TDC members explain benefits of tourist tax increase
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.”
