October month-over-month decline grows smaller
In November 2024, Sarasota County’s Tourist Development Tax — or, “bed tax” — revenue continued its downward trend for this fiscal year, in the wake of hurricanes that devastated areas of the community, the latest reports show.
For November, the total revenue turned over to the Tax Collector’s Office added up to $2,608,902.33, which was approximately 12% lower than the $2,955,277.93 collected for November 2023, the reports note.
Altogether, for the first two months of this fiscal year — which began on Oct. 1, 2024 — the Tourist Development Tax (TDT) revenue totaled $4,305,844.21. That marks a drop of close to 20%, compared to the total funds turned over to the Tax Collector’s Office in October and November 2023: $5,373,893.82.
One positive point shown by the new data is that the month-over-month deficit for October reported initially has fallen by $677,334.25. The first reports put the drop at $1,516,488.02. The new data lowered the deficit to $839,153.77.
In December, after The Sarasota News Leader reviewed the first TDT reports for the 2025 fiscal year, it asked Sherri Smith, chief deputy tax collector, about the big drop for October 2024. “It appears the postal service may be having delivery delays,” which resulted in October’s revenue being lower than expected, she wrote in an email. While “some TDT payments were mailed and postmarked timely,” Smith added, the office staff did not receive them and validate them until after the Nov. 30 [2024] deadline for data to be included in the reports.
The 6% tax is charged on rentals of accommodations for six months or less time. The funds are divvied up in accord with the provisions of a county ordinance. Part of the money is used for beach maintenance, for example, with a dedicated stream, as well, for the upkeep of the two Major League Baseball Spring Training stadiums in the county, where the Baltimore Orioles and the Atlanta Braves play.
Yet another detail among the new data is that the Tax Collector’s Office has received $590,921.75 from Airbnb for its hosts’ share of the “bed tax” revenue for October and November 2024. That figure represents a fall of nearly 60%, compared to the total for the same two months in 2023: $995,898.85.
Altogether, for the same two months, the revenue collected from rentals of accommodations through online portals represented 18.78% of the total, the data show. For the first two months of the 2024 fiscal year, the figure was 23.82%.
Traditionally, Siesta Key and the City of Sarasota vie to see which will be responsible for the largest portion of the bed tax collected each fiscal year. Through November, Siesta’s share was only 7.98%, while the city’s was 36.93%.
Siesta property owners suffered significant damage from Hurricane Helene’s storm surge in late September 2024 and then more devastation from Hurricane Milton, which came ashore at Big Sarasota Pass on the Key on Oct. 9, 2024.
For October and November, the City of Sarasota’s share was 29.08%, with Siesta hosts contributing 22.2% and hosts in the unincorporated areas of the county responsible for 13.14%.
Siesta Key ended up winning the figurative battle for the 2024 fiscal year, though the city had taken top honors the two previous years.
The new data do show that hosts in the unincorporated areas of Sarasota County, other than Siesta, accounted for 22.18% of the TDT revenue in October and November 2024.