ANNA MARIA – A referendum to raise Manatee County’s tourist tax from 5% to 6% is on the November ballot, and the county’s top tourism official spoke about the benefits and misconceptions of the potential increase at an Aug. 19 meeting of the Tourist Development Council (TDC).
“We’re ready to be on the ballot in November,” said Elliott Falcione, executive director of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. “The Board of County Commissioners approved it on July 30. Just for the public, I want to reiterate why we’re trying to do what we’re doing.”
“A penny on the dollar – if residents agree – will generate about $8 million a year,” Falcione said. “We’re expected to generate more than $30 million in tourism tax; that’s about $80 million in sales tax revenue, which really helps provide services to our local community that ultimately improve our quality of life.”
He said funds from the resort tax go toward beach renovation and maintenance, restoration of the Anna Maria City Pier and 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 hotel at the Bradenton Area Convention Center, the Palmetto Marriott Resort & Spa, will generate at least $30 million in annual revenue.
“If you can use the taxes paid by tourists to create something that not only attracts tourists but also improves the quality of life for local residents at no cost to the residents, that’s a great situation,” Falcione said. “That’s where the tax is most valuable. Obviously, that tax brings in visitors who stimulate the economy – the most important industry in Florida. If you took away tourism from a community like this, it would be disastrous for small businesses.”
Falcione said the tourist tax is capped at 6% by state law.
“There will be no more seven pennies in the future,” he said. “Six pennies is the maximum anyone can charge in the state of Florida. I don’t expect that to change.”
Falcione said other counties – Sarasota, Hillsborough, Orange and Pinellas – currently charge a 6% tourist tax.
“We are one of the last communities on the West Coast that does not collect six pence on the dollar,” he said.
TDC chairman Ray Turner said the biggest misnomer was that the vote was a tax.
“People should understand that it is not a tax for them, it is a tax on short-term rentals,” Turner said.
“When we go to vote, when we go in person, we pretty much know who we’re going to vote for. We want to get in and get out, and it’s just human nature that when you see a tax, you’re probably just going to say no and not really read the details of that tax,” Falcione said. “But it’s a tax that’s not going to be imposed on a resident unless they’re living in a short-term rental in Manatee County. 99% of the tax collectors would be out-of-town visitors.”
“We are not for additional taxes on our citizens,” said Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown. “This is not an additional tax on our citizens, this is an additional tax on the people who come here. When you look closer, you see what it really is.”
“The way I explain it to the average taxpayer is that the tourists are going to provide us with things year-round that we can all benefit from,” said Palmetto Mayor Shirley Groover Bryant. “It improves our community year-round. There are things that don’t go away when the tourists are gone that help us have a nicer, more vibrant community.”
