September collections continue trend of mostly lower month-over-month amounts
The total 2024 fiscal year revenue produced by the Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax (TDT) — or, “bed tax” — ended up down $2,344,947.83, compared to the total for the 2023 fiscal year, as shown in the latest reports released by Sarasota County Tax Collector Barbara Ford-Coates and her staff.
The year-over-year decline is approximately 4.7%.
Altogether, the funds for FY 2024 added up to $48,133,858.15. The 2023 fiscal year tally — $50,478,805.98 — set another record for the county. However, Erin Duggan, president and CEO of the county’s tourism office, Visit Sarasota County, has pointed out that the 2024 fiscal year represented what she characterized as a normalization of tourism. The county benefited greatly from its offerings during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she has said, given its wide array of beaches and parks, where visitors could feel safe.
The bed tax collections in September — the final month of the 2024 fiscal year — added up to $1,780,161.05, which was $215,662.50 lower — roughly 11% — than the September 2023 total of $1,995,823.55.
The only months of the 2024 fiscal year during which the Tourist Development Tax (TDT) collections exceeded the totals for the same months in the 2023 fiscal year were February, March, May and August.
Typically, because of the number of students who travel to the county to enjoy the beaches during their spring break periods, February and March have seen the largest bed tax revenue totals. This year, as last year, the figure exceeded $7 million in March. Both February this year and February in 2023 were the only months of the past two fiscal years, other than March, to see the totals exceed $6 million, as shown in the data that the Tax Collector’s Office has provided.
The 6% tax is collected on rentals of accommodations for six months or less time. A Sarasota County ordinance governs how the revenue is used. Funds go to beach maintenance and renourishment, for example, as well as for upkeep of the two Major League Baseball Spring Training stadiums in the county. The county commissioners also pledged $20 million in TDT revenue to support the construction of Mote Marine Laboratory’s Science Education Aquarium between Nathan Benderson Park and the Mall at University Town Center.
Among other details in the latest reports, the revenue from county hosts of Airbnb accommodations in the 2024 fiscal year generated $7,287,755.56, which was up close to 4.5%, compared to the FY 2023 total of $6,976,986.88.
Altogether, rentals of accommodations through online platforms — including those offered by TripAdvisor and HomeAway.com and all of their subsidiaries — accounted for 22.45% of the bed tax revenue for the 2024 fiscal year. That was up from the 21.05% mark at the end of the 2023 fiscal year.
Additionally, for years, the City of Sarasota and Siesta Key have been engaged in a figurative contest to see which will end up being responsible for the largest amount of TDT revenue collected. For FY 2024, Siesta “won,” with 26.77%, compared to 24.74% for the city. In FY 2023, the city claimed victory, with 26.41% of the funds, while Siesta’s share was 25.39%.
Yet other details to be found in the new reports are higher month-over-month drops for June and July. The previous data that the Tax Collector’s Office released — in October — showed that the bed tax collections were down $257,776.87 for July, compared to the tally for July 2023. That decline has fallen farther, to $302,397.95.
In June, the prior reports noted, the total turned over to Ford-Coates’ staff marked a $10,107.40 decline, compared to the amount for that month in 2023. However, the latest reports show the number to be more than four times higher: $45,748.29.
For a third example, the uptick in collections for May of this year, compared to May 2023, was noted as $195,386.51 in the prior set of reports. That has fallen to $167,755.16.
In yet another change on the negative side of the equation, so to speak, the new reports show that the TDT revenue for February was only $1,992.95 higher than the February 2023 total. The previous report put the month-over-month hike at $57,994.37.
On one positive note: The increase in collections for August of this year, compared to the August 2023 amount, rose significantly — from $2,710.76 in the previous reports to $41,799.83 in the new reports.
Ford-Coates and her staff have explained that audits and other enforcement actions can lead to changes in the figures from one report to the next.
In response to a Sarasota News Leader inquiry about so many changes in the new reports, Sherri Smith, chief deputy tax collector, noted that, “although in most cases with audits we see collections increase, we do occasionally have decreases as well.”
Moreover, she wrote, “In these cases, we are finding that people that booked and paid for rentals had to cancel due to the unwelcomed arrival of Hurricane Milton. The collections are remitted during the month they prepay and when their plans change and they are unable to visit our area, they cancel their stay, and their monies are refunded.”
Other data regarding September tourism
Along with the Tax Collector’s Office’s monthly updates, a Tallahassee firm, Downs & St. Germain Research, provides related information to Visit Sarasota County.
For September, the firm reported that the number of visitors to the county this September was 117,400, which marked a 3.8% decline, compared to the 122,030 total for September 2023.
For the entire 2024 fiscal year, the company noted, the visitor count fell 7.7%, compared to the tally for the 2023 fiscal year.
However, the tourists who did come in September spent more money than those in September 2023, the report notes. The figure for this September was $100,152,800; was 2.7% higher than the $97,506,900 recorded in September 2023.
Among other data from the Downs & St. Germain report were the following:
- The occupancy rate for accommodations climbed 0.7%, month over month. In September 2023, it was 54.5%; this September, it was 54.8%.
- The average room rate also rose slightly — 1.3% — from $216.35 in September 2023 to $219.14 this September.
- However, the number of room nights sold dipped 0.5%. In September 2023, the tally was 220,900; this September, it was 219,800.
“The fact that occupancy increased while visitors and room nights decreased is a function of fewer units available,” Downs & St. Germain pointed out.