Tourists continued to shell out for Manatee County rentals in August.
The county collected $1,609,103 from its monthly “bed tax,” a 5% levy on overnight accommodations of six months or less.
The figure represents a 3.95% increase from the August 2022 tourist tax revenue.
Heading into the final month of its fiscal year, the county had earned $29,342,912 and was expected to pass the $30 million mark for fiscal 2022-23, which ended Sept. 30.
Historically, unincorporated Manatee County and Holmes Beach have jockeyed for the top collection.
In August, unincorporated Manatee accommodations yielded $646,896 or 40.2% of the earnings pie, while Holmes Beach accommodations generated $480,480 in tax dollars or 30%.
Anna Maria sleepovers produced $150,459 or 9.35%, and Bradenton Beach accommodations generated $78,824 or 4.9%.
Bradenton generated $132,640 or 8.24%, Longboat Key grossed $114,880 or 7.14%, and Palmetto held down the reporting at $4,923 or 0.31%.
The revenues do not go directly to the municipalities where the accommodations generating the taxes are located but instead to a pot that gets portioned out by the county under the advice of the tourist development council.
Per state law, the tax dollars must be used to drive tourism-bolstering initiatives and have funded beach renourishment projects on the island, as well as the construction of the new Anna Maria City Pier and the commissioning of two boats for a ferry service.
The Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau; the Bradenton Area Convention Center; Realize Bradenton, a nonprofit dedicated to developing downtown Bradenton, and the Pittsburgh Pirates also receive bed tax dollars.
September resort tax data will be released in early November.
The next TDC meeting will be at 9 a.m. Monday, Oct. 16, at the county administration building, 1112 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.
Know your TDCs
The Manatee County Tourist Development Council recommends to county commissioners how to spend the tourist development tax — the 5% tax collected on overnight accommodations of six months or less.
TDT spending must boost and develop tourism.
TDC members include County Commissioner James Satcher as chair, Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown, Palmetto Mayor Shirley Bryant, hoteliers Jiten Patel, Ed Chiles, Eric Cairns and Rahul Patel and interested citizens Dave Wick and Norma Kennedy.
— Lisa Neff
August tourist tax collections:
August 2019: $909,639
August 2020: $1,185,575
August 2021: $1,448,333
August 2022: $1,547,956
August 2023: 1,609,103
Source: Manatee County Tax Collector