Who are the biggest taxpayers in Bradenton and Manatee County? Here’s the list for 2022
As the landscape of Manatee County rapidly changes with new development, the list of its largest landowners and taxpayers have remained consistent, though there are shifts on the horizon.
The Bradenton Herald gathered information on the county’s largest taxpayers from public information available on the Manatee County Tax Collector and Manatee County Property Appraiser websites.
In the most recent tax year, 2022, Florida Power and Light paid more in taxes to the county than any other entity: $21.4 million.
That includes both tangible personal tax and real estate tax. Businesses are required to pay a tax on tangible personal property (TPP), which includes everything but real estate — such as furniture, computers, machinery and equipment.
More than than $20 million of FPL’s total was for TPP.
Businesses are also required to pay taxes on real estate, called an ad valorem tax, something every homeowner knows all too well.
FPL is Manatee County’s third-largest property owner with 15,015.51 acres, up from 13,768 acres in 2022.
FPL either operates or is building six solar energy plants in Manatee County. It also has a fossil fuel-fired power plant in Parrish, distinctive for its twin smokestacks.
Other top TPP taxpayers
▪ 2. Tropicana Products Inc. paid $3,579,077 in TPP taxes. Tropicana, one of the Bradenton area’s largest employers, was founded in 1947 by Anthony T. Rossi, who developed flash pasteurization for orange juice.
▪ 3. Peace River Electric Co-op paid $1,997,374 in TPP. The cooperative serves a 10-county area, including East Manatee and parts of Lakewood Ranch.
▪ 4. Mosaic Fertilizer paid $1,853,285 in TPP taxes. Together with its real estate taxes of $658,900, Mosaic, Manatee’s largest property owner, paid $2,512,186 in taxes to Manatee County. Mosaic has had a phosphate mining operation in northeast Manatee County since the 1960s.
▪ 5. Gulfstream Natural Gas System LLC paid $1,770,233 in TPP. Natural gas from Alabama began flowing through Gulfstream’s undersea pipeline to Port Manatee in 2002. The pipeline supplies FPL’s power plant in Parrish.
▪ 6. Frontier Florida LLC paid $1,009,159 in TPP taxes. Frontier is an internet, TV and phone provider.
▪ 7. Spectrum Sunshine State paid $841,720 in TPP. The company is an internet, TV and phone provider.
▪ 8. Manatee Memorial Hospital LP paid $640,473 in TPP taxes. Manatee Memorial Hospital LP also paid $686,661 in real estate taxes, for a total of $1,327,334. Manatee Memorial Hospital, originally named Manatee Memorial Veteran’s Hospital, opened its doors Feb. 23, 1953, as a 100-bed hospital.
▪ 9. Allied New Technologies 2 Inc paid $582,162 in TPP taxes. Allied New Technologies 2 Inc. is an affiliated company of Allied Universal Corp., a water treatment chemical and swimming pool company established in 1954.
▪ 10. Tampa Electric Company paid $567,436 in tangible personal property tax.
Top real estate tax payers
Seven of the top 10 real estate taxpayers in Manatee County are apartment complex owners.
That’s not surprising considering that apartment complexes have been bringing top dollar in recent years in the midst of an escalating housing crisis.
Two of the top 10 taxpayers own shopping centers, and one is a local hospital company.
In 2022, these 10 companies paid the most in real estate taxes in Manatee County:
▪ 1. 93 FLRPT LLC paid $1,785,262. The owner, Benderson Development, owns and operates shopping centers and warehouse property.
▪ 2. Tropicana Manufacturing Company paid $1,673,712.
▪ 3. FLF CAB Delaware LLC, owner of VIEW Carlton Arms Apartments, 1191 Carlton Arms Circle, Bradenton, paid $1,442,611 in real estate taxes. FLF CAB Delaware LLC bought the apartment complex in 2018 for $109,250,000.
▪ 4. Gulf Coast Factory Shops LTD PA paid $1,421,709 in real estate taxes. Gulf Coast is the owner of Ellenton Premium Outlets, 5461 Factory Shops Blvd., Ellenton.
▪ 5. 295 107 Circle Owner LLC paid $1,327,892 in real estate taxes for Hue Watercolor Place, 215 107th St. Circle E., Bradenton.
▪ 6. SW1 Aria Owner LLC paid $1,181,103 in real estate taxes for Aria at Bradenton apartments, 102 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton. SW1 Aria Owner LLC bought the property for $73.5 million in 2021.
▪ 7. Northland Echo Lake LLC paid $1,160,563 in real estate taxes for Echo Lake Apartments at Lakewood Ranch. Northland Investment Corp., based in Newton, Mass., bought the complex for more than $76 million in 2017.
▪ 8. Pasco Parkcrest DST of Irvine, Calif., paid $1,147,283 in real estate taxes for Parkcrest Landings apartments, 5725 First Ave. E., Bradenton. Pasco bought the 400-unit multi-family apartment complex in 2016 for $75 million.
▪ 9. Telluride Loop Owner LLC paid $1,141,445 in property taxes. The company paid $73 million in 2020 for The Loop at 2800 apartment complex, 2895 Telluride Loop, Sarasota (southern Manatee County).
▪ 10. SAWF LLC paid $1,137,279 in real estate taxes for Sawgrass Cove Apartments, 4801 47th Ave. W., Bradenton. SAWF of Richmond, Va., bought the property for $66,192,000 on Oct. 22, 2021.
The figures shown for TPP and real estate taxes are for 2022 and reflect gross amounts. Businesses which took advantage of discounts paid less than the gross amount.
From year to year, the lineup of the largest Manatee County taxpayers changes. In 2023, ACORN ACQUIRECO LLC has risen to fourth on the list. The company is the new owner of IMG Academy after a $1.25 billion deal completed earlier this year.
How much will ACORN pay in taxes to local government? Nobody knows yet. The 2023 tax bills won’t be mailed until November.
And Publix Super Markets Inc. is emerging as Manatee County’s eighth-largest taxpayer with holdings estimated at $118,907,836.
Methodology
The taxpayers mentioned in this story were taken from the Manatee County Tax Collector’s and the Manatee County Property Appraiser’s websites.
In several instances, the Bradenton Herald tallied the holdings when it appeared two or more parcel listings were the same entity. For example, FPL has dozens of parcels in its portfolio.
The property appraiser offers this caveat: “This information was compiled using exact owner name matches. The owner names in our database were transcribed from property deeds recorded with the Clerk of Circuit Court. The spelling of an owner’s name may differ slightly from deed to deed. In addition to typographical errors, a middle initial may have been recorded on one deed and not on another. The probability of this occurring increases with companies as punctuation marks (dashes, commas, etc.) and/or subsidiary names are sometimes used.”
