The tourist tax revenue shot up like a bottle rocket in July.
Tourist tax revenue for July — collected by the government in August and reported Sept. 1 — totaled $1,620,700. In July 2019, the tax revenue was $1,398,555, resulting in an increase of 15.88% from July 2019 to July 2020.
And, despite the coronavirus pandemic, tax revenues for July 2020 were the highest for the month in at least the past seven years.
The tax is the 5% collected on rentals of six months or less.
The revenues began to rise in June after four months of decline when the state eased “safer at home” restrictions and lifted the ban on short-term vacation rentals.
Consider where the tax revenue was for the spring and early summer:
- Tourist tax revenue in June was $1,443,183, down 12.69 from June 2019.
- In May, the revenue totaled $558,014, down from $1,093,869 in May 2019.
- In April, overnight stays generated $449,904 in bed taxes, down 69.81% from April 2019.
- In March, overnight stays grossed about $1.78 million in bed taxes, down 34.59% from March 2019.
About 29.18% of the July tax collected, $472,979, was generated in Holmes Beach, according to the Manatee County Tax Collector’s report.
The tax collected from Anna Maria accommodations was $291,178, about 17.97% of the total.
Bradenton Beach produced about 6.16% of the tax collected — $99,810.
Some more numbers for July:
- Unincorporated Manatee County, $480,459, 29.64%;
- Bradenton, $99,206, 6.12%;
- Longboat Key, $172,640, 10.65%;
- Palmetto, $4,453, 0.27%.
The state collection fee or commission on the tax is 3%, so the net collection for the Manatee County Tourist Development Council in July was $1,572,108.
The numbers showed $12,784,955 collected between the beginning of the fiscal year, Oct. 1, 2019, and July 31.
The tax revenues must be used to boost and develop tourism, including funding for the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Bradenton Area Convention Center and tourism-related entities, such as Realize Bradenton and the Pittsburgh Pirates, as well as supporting projects, such as island beach renourishment and some funding for construction of the new Anna Maria City Pier.
The TDC recommends a budget, which is decided by the county commission.
The August numbers will be released in early October, ahead of the next meeting of the Manatee County Tourist Development Council.
The TDC tentatively is set to meet at 9 a.m. Monday, Oct. 19. The location was not decided.
July tourist tax revenues
July 2014: $864,182
July 2015: $969,117
July 2016: $1,176,695
July 2017: $1,245,448
July 2018: $1,308,903
July 2019: $1,398,555
July 2020: $1,620,700
Source: Manatee County Tax Collector