County Surpasses $30M in Yearly Tourist Tax Despite Hurricanes

By Lisa Neff

With still a month of tourist development taxes to be collected in fiscal 2024-25, Manatee County has topped $30 million in revenues.

The tourist development tax, also known as the resort tax or bed tax, is the 6% collected on accommodations of six months or less. The rate was raised from 5% in January, after a countywide referendum passed in November 2024.

Collections in fiscal year 2024-25 totaled $30,506,587 as of Oct. 1, according to the county tax collector’s office. But the total for the fiscal year, won’t be known until Nov. 1, when the final month’s numbers — September’s — are released.

For fiscal 2023-24, the total collected was $30,540,109.

And while that total was generated with the lower tax rate, fiscal 2024-25 includes the impact of hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton, which destroyed property, shuttered businesses and disrupted the tourism industry in Manatee.

The first four months of the 2024-25 year showed declines in tax revenues largely due to the storms’ impacts and other months also would have been down without the higher rate.

October was down 8.96% from $1,482,123 in October 2023 to $1,348,960 in October 2024.

In November 2024, revenues were $1,336,890, down 17.71% from $1,624,562.

December was off 16.60% and even January, with the higher rate, was down 4.47%, from $2,646,679 in January 2024 to $2,528,447 in January 2025.

The fiscal year’s toughest month was November 2024 while the month with the most revenues, $5,396,781, was March.

Month after month in the fiscal year, the largest generator of tourist tax dollars is unincorporated Manatee, which raised $746,506 in August, according to the tax collector’s office.

The municipality that consistently generates the lowest tax dollars is Palmetto, but revenues are on the rise due in large part to the opening of the Palmetto Marriott Resort & Spa. In August 2023, Palmetto generated $4,923. This past August, Palmetto generated $31,635.

The county tourist development council, which meets later this month, makes recommendations to county commissioners on how to allocate the tax money. But by state law, the money must be used to fund initiatives that promote and enhance tourism, including marketing, beach renourishment and investments in cultural and sports facilities.

At a recent meeting of the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization, Elliott Falcione, executive director of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, said it’s vital that county residents gain from new amenities funded with tourist development tax dollars, including the Gulf Islands Ferry Service that operates between the Bradenton riverfront and the island.

The tax money also has helped fund airline partnerships, special events, professional baseball in Bradenton and the construction or renovation of cultural institutions, city piers and more.