Tourist Tax Revenues
Last Updated: November 18th, 2024
Summary
- Seasonally-adjusted real tourist tax revenues for the coastal counties slipped to $7.7 million in September 2024, down 2 percent from the prior month and 5 percent below the September 2023 figure.
- Lee County’s seasonally-adjusted real tourist tax revenues totaled $3.5 million in September 2024, a 4 percent dip from the prior month and 3 percent beneath the September 2023 figure.
- Collier County’s seasonally-adjusted real tourist tax revenues descended to $3.7 million in September 2024, a 4 percent decrease from August 2024 and an 8 percent drop compared to the September 2023 figure.
- Seasonally-adjusted real tourist tax revenues in Charlotte County amounted to $702.5 thousand in September 2024, a 6 percent decrease from the August 2024 measure but up 2 percent over September 2023.
About the Data
Tourist tax revenues represent total revenues generated by the tourist development tax (sometimes referred to as the "bed tax") levied on accommodations rented for less than six months. Charlotte, Collier and Lee County currently have a tourist development tax rate of 5% on such accommodations, while Sarasota County has a tax rate of 6%. Keep in mind that the tourist tax rate for each county has been adjusted over time when interpreting results. See the Florida Department of Revenue website for more information on how these rates have changed within each county.
Lee County tourist tax revenue is provided by the Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau, while Collier County tourist tax revenue information is collected from Collier County Tax Collector's Office. Tourist tax revenue data for Charlotte County is gathered from the Punta Gorda/Englewood Beach Visitor & Convention Bureau. Sarasota County bed tax data was provided by Sarasota Tax Collector. Monthly data for Hendry and Glades County is not available at this time.
Sales data were adjusted from nominal to real values using the U.S. Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers (CPI-U), with all dollar values reported in January 2022 dollars. Lastly, all data is seasonally-adjusted by the Regional Economic Research Institute using the X13-ARIMA-SEATS seasonal adjustment program, software that is produced, distributed and maintained by the U.S. Census Bureau.
