With one month’s collections remaining for 2024 fiscal year, overall total down 3.5%, compared to figure for same portion of 2023 fiscal year
August has become just the fourth month this fiscal year to see the total of Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax (TD) — or, “bed tax” — revenue collected exceed the amount reported for the same month in the 2023 fiscal year.
The new reports released by Sarasota County Tax Collector Barbara Ford-Coates and her staff show that the August bed tax funds turned over by hosts of accommodations added up to $2,443,184.25, which was up 0.1%, compared to the August 2023 total of $2,440,473.49.
The only other months this fiscal year to see higher revenue collected than their counterpart months in the 2023 fiscal year were February, March and May, as shown in the Tax Collector’s Office reports.
With only September’s data left to be collected for this fiscal year, the total TDT revenue stands at $46,264,023.83, which is down $1,820,304.56, compared to the figure for the same part of the 2023 fiscal year.
Through August 2023, the Tax Collector’s Office reports showed, the total amount of TDT revenue recorded was $47,908,460.16. Thus, the figure through August of this year represents a decrease of 3.5%, compared to the figure for 11 months of FY 2023.
Overall, the tax brought in $50,068,721.58 by the end of the 2023 fiscal year, which was Sept. 30, 2023. That total — the highest ever for the TDT revenue — was partly a result of part of people staying in accommodations in Sarasota County in the aftermath of the devastation that Hurricane Ian wreaked in Southwest Florida in September 2022, Kim Radtke, director of the Sarasota County Office of Financial Management, has told the County Commission. Moreover, Erin Duggan, president and CEO of Visit Sarasota County, the county’s tourism office, has reported to the commissioners that the decline in the number of visitors this year reflects the fact that more people than usual were drawn to the area during the COVID-19 pandemic, because of the county’s beaches and wide array of other outdoor venues and activities. The 2024 data reflect what Duggan has called a normalization of tourism, in the wake of the pandemic’s end.
Further, Downs & St. Germain Research, a Tallahassee firm with which Visit Sarasota County contracts for other tourism data, noted in its August report that”[a]lmost two-thirds of the year-to-date decline in visitors is due to reductions [in the number of visitors] from Florida and the Southeast, with Florida alone contributing 40% to the overall drop. In contrast, visitation to Sarasota from the Northeast and Midwest remains relatively stable, accounting for less than 10% of the total decrease.”
Downs & St. Germain did point out that the number of travelers from Canada “remains elevated” for the fiscal year to-date; it was up 5.5% through August.
The 6% Tourist Development Tax 6% tax is charged on accommodations rented for six months or less time. The funds are used for a variety of purposes — from beach maintenance to upkeep of the two Major League Baseball stadiums in the county to the county’s financial contribution to Mote Marine’s Science Education Aquarium project underway near Nathan Benderson Park and the Mall at University Town Center.
Among other details, the new Tax Collector Office reports do show that the money collected by Airbnb hosts has continued to climb through this fiscal year. Through August, that total was $6,839,876.83. That marks a nearly 4.9% increase, compared to the figure through August 2023, which was $6,521,492.05.
Altogether, rentals of accommodations through online companies — including TripAdvisor and HomeAway and all of their subsidiaries, including Vrbo.com — accounted for 21.96% of the funds turned over to Tax Collector Ford-Coates and her staff through August, the latest reports say. That figure is up slightly from 20.83%, as noted for the online platforms through August 2023.
In a related matter, the City of Sarasota and Siesta Key vie each year to see which will be able to collect the highest amount of the TDT money on an annual basis. Through August, Siesta was ahead, with 27.3% of the total, while the city accounted for 24.64% of the revenue.
Through August 2023, the city was in the lead, with 26.29% of the funds turned over to Ford-Coates and her staff, while Siesta accounted for 25.71% of the revenue.
The city has won the TDT revenue “battle” the past two fiscal years.
An analysis of the latest reports also found that the month-over-month declines in collections were not as high as previously reported for June and July.
For the latter month, the new revenue total this year is shown as being $257,776.87 lower than the figure for July 2023. The previous reports put the month-over-month drop at $340,517.36.
The new data show June with a month-over-month revenue decrease of $10,107.40. That previous figure was $11,677.39.
Further, the total for this May has climbed yet higher than the May 2023 amount shown in the prior update from the Tax Collector’s Office. The last reports put the May 2024 figure up by $195,145.91, compared to the May 2023 figure. The new data show the uptick is higher by $195,386.51.
Ford-Coates and her staff point out that audits and other enforcement actions can lead to changes in the figures from one report to the next.
For August, Downs & St. Germain informed Visit Sarasota County that the number of visitors to the community was down 2.8%. The tally was 124,000; that compared to 127,610 tourists in August 2023.
However, the visitors’ direct expenditures were up slightly, the report said. In August 2023, the figure was $88,487,300; this August, it was $89,007,300.
The following Downs & St. Germain data also were in that firm’s latest report:
- The occupancy rate dropped 10.2% month-over-month, from 58.8% in August 2023 to 52.8% this August.
- The number of room nights sold fell 9.8% — from 246,800 in August 2023 to 222,600 this August.
- The average room rate was up 3.5% this August, at $228.17. That compares to $220.43 in August 2023.