TDT is 5% of all lodging revenue
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – In examining the fall, we are comparing data to see where we might end up from a Tourist Development Tax (TDT) perspective. For summer (June, July, August) we were up very slightly in 2023 over 2022 ($6.15 million vs. $6.14 million).
Coming out of summer, we saw some softening in the Tourist Development Tax collections (August and September together were down 8%). Now as we go into fall with TDT and other STR indicators softening, we wanted to see where we might land.
Looking back to fall of 2021, we were at $4.39 million for October, November, December. In fall of 2022, we jumped to $5.4 million, an incredible 23% increase. Will we be able to hit that same level in 2023? Looking at the last 3 months (Q3) of fiscal year 2022-23 (July, August, and September), we were down 5.4%.
Assuming that being down 4 to 5% continues for Q4, that would equate to a decline of between $216k and $270k – or a TDT collection of between $5.14M and $5.19M. That seems the likely scenario unless we see significant strengthening in the latter part of November and December.
As a reminder, TDT is 5% of all lodging revenue, so to get to total lodging revenue, we just divide the TDT amount by .05 – equaling between $103 and $104 million.
So, what would that mean for the year? Our total revenue budget for FY 2023-24 is $27 million and for FY 2022-23 we landed at $25.54 million, an all-time high. Our most significant tax collection months typically land between March and July so there is still plenty of time to reverse the course and get on track for the year.
But, it will require a strong enough growth rate in the latter half of the fiscal year to make up for any shortfalls that we have in the earlier months (i.e. if we are down 4% in the first 5 or 6 months of the year, we will have to grow by a significant enough amount to cover that).
The good news is that the first five months of the year (October to February) represents about 40% of the TDT collections for the year and the second five months of the year (March to July) represents about 46-47%. So, there is certainly time and the ability for the market to strengthen.
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– Peter Cranis, Space Coast Office of Tourism Executive Director
The post PETER CRANIS: Brevard Tourism Tax Revenue for Fiscal Year 2022-23 Totaled Record $25.54 Million appeared first on Space Coast Daily.