed to the lower bed tax revenue collections through the first part of the 2025 fiscal year, Tax Collector’s Office staff has noted.
In regard to rentals of accommodations through online platforms so far this fiscal year, the latest reports show that those transactions accounted for 26.02% of the total revenue through November. For the same period of the 2025 fiscal year, the figure was 18.78%.
Further, Siesta Key and the City of Sarasota vie each year to lead all locations in the amount of TDT revenue they turn over to the Tax Collector’s Office. The city has come out on top for three of the past four fiscal years, including the 2025 fiscal year. Siesta prevailed in FY 2024.
Through November, the city is in the lead, with 26.41% of the total. For Siesta, the figure is 18.14%. The city was far ahead at the end of November 2024, with 36.93%, compared to Siesta’s 7.98%.
In regard to the audits and enforcement situation, the new reports also make it clear that the Tax Collector’s Office staff has continued to pursue entities that had not been paying the tax: The bed tax revenue total in the first report for October 2025 was $2,614,207.30. The new tally is up nearly 1,8%, to $2,660,926.77.