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TDC members explain benefits of tourist tax increase

TDC members explain benefits of tourist tax increase

Written by Leslie Lake on . Posted in Business, Taxes, Tourism.

ANNA MARIA – A referendum to raise the Manatee County tourist tax from 5% to 6% will be on the November ballot, and the county’s chief tourism official spoke about the benefits and misperceptions of the potential increase at an Aug. 19 Tourist Development Council (TDC) meeting.

“We’re all set to be on the ballot in November,” Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Elliott Falcione said. “The Board of County Commissioners approved it on July 30 so just for the public consumption, I’d like to reiterate why we’re trying to do what we’re doing.”

“One penny on the dollar – if the residents decided to say yes – will generate about $8 million a year,” Falcione said. “We are trending to be north of $30 million in tourism tax generated; again that equates to about $80 million of sales tax generation that really helps provide services for our local community that ultimately enhances our quality of life.”

He said the tourist tax funds go toward renourishment and maintenance of beaches, restoration of the Anna Maria City Pier and the Bradenton Beach pier and arts and culture, including the Bishop Museum, ArtCenter Manatee, Manatee Performing Arts Center and Mote Marine Aquarium.

He said the new Bradenton Area Convention Center hotel, the Palmetto Marriott Resort & Spa, will have a minimum $30 million annual return.

“When you can use taxes that are paid by the tourists to create an asset that not only appeals to a tourist, but also enhances the quality of life for the residents at no cost to the residents, that’s a great situation to be in,” Falcione said. “That’s where the tax is the most valuable. Obviously that tax brings in visitors that feed the economy – the number one industry in Florida. If you took tourism away from a community like this it would be catastrophic to the small businesses.”

Falcione said the tourist tax is capped at 6% by state statute.

“There’s no seven penny in the future,” he said. “Six penny is the max that anyone in the state of Florida can levy. I’m not anticipating any of that changing.”

Falcione said other counties – Sarasota, Hillsborough, Orange and Pinellas – currently impose a 6% tourist tax.

“We’re one of the last west coast communities that doesn’t collect six pennies on the dollar,” he said.

TDC Chair Ray Turner said the biggest misnomer is that it’s going on the ballot as a tax.

“People should understand it’s not a tax to them, it’s a tax to short-term rentals,” Turner said.

“When we go to vote, if we go in person, we pretty much know who we’re going to vote for, we want to get in and get out and just the human nature of optics is when you see a tax you may be likely just to say no, and really not read the details of what that tax means,” Falcione said. “But it is a tax that’s not assessed to a resident unless a resident stays in a short-term rental in Manatee County. 99% of the tax collecting would be out of town visitors.”

“We’re not for additional taxes for our local people,” Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown said. “This is not an additional tax for our local people, this is an additional tax for the people coming here. When you drill down, you see what it really is.”

“The way I explain it to the average taxpayer is the tourists are going to be providing things year-round for all of us to take benefit of,” Palmetto Mayor Shirley Groover Bryant said. “It’s improving our community year-round. There are things that don’t go away when the tourists go away that help us to have a nicer, more vibrant community.”

Tourist tax increase will be on November ballot

Tourist tax increase will be on November ballot

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Business, Featured, Taxes, Tourism.

BRADENTON – The Manatee County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) voted 4-1 at a July 30 meeting to place a referendum on the Nov. 5 general election ballot to raise the tourist development tax to 6%.

The tax is currently at 5%, and if voters approve the referendum, it would rise to the maximum permitted by Florida law.

Commissioners were set to vote on whether to increase the bed tax from 5% to 6% at their April 23 meeting, but it was removed from the agenda due to a 2023 change in state law that now requires voters to weigh in on tourist tax increases.

The increase was unanimously approved by the Manatee County Tourist Development Council (TDC) at its April 15 meeting. The TDC is an advisory board to the county commission.

“Tourism brings over $2 billion to our local economy a year,” Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Elliott Falcione said. “If we can build assets that are not only attractive to tourists but also benefit Manatee County residents with no cost to the residents, that’s a pretty good deal.”

Falcione also said that Manatee County would be the first county in Florida to be subject to the new law requiring a public vote, as no other county has reached the required criteria to increase the tax since the change was made.

“This is not a tax that is being put on citizens,” Manatee County BOCC Chair Mike Rahn said. “It’s a tax on the tourism that comes into Manatee County.”

Funds collected from the bed tax benefit dozens of projects and organizations in the county, with some of the most notable including:

• Coquina Beach parking lot;

• Bradenton Beach Pier;

• Anna Maria City Pier;

• Grassy Point Preserve;

• Anna Maria Bayfront Park;

• Beach renourishment (currently 1% out of the total 5%);

• Bradenton Area Convention Center;

• Bishop Museum;

• Manatee Performing Arts Center;

• Premier Sports Campus;

• The Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) partnership; and

• Gulf Islands Ferry (water taxi).

Bed tax increase to be decided by voters

Voters to decide tourist tax increase

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Business, Featured, Taxes.

MANATEE COUNTY – County commissioners were set to vote on whether to increase the county’s tourist tax, also known as the bed tax, from 5% to 6% at their April 23 meeting, but the item was removed from the agenda due to a recent change in state law.

