So far, only April and May have seen higher collections than the corresponding months of the 2024 fiscal year
After two consecutive sets of reports showing month-over-month upticks in the Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax — or, “bed tax” — revenue, the latest data released by Sarasota County Tax Collector Mike Moran and his staff show that the June collections came in $24,032.01 less than the June 2024 funds.
Altogether, the revenue for this June added up to $3,708,305.12, which was approximately 0.6% less than the June 2024 total of $3,732,337.13.
With three months of collections left this fiscal year, the total Tourist Development Tax (TDT) revenue stood at $39,036,063.55, which is down by $1,316,993.71, compared to the figure representing the funds that the Tax Collector’s Office took in from Oct. 1, 2023 through June 2024.
The initial reports released for June 2024 put the total revenue at that time at $40,291,145.79. The figure for the collections through June of this year is about 3.1% lower than that amount.
The 6% tax is charged on accommodations rented for six months or less time. The use of the funds is governed by a county ordinance that can be amended as needed. The money is used for beach maintenance, upkeep of the two Major League Baseball Spring Training stadiums in the county and promotion of the county for tourists, for a few examples.
Yet another detail in the new reports is the fact that Airbnb hosts had contributed $5,468,007.31 in TDT revenue through June of this year. That is approximately 5.3% lower than the $5,773,181.04 noted in the June 2024 reports.
Altogether, by the end of June, rentals of accommodations through online platforms — including HomeAway.com and TripAdvisor and all of their subsidiaries — represented 21.6% of the total bed tax revenue that the Tax Collector’s Office had received. That figure is slightly above the 21.38% mark recorded for the same period of the 2024 fiscal year.
Typically, Siesta Key and the City of Sarasota hosts turn over the largest portion of the TDT revenue each year, vying in a proverbial battle to see which will prevail. Siesta did last year; the city, the prior two years.
Through June, the city is in the lead, with 24.35% of the overall revenue. Siesta has accounted for 22.35% of the funds.
The reports for June 2024 showed Siesta with 27.2% of the revenue, while the city was the source for 24.74% of the funds.
Then-Chief Deputy Tax Collector Sherri Smith reported to the county’s Tourist Development Council members early this year that many tourist accommodations on Siesta suffered significant damage from Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024. Thus, the barrier island was unable to welcome as many visitors as usual through much of the early part of the fiscal year.
In fact, one island resident, Lourdes Ramirez, told the County Commission in early July that owners of some accommodations still were awaiting county permits in May, to make repairs, because of the backlog of permit applications the county staff was handling as a result of the 2024 storm season.
Among other details in the latest data, all of the revenue figures for the prior eight months has increased. For example, the month-over-month increase for April of this year has risen from $461,359.12 to $519,452.96, an increase of nearly 12.6%.
For another example, in the prior set of reports, the revenue in January was down $461,559.35, compared to the total for January 2024. However, the new data put the month-over-month deficit at $324,690.06.
In yet another example, in the initial report for May, the revenue was up by $196,213.55, compared to the figure for May 2024. The new data show the month-over-month hike to be almost 29% higher than the May 2024 total. The increase was $253,488.82.
In response to a Sarasota News Leader inquiry, Deputy Tax Collector Rana Moye wrote in an Aug. 11 email, “Regarding the change in collections reflected in the report, as you know, staff continue to work referrals and bring accounts into compliance. Additionally, we keep on top of accounts that have not remitted timely collections and post delinquent payments. Finally, due to an audit, back taxes were received along with corrected filings which resulted in additional funds being posted to prior periods.”
Along with the monthly reports produced by the Tax Collector’s Office, Visit Sarasota County, the county’s tourism marketing office, commissions data from a Tallahassee firm, Downs & St. Germain Research.
The following details are in that report for June:
- The number of visitors to the county in June was 130,600, down 2.3% from the total of 133,700 in June 2024. A note in the report attributes that decline to “a decrease in the number of available units.”
- Visitors’ direct expenditures in June also dropped. The figure this year was $138,630,500, a 4.7% decrease form the June 2024 amount of $145,529,700. That fact reflects the lower number of visitors as well as “decreases in non-accommodation spending,” the report points out. “This reflects national and state-wide trends of visitors being more price conscious while in destination,” the report explains.
- On a positive note, room occupancy was up 5.9% this June, to 68.3%; that compares to 64.5% in June 2024.
- The average room rate jumped 14.3%, to $212.16 this June, compared to $185.66 in June 2024.
The report also says that, so far this fiscal year, the number of visitors from Central Europe, other parts of Europe and other international regions “has increased year over year,” through June. However, it adds, “the number of visitors from the United Kingdom and Canada has decreased.”