Sarasota County votes to increase bed tax from 5% to 6%

Anne Snabes, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
·2 min read

Newly rated as a "high-impact" tourism area, Sarasota County will have a new 6% tax on short-term stays to accompany the status.

The County Commission voted Tuesday to raise the county’s tourism development tax from 5% to 6% as state law allows for the high-impact tourism areas.

In March, the Florida Department of Revenue certified Sarasota County with the designation. Only high-impact tourism areas are allowed to charge the maximum percentage fixed in state law.

“We are thrilled with the commission vote and what it will mean for the community and tourism,” Visit Sarasota County president Virginia Haley said in a text message to the Herald-Tribune. “We can now use the power of tourism spending to benefit all of us with new facilities, keeping our beaches clean etc.”

On Tuesday, March 15, 2022, an estimated crowd of over 8,000 people flocked to Siesta Beach taking advantage of the warm beautiful weather.
On Tuesday, March 15, 2022, an estimated crowd of over 8,000 people flocked to Siesta Beach taking advantage of the warm beautiful weather.

SEIDMAN SAYS: How do we balance growth, tourism and residential life in downtown Sarasota?

And: Sarasota hotel property sold for $8 million as tourism to area remains strong

The tourism development tax is a tax on short-term lodging stays. The tax money generated is used to fund various elements of the local tourism industry.

Sarasota County gained the high-impact designation because short-term lodging businesses in the county surpassed the threshold of $600 million in taxable sales in 2021. These businesses, in total, made nearly $683 million in taxable sales last year.

Commissioner Nancy Detert noted on Tuesday that the Tourism Development Council supported levying the additional 1% tax. The council voted 9-0 in favor of it in March.

In her presentation to the Tourist Development Council, Kim Radtke, director of the county's Office of Financial Management, said that the additional percentage of bed tax revenue would be divvied up to fund beach maintenance and renourishment as well as major capital projects on publicly owned property.

The main argument against increasing the rate centered on whether it could discourage people from visiting altogether, or push them to a neighboring county with a potentially lower hotel rate. But Haley told the TDC that studies have concluded that an increase as small as 1% is not a deterrent.

Sarasota County has been adding a tax to short-term lodging stays since 1988, starting at 2% of the total cost of a stay and increasing by a percentage point each in 1997 and 2007. It hit the 5% threshold in 2011.

Beach maintenance gets 24% of annual collections, followed by beach renourishment at 10%, marketing and promotions through Visit Sarasota County 20-25%, the Nathan Benderson Park Conservancy 10%, spring training sports stadiums between 16% and 21% and arts and cultural organizations 10%. A remaining 5% is set aside for sports tourism, according to Visit Sarasota County.

In fiscal year 2021, Sarasota County collected just over $31 million in tourist tax revenue, an increase of nearly $10 million over the previous fiscal year of 2020, according to the latest report from the Sarasota County Tax Collector's office.

This article includes reporting by Staff Writer Laura Finaldi.

Anne Snabes covers city and county government for the Herald-Tribune. You can contact her at asnabes@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter at @a_snabes.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota County votes to increase tourism tax