The Manatee County Tourist Development Council (TDC) unanimously recommended that the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) increase the tax at its April 15 meeting, but neither body was aware of 2023 legislation that gave voters the power to levy an increase in the tax.

“So, what happened was we met the revenue criteria for calendar year 2023” to increase the tax, Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director (CVB) and TDC member Elliott Falcione said. “The short-term rental tax has to generate $30 million and we generated $30,091,000, making us eligible to increase the tax from 5% to 6%, which is the maximum allowed in Florida.”

Falcione said after meeting the criteria, a request was sent through the county’s Office of Financial Management to the Florida Department of Revenue, which issued a letter certifying that the county had met the required criteria. The county attorney’s office then drew up a new ordinance to reflect the increase to 6%.

“On the Friday before the Tuesday, April 23 BCC meeting, the Department of Revenue notified the county that the Florida statute on tourism changed in 2023,” Falcione said. “It now requires any additional bed tax levy to go through a referendum process and can no longer be voted on by the BCC. It took the vote out of the hands of the BCC and now requires the residents to make the decision by a vote.”

Once the county was made aware of this change, the vote was removed from the BCC’s April 23 agenda. Falcione said without being notified of the change, it would be difficult to find it without reading every section and subsection of Florida Statute 125.01.04, which is more than 8,000 words long.

“I really wish the state would have notified at least the tourism director, the BCC, or the county administrator when this law passed in 2023,” Falcione said. “Unless I missed an email, this was the first we were made aware of the change, so therefore the county administrator made a prudent move to remove the vote from the agenda until we sort things out.”

Falcione also said that Manatee County would be the first county in Florida to be subjected to the new law, as no other county has reached the required criteria to increase the tax since the change was made. He believes had another county hit this roadblock before Manatee, word would have reached his office and the TDC would not have moved forward with a recommendation to the BCC.

How and when the voter referendum will take place has not yet been decided.

“We’re still trying to sort through everything,” Falcione said. “The attorney’s office is gathering information and we’re going through our protocol. When we get with the county commissioners, we want to make sure we are 100% accurate with the steps required and the options they have to consider this.”

Currently, neighboring counties of Sarasota, Hillsborough and Pinellas are all at the 6% maximum tourist tax. Falcione stresses that none of this tax is paid by residents of the county, but residents benefit from the tax, which goes to maintaining, upgrading and marketing attractions such as city piers, the new water taxi, beach parking lots and Anna Maria Bayfront Park, with a large portion going to beach renourishment.

Falcione says the TDC will not spend tax proceeds to promote the area during the busy spring season.

TDC recommends raising tourist tax

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Business, Tourism.

BRADENTON – A visit to Manatee County could soon cost tourists more, as the Manatee County Tourist Development Council (TDC) voted unanimously to recommend raising the county’s tourism tax from 5% to 6% at its April 15 meeting.

The TDC makes recommendations to the Manatee County Commission, which was scheduled to vote on whether or not to approve the increase at its April 23 meeting.

The tourist tax is often referred to as the “bed tax” because it is paid when anyone rents a short-term vacation rental in the county, such as hotel rooms, resort rooms, condo rentals, VRBO, Airbnb and similar accommodations, for six months or less.

“This is not a resident tax,” Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Elliott Falcione said. “This is paid for by the visitors that come into our beautiful county. I’ve always told the media that there’s no better partnership than one that pays for an asset that appeals to a visitor and benefits the residents at no cost to the residents.”

Falcione explained that the money benefits both visitors and residents by offering maintenance, upgrades and marketing for several attractions, including:

• Coquina Beach;

• Bradenton Beach Pier and Anna Maria Pier;

• Grassy Point;

• Anna Maria Bayfront Park;

• Beach renourishment (1% of the current 5%);

• Myakka History Center;

• Bradenton Area Convention Center;

• Bishop Museum;

• Manatee Performing Arts Center;

• Premier Sports Campus;

• The Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (SRQ); and

• Gulf Islands Ferry (water taxi).

Falcione said the TDC does not plan to request more marketing dollars if county commissioners approve the 6% request, which would generate an estimated $6 million a year.

“You’re looking at a guy who doesn’t get too excited about breaking tourism records every year, because we have to be careful,” Falcione said. “I’m the weird tourism director around the state that is a less is more kind of guy. Our brand elements are low-rise, low-key detox environment; real authentic Florida. We don’t want bumper-to-bumper traffic in this beautiful community. The reality is that for 90 days a year, we’re dealing with bumper-to-bumper traffic.”

Falcione says the TDC will not spend money to promote the area during the busy spring season. He did say the TDC will invest in airline incentives so more visitors will choose SRQ and save the time involved in driving to and from airports in Tampa and St. Petersburg.

In order for the county to request the additional 1%, it had to reach a threshold of $30 million in tourism taxes collected, which was achieved in 2023 by a narrow margin of about $90,000, and the tourism industry had to generate over $600 million, which was also achieved in 2023, with the total topping $625 million.

If the county commission approves the recommendation, it will take effect Aug. 1. The neighboring counties of Sarasota, Hillsborough and Pinellas all charge the 6% maximum tourist tax.