BRADENTON – The Manatee County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) voted 4-1 at a July 30 meeting to place a referendum on the Nov. 5 general election ballot to raise the tourist development tax to 6%.
The tax is currently at 5%, and if voters approve the referendum, it would rise to the maximum permitted by Florida law.
Commissioners were set to vote on whether to increase the bed tax from 5% to 6% at their April 23 meeting, but it was removed from the agenda due to a 2023 change in state law that now requires voters to weigh in on tourist tax increases.
The increase was unanimously approved by the Manatee County Tourist Development Council (TDC) at its April 15 meeting. The TDC is an advisory board to the county commission.
“Tourism brings over $2 billion to our local economy a year,” Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Elliott Falcione said. “If we can build assets that are not only attractive to tourists but also benefit Manatee County residents with no cost to the residents, that’s a pretty good deal.”
Falcione also said that Manatee County would be the first county in Florida to be subject to the new law requiring a public vote, as no other county has reached the required criteria to increase the tax since the change was made.
“This is not a tax that is being put on citizens,” Manatee County BOCC Chair Mike Rahn said. “It’s a tax on the tourism that comes into Manatee County.”
Funds collected from the bed tax benefit dozens of projects and organizations in the county, with some of the most notable including:
• Coquina Beach parking lot;
• Bradenton Beach Pier;
• Anna Maria City Pier;
• Grassy Point Preserve;
• Anna Maria Bayfront Park;
• Beach renourishment (currently 1% out of the total 5%);
• Bradenton Area Convention Center;
• Bishop Museum;
• Manatee Performing Arts Center;
• Premier Sports Campus;
• The Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) partnership; and
• Gulf Islands Ferry (water taxi).
