Skip to main content

Tag: tourism tax

Tourist tax increase one step closer to ballot

Tourist tax increase one step closer to ballot

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

ANNA MARIA – The Manatee County Tourist Development Council (TDC) again discussed raising the tourist tax at its June 10 meeting at The Center of Anna Maria Island.

A revised Manatee County ordinance would include a measure to increase the 5% tourist tax, often referred to as the bed tax, to 6% on the general election ballot in November to be considered by voters.

The increase was unanimously approved by the TDC at its April 15 meeting. The TDC is a recommending board to the Manatee County Commission.

County commissioners were set to vote on increasing the tax at their April 23 meeting, but the item was removed from the agenda due to a recent change in state law that requires voters to approve the increase.

“So, what happened was we met the revenue criteria for calendar year 2023,” Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director 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, they sent a request through the county’s Office of Financial Management to the Florida Department of Revenue, which had to issue a letter certifying that the county had met the required criteria. The letter was issued and the county attorney’s office staff drew up a new ordinance at 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 commissioners’ April 23 agenda.

Falcione said that Manatee County would be the first county in Florida to be subject to this new law, as no other county has reached the required criteria to increase the tax since the change was made. He said 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 commission.

Discussions continued and a plan was formed at the June 10 TDC meeting.

“Since we were notified about the changes, the county attorney’s office revised the ordinance to apply the new state law,” Falcione said. “That extra 1% will generate $7-8 million dollars for the community. It’s important that me, as your director, continues to educate the residents about the value of tourists and the value of the tax. I need a recommendation today so we can present this to the board of county commissioners and hopefully, they can vote on it by late July. They would then be able to put this on the general election ballot in November.”

Falcione told the TDC that they would then need to register with the Supervisor of Elections by Monday, Aug. 19 to be on the ballot. He also said that if they did not meet the deadlines, or it made the ballot and failed, it would have to wait two years, because the increase is required to be on a general election ballot.

TDC member Jiten Patel brought up concerns about how they would educate the voters on the increase.

“When voters see a tax on the ballot, they don’t want to see an increase,” Patel said. “When we educate them on the ballot, that might impact their decision.

TDC Chair Ray Turner responded to Patel, explaining that he and Falcione had discussed that concern.

“Elliott and I have talked about this, and Elliott has a plan for that,” Turner said. “If a regular resident that’s not up on all these details sees an increase in taxes, they will automatically assume it’s at a cost to them. In this particular case, it’s a real benefit to residents.”

Falcione said he’s statutorily handcuffed and can’t place ads to “sell” the tax increase, but the TDC, county commission, chambers of commerce, local businesses and others with influence in the community can help educate the community. Falcione also doubled down on a statement he made at the April 15 TDC meeting, as well as when he spoke to The Sun about the issue in May.

“There are no plans to market the destination harder with this additional money,” Falcione said. “Shame on me if I ever did that, but you won’t have to worry about that because it won’t happen.”

Falcione said the additional money from the tax would go to community improvements, not bringing more people to the area, especially to AMI, which he admits at certain times of year is at capacity.

Falcione explained where the money goes and how it benefits both visitors and residents by offering maintenance, upgrades and marketing for the following and more:

• Coquina Beach parking lot

• Bridge Street Pier and Anna Maria City Pier

• Grassy Point Preserve

• Anna Maria Bayfront Park

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

• Cortez Village Historical Society

• Myakka History Center

• Bradenton Area Convention Center

• Bishop Museum

• Manatee Performing Arts Center

• Premier Sports Campus

• The Sarasota Bradenton Airport (SRQ) partnership

• Gulf Islands Ferry (water taxi)

The TDC approved the recommendation unanimously and it will be sent to the county commission for a vote.

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

TDC recommends raising tourist tax

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

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 is scheduled to vote on whether or not to approve the increase at its Tuesday, 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 a period of 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 in to 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;
  • Bridge Street Pier and Anna Maria City 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).

The tax also partially funds renourishment of Anna Maria Island’s beaches.

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