July sets a new record for collections
With two months of collections remaining this fiscal year, Sarasota County’s Tourist Development Tax — or, “bed tax” — revenue through July has exceeded the total for the 2025 fiscal year, as shown in the latest data released by Sarasota County Tax Collector Mike Moran and his staff.
The total revenue turned over to the Tax Collector’s Office from Oct. 1, 2025 through July added up to $48,865,805.22, the data note. That marks an increase of 3%, compared to the entire amount of Tourist Development Tax revenue collected in the 2025 fiscal year: $47,428,118.06.
The collections through July also are higher by nearly 0.8% than the total for the 2024 fiscal year, which was $48,479,313.49.
In 2025, leaders of Visit Sarasota County and staff of the Tax Collector’s Office reported that, because of the significant storm damage wrought in various parts of the county by Hurricane Helene in late September 2024 and Hurricane Milton, which came ashore at Big Sarasota Pass on Siesta Key on Oct. 9, 2024, many accommodations were unavailable for vacation rentals. In fact, on Siesta Key, as Lourdes Ramirez, president of the nonprofit Protect Siesta Key, told the County Commission, many property owners were still working in May 2025 to obtain the necessary county permits to repair their units. Thus, the bed tax revenue lagged in portions of the county for the early part of the 2025 calendar year.
Another detail evident in the new reports is the fact that the amount of revenue the Tax Collector’s Office took in in July — $4,198,552.10 — marked the first time that the total for July has exceeded $4 million, based on a Sarasota News Leader review of past years’ reports.
The July figure is up by $503,491.33 — 13.6% — compared to the July 2025 amount of $3,695,060.77.
The 6% Tourist Development Tax (TDT) is collected on accommodations rented for six months or less time, including hotel and motel rooms. The revenue is allocated in accord with a county ordinance. Funds are used for beach maintenance and renourishment, marketing of the county to visitors and upkeep of the two Major League Baseball Stadiums, for examples. The County Commission has designated proceeds, as well, to help pay for Mote Marine Laboratory’s Science Education Aquarium, which stands between Nathan Benderson Park and the Mall at University Town Center, and for the planned Nathan Benderson Park Multi-Sport Complex and Boathouse.
Among other details of the new reports, the total revenue through July that was collected by Airbnb hosts was $8,546,751.32. That marks a jump of about 41%, compared to the figure through July 2025: $6,048,799.33.
Altogether, the latest data show, online vacation rental platforms — including HomeAway and TripAdvisor and all of their subsidiaries — accounted for 23.49% of the TDT revenue through July. Through July 2025, that figure was 21.14%.
Further, in regard to the reports by location, Siesta Key and the City of Sarasota engage in a figurative battle each year to determine which will “win” the title for collecting the largest percentage of the bed tax funds. Although Siesta prevailed in the 2024 fiscal year, the city took the title last year. Through July, the new reports show, Siesta remained ahead, with 24.62% of the money; the city’s portion was 22.28%.
Through July 2025, the city was ahead, with 24.03% of the total, compared to Siesta’s 22.9%. Again, the damaged housing on Siesta were seen as the primary reason the city remained in front through the 2025 fiscal year.
Other details of the new reports are slight increases in month-over-month revenue totals. Staff members of the Tax Collector’s Office have explained that audits and other enforcement actions can lead to new totals from one set of reports to the next. Moreover, a team in the office strives continuously to find owners of accommodations who have not been turning over the tax proceeds to the office. When such persons or companies are identified, they must pay those back taxes, the staff has pointed out.
The reports for July show that the uptick in revenue for June, compared to the total for June 2025, has risen about 2.1%. The original figure cited was $590,523.50; the difference in the new reports is $603,080.21, or about 2.1% more.
For another example: The month-over-month hike noted in last month’s reports for March was $760,389.10. The new data put the change at $764,822.16.
More visitors and more spending
Along with the monthly reports from the Tax Collector’s Office, Visit Sarasota County (VSC), the county’s tourism marketing organization, releases data that a Tallahassee firm, Downs & St. Germain Research, collects on its behalf.
That July report shows that the number of visitors to the county in July was higher by 8.6%, compared to the July 2025 count. The figure this July was 156,000; last July, it was 143,700.
Moreover, the Downs & St. Germain data show that visitors’ direct expenditures jumped 10.2% this July, compared to the total in July 2025. This year, the number was $145,888,100; in July 2025, it was $132,395,200.
Through July, that report further notes, the top markets of origin for visitors coming to Sarasota County this fiscal year have been New York City, Boston, Chicago and Orlando.
However, it says, tourism remains down this fiscal year from international regions and the Southeast domestic market. Conversely, it points out, the number of visitors from the western part of the United States has jumped 17.6%, fiscal year over fiscal year.
Among other data in the new Downs & St. Germain report are the following:
- Lodging occupancy was 60.9% this July, compared to 59.8% in July 2025.
- The average room rate for lodging this July was $303.28, an uptick of 6.7%, compared to the $284.31 figure for July 2025.
- The tally of room nights sold this July was 257,000, which marked an increase of 6.1%, compared to the July 2025 count of 242,300.