A short month delivered big dollars for tourism.
The Manatee County Tax Collector’s office April 1 released February 2023 collection numbers for the tourist development or bed tax — the 5% tax collected on overnight accommodations of six months or less.
The amount is 8.95% higher than the $2,954,355 collected in February 2022. But that’s a small climb compared with the 53% leap between February 2021 collections and February 2022 collections.
Holmes Beach topped collections on Anna Maria Island in February, generating $798,061, about 24.79% of the countywide total.
Anna Maria accounted for about 9.16% of the collections, bringing in $294,749, and Bradenton Beach generated $163,446 or 5.08%.
Some other numbers for February:
Unincorporated Manatee County generated $1,364,133 or 42.38%;
Bradenton generated $283,825 or 8.82%;
Longboat Key generated $306,006 or 9.51%;
Palmetto generated $8,532 or 0.27%.
The collection fee or commission on the tax is 3%, so the net collection for the Manatee County Tourist Development Council in February was $3,122,124.
For the first five months of the 2022-23 fiscal year, the gross tourist tax totaled $12,240,978.
February’s collection was the largest this fiscal year.
State law requires that resort tax revenues be used to boost and develop tourism.
In Manatee County, the tax money is used to fund the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Bradenton Area Convention Center, as well as tourism-related entities such as Realize Bradenton and the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Funding also supports tourism-related projects such as island beach renourishment, construction of the Anna Maria City Pier and, this year, the water taxi planned between Bradenton and AMI.
The Manatee County Tourist Development Council recommends how to spend the money to the county commission.
The March numbers will be released in early May.
The TDC will meet next at 9 a.m. Monday, April 24, at the county administration building, 1112 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.
February tourist tax collections
February 2019: $1,813,708
February 2020: $2,114,161
February 2021: $1,928,629
February 2022: $2,954,355
February 2023: $3,218,684
Source: Manatee County Tax Collector