Number of visitors to county down in August, but their spending higher than in August 2024
In August, for the fifth month in a row, Sarasota County’s Tourist Development Tax (TDT) — or, “bed” tax — revenue was higher than in the same month of the 2024 fiscal year, Tax Collector Mike Moran and his staff have reported.
The total amount recorded for August was $2,562,233.34, which was up by $1,779.96, compared to the August 2024 tally of $2,560,453.38, the latest data show.
With only September’s collections left to be reported for the 2025 fiscal year, the revenue through August added up to $45,331,760.47. That is down $1,088,699.76 — or approximately 2% — compared to the $46,264,023.83 that the Tax Collector’s Office reported for the collections through August 2024 when it released the initial data for that month.
The 6% tax is charged on accommodations rented for six months or less time. The funds are used for a variety of purposes, in accord with state law and a county ordinance. Among those uses are beach maintenance, marketing of the county to tourists, and the upkeep of the two Major League Baseball Spring Training stadiums — in Sarasota (Baltimore Orioles) and in Wellen Park (Atlanta Braves).
Among other details of the new data, the Tourist Development Tax (TDT) revenue turned over by Airbnb, on behalf of its hosts, totaled $6,521,799.83 through August. That is down about 4.7%, compared to the figure through August 2024: $6,839,876.83.
On a related note: The TDT revenue through August that derived from use of accommodations rented through online platforms — including TripAdvisor and HomeAway and all of their subsidiaries — represented 21.4% of the total. Through August 2024, that figure was 21.96%.
Additionally, the City of Sarasota and Siesta Key engage in a figurative competition to see which will have accounted for the higher amount of the collections by the end of each fiscal year. Siesta won last year, but the city prevailed the two previous fiscal years.
Through August, the new reports show, the city remains in the lead with 23.91% of the revenue, compared to Siesta’s 23%. For the same 11- month period of the 2025 fiscal year, Siesta was in the lead, with 27.3%; the city’s portion of the TDT revenue was 24.64%.
Staff of the Tax Collector’s Office has reported that many Siesta accommodations were heavily damaged by Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024. Thus, Siesta lagged well behind the city for much of the 2025 fiscal year, as repairs were made so rentals could resume. The 2025 fiscal year ended on Sept. 30.
Among other details regarding the new data, a Sarasota News Leader review of revenue for the 2025 fiscal year prior to August found a big positive change for July. Instead of that figure being only $45,359.64 higher than the July 2024 tally, as the prior report showed, the July funds are up $182,433.87, as noted in the latest reports.
Tax Collector’s Office staff members have explained that audits and other enforcement actions can result in changes in the numbers from one month to the next. Moreover, personnel in the office stay busy searching for accommodations that are being used for short-term rentals, but whose owners are not paying the tax, as former Chief Deputy Tax Collector Sherri Smith often reported to the county’s Tourist Development Council. (Smith retired earlier this year, the News Leader learned.)
However, a couple of other revisions of previous figures resulted in lower collections, month-over-month, also as shown in the new reports.
When the July data were released, the reports noted that the bed tax revenue for March of this year was down $396,473.10, compared to the figure for March 2024. The new data show that deficit has grown to $415,130.36. Nonetheless, as has been the case in years past, March remains the month with the highest TDT total for FY 2025. The latest reports put the amount at $7,464,862.83.
For April of this year, the previous reports showed that the collections added up to $522,513.57 more than the figure for April 2024. The new reports dropped that to $495,859.70. Thus, instead of surpassing the $5-million mark in TDT revenue, April’s total in the new reports stands at $4,988,218.45.