Funds reported every month thus far higher than collections in same month of 2025 fiscal year
With one month’s data remaining to be gathered for the 2026 fiscal year, the Tourist Development Tax — or, “bed tax” — revenue for Sarasota County through August already is more than $4.3 million higher than the total for the 2025 fiscal year, as shown in the latest report from Sarasota County Tax Collector Mike Moran and his staff.
The funds generated by the 6% tax on rentals of accommodations countywide for six months or less time produced $51,857,328.34 through August, the report says. That is approximately 9% above the $47,554,414.01 for all of the 2025 fiscal year, the report notes.
Through August 2025, the Tourist Development Tax funds total was $45,331,760.47, as noted by the Tax Collector’s Office at that time.
And, like every other month so far in the 2026 fiscal year, the funds turned over to the Tax Collector’s Office for August exceeded those for the same month of the 2025 fiscal year. In August, the bed tax revenue added up to $2,845,079.10, which marks a hike of almost 9.4%, compared to the $2,600,905.20 that hosts collected in August 2025.
For August last year, the initial reports put the month-over-month uptick at only $1,779.96.
The month with the largest gain, compared to the collections for the same month of the 2025 fiscal year continues to be October 2024, the latest report shows. The collections in October 2025 were higher by $970,480.52 than they were in October 2024, the report points out.
So far this calendar year, February has realized the next biggest month-over-month jump: $895,045.20.
The revenue is used for a variety of purposes in accord with a county ordinance. Among those are beach maintenance and beach renourishment, upkeep of the two Major League Baseball Spring Training stadiums, and the promotion of the county to visitors.
The News Leader also find higher month-over-month figures in this latest report, compared to the numbers in the prior TDT update.
For example, the uptick in revenue for July rose to $529,090.33, compared to the initial report that it was $503,491.33.
For another example, the new increase for June is $622,790.70; the prior report put that at $603,080.21.
Yet, other month-over-month revenue rises declined a bit, the new report shows. For example, the increase that the September data released by the Tax Collector’s Office noted for November 2025 dropped in the new report. In the prior report, the month-over-month jump was $971,387.04; as pointed out above, the latest report puts the difference between the 2024 total and the 2025 amount as $970,480.52.
Likewise, the month-over-month jump for January has fallen from $423,813.12 to $415,445.20.
Staff members of the Tax Collector’s Office have explained that audits and other enforcement actions can result in changes in the figures from one month to the next. Staff works regularly to locate hosts who have not been turning over the tax funds to the office. When such businesses are found, the owners have to pay the back taxes owed as well as the taxes for the specific month their business was found, the staff has pointed out.
After The Sarasota News Leader was unable to find the traditional report for August breaking down the revenue by location, it inquired of the Tax Collector’s Office staff about the reason for that lack of data.
Deputy Tax Collector Rana Moye replied via email on Oct. 12, explaining that after the office recently switched to a new tax system, “the ability to generate that report ceased.”
However, she added, staff is working on a more detailed report for release for future months. She did not yet have a timeline for that report’s debut, Moye pointed out.
Without the “Location” report, the News Leader is unable to provide an update on the figurative race between Siesta Key and the City of Sarasota to determine which of them will prevail as having contributed the largest amount of the Tourist Development Tax (TDT) revenue for the 2026 fiscal year. One of the two typically wins that battle, with the city prevailing in the 2025 fiscal year.
More visitors and higher direct spending
Along with the regular reports from the Tax Collector’s Office, Visit Sarasota County (VSC), the county’s tourism marketing organization, has reported, that in August, for “the fourth consecutive month” — since May — the number of visitors to the county and their direct spending increased. Visit Sarasota County uses a Tallahassee firm, Downs & St. Germain Research, to develop that data.
This August, the firm reported, the number of visitors was 123,500, up 6.4%, compared to the August 2025 tally of 118,100.
The tourists’ direct spending in August was $102,610,100, the report adds, which also marked a 6.4% climb, compared to the August 2025 figure of $96,431,000.
The Downs & St. Germain report included the following details, as well:
- The lodging occupancy rate was 46.1% this August, which marked a 7.4% decline, compared to the August 2025 figure of 49.8%.
- The total number of room nights sold this August was 191,800, which was down 4%, compared to the 199,700 count in August 2025.
- The average room rate, however, jumped 12.2% this August — to $266.91. That compares to the average rate in August 2025 of $237.97.
Further, Downs & St. Germain found that the top origin markets for visitors to the county staying in paid accommodations through August of the 2026 fiscal year were New York City, Orlando, Chicago and Boston, the VSC report said.
The U.S. regions accounting for the largest numbers of visitors to Sarasota County through August were the Midwest (28.5%) and the Northeast (27.1%).
The tally of tourists coming from international locations also continued the year-over-year decrease that the firm has noted for the 2026 fiscal year, the VSC report added. Conversely, Downs & St. Germain pointed out, the numbers of tourists coming from all U.S. markets have been higher for the 2026 fiscal year, “with the West seeing the most growth (20.7%).”