Number of visitors and their direct spending also up month-over-month
The revenue produced by Sarasota County’s Tourist Development Tax — or, “bed tax” — took another big month-over-month jump in May, as shown in the latest reports issued by Tax Collector Mike Moran and his staff.
Moreover, it set a new record for May, as it surpassed the $4-million mark.
The total that hosts of accommodations, as well as hotels and motels, turned over to the Tax Collector’s Office for this May was $4,269,999.05, the reports note. That is $483,010.30 — or nearly 13% — higher than the May 2025 tally of $3,786,988.75.
Through May, the county had collected $40,071,830.70 in Tourist Development Tax (TDT) revenue, the new data show. That figure marks an increase of approximately 15.8%, compared to the initial total reported through May 2025: $34,604,517.36.
Both the March and April collection figures for this year also set new records.
Further, the tally through May represents about 84% of the $47,427,860.59 that the tax brought in for the entire 2025 fiscal year, which ended on Sept. 30, 2025. Four months’ of collections remain for this fiscal year.
During the County Commission’s May 20 budget workshop, Kim Radtke, director of the Office of Financial Management, noted that the “bed tax” revenue through April — the midpoint of the fiscal year — was up 11.08%, compared to the amount that staff had anticipated that the Tax Collector’s Office would receive by that point. (County finance staff has stressed that conservative projections are made for all county revenue sources when the county budget is prepared each year.)
The 6% tax is collected on rentals of accommodations for six months or less time. The revenue is used for a variety of purposes, as specified in a county ordinance. Among those are beach maintenance and renourishment, maintenance of the county’s two Major League Baseball Spring Training stadiums and the marketing of the county to tourists.
Among other details in the new reports, the collections of revenue from Airbnb hosts through May added up to $6,886,598.81. That marks a jump of about 42%, compared to the figure through May 2025: $4,834,775.01.
Further, the rentals of accommodations through online platforms — including TripAdvisor and HomeAway and all of their subsidiaries — represented 23.29% of the total revenue through May. In comparison, the figure through May 2025 was 19.68%.
In a related note: Each year, the City of Sarasota and Siesta Key wage a figurative competition to see which will account for the largest share of the Tourist Development Tax (TDT) funds. The city has come out on top at the end of several recent fiscal years, though Siesta prevailed in FY 2024.
Through May, Siesta was ahead, with 24.04% of the total, compared to the city’s 22.56%. Through May 2025, the city was ahead, with 24.99%, while Siesta had accounted for 22.2% of the money.
Siesta lagged the city especially in the first part of the 2025 fiscal year, with county tourism leaders pointing out that many accommodations on Siesta were badly damaged by Hurricanes Helene and Milton in the latter part of 2024. Repairs still were occurring in May 2025, Lourdes Ramirez, president of the nonprofit organization Protect Siesta Key, reported to the county commissioners last spring. She attributed that to delays that property owners had encountered as they sought the necessary permits to undertake the work.
Assistant County Administrator Brad Johnson told the commissioners during their May 20 budget workshop that permit data for the 2025 fiscal year reflected the high demand for the necessary county documents before repairs could begin on a wide array of properties.
Yet other details in the new Tax Collector Office reports are the significant increases in the amounts for March and April.
The data released in early June showed the total for March was up $715,022.91, compared to the figure for March 2025. With April, the month-over-month uptick was put at $564,108.33.
The latest data raise the March increase to $729,029.49, while the April figure has climbed to $483,010.30. Thus, the new reports put the month-over-month jump for March at close to 9.7%. For April, the month-over-month hike is nearly 12%.
Representatives of the Tax Collector’s Office have explained over the years that audits and other enforcement action result in changes in the figures from month to month. Additionally, members of the staff routinely search for hosts of accommodations whose owners have not been paying the tax. When such individuals are found, they are obligated to turn over to the office all of the revenue they owe for their rentals since they began welcoming guests.
Visit Sarasota County report for May offers more positive data
Along with the data that the Tax Collector’s Office publishes each month, Visit Sarasota County, the county’s tourism marketing organization, releases a report based on information gathered on its behalf by a Tallahassee firm, Downs & St. Germain Research.
The May materials note that the number of visitors to the county rose 6.8%, compared to the count for May 2025, and their direct spending was higher by the same percentage.
The number of visitors this May was 128,000; the May 2025 figure was 119,900.
The direct expenditures this May added up to $139,497,000, while the May 2025 tally was $130,603,400.
Among the other data provided by Downs & St. Germain are the following:
- The May occupancy rate for accommodations was 58.7%, down slightly from the May 2025 figure of 59.1%.
- The average room rate this May was $287.35, which marked an 8.4% increase, compared to the May 2025 average of $264.98.
- The number of room nights sold this May was 250,700, which represented a 0.9% uptick, compared to the May 2025 count of 248,400.
Downs & St. Germain did note that fewer visitors this fiscal year have been coming to Sarasota County from all regions except the Southeast, excluding Florida, and the West. For the Southeast, the number is up 10.3%; for the West, 21.9%.
The top destinations from which visitors originated in May were New York City, Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia, Downs & St. Germain also reported.