Manatee County revisits idea of signing contract with Airbnb

Manatee County commissioners and at least one local Airbnb host allege the county is missing out on tourist development tax dollars by not signing a contract with Airbnb. The Manatee County Tax Collector announced in October that it declined to sign an agreement with the home-rental company.

But tax collector staff still stand behind their decision, as they explained at Manatee Technical College during the Monday meeting of the Manatee County Tourist Development Council.

“The thought process that just because Airbnb comes in, all of a sudden people are going to get compliant, I don’t think is a correct statement,” said Michele Schulz, director of field services at the Manatee County Tax Collector. “They’re either complying or they’re not.”

The tax collector staff reviewed the contract between Airbnb and the Florida Department of Revenue and found “a lot of issues with that,” according to Tax Collector Ken Burton Jr.

Sarasota County and other Florida counties elected to sign the agreement.

Signing the agreement would bring an additional $70,000 in tourist tax funds for Manatee County, which “sounds like a lot of money, but at the same time, when you look at the bigger picture, it’s 0.5 percent of additional revenue coming in,” Burton said.

Unless the county changes the current ordinance regulating short-term rentals, Manatee County can’t sign an agreement with Airbnb.

“As it stands today, signing an agreement with Airbnb or any of the others (home-rental services) would violate our existing ordinance and they would be treated different than the other 146 dealers that collect two-thirds of our revenue,” Burton said.

Tourist development taxes are used for certain purposes as specified in the Florida statutes. Manatee County can only use the funds to finance beach re-nourishment, and promote and advertise tourism and maintenance of the Bradenton Area Convention Center, according to the tax collector website.

The tax collector requires short-term rental “dealers” to “report individually on any properties such dealer owns and/or represents,” per the ordinance. If the agreement were signed, Airbnb would collect tourist taxes and remit them on behalf of all Manatee County Airbnb hosts in one fell swoop. This would violate the individual reporting mandate.

Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau executive director Elliott Falcione suggested reviewing the county’s ordinance as a next step.

“We should spend time and look at the ordinance to see if we should make a recommendation,” Falcione said. “There’s at least a half-dozen Airbnb types out there.”

A Myakka City property owner’s letter to Manatee County commissioner Vanessa Baugh spurred the discussion. Sandi Boerum wrote a letter dated Aug. 20 to Baugh and explained the issues she and her husband have had while attempting to come into compliance with the county.

“During the nine months that we have attempted to procure a permit, on numerous occasions, the county has flip flopped on the need for the aforementioned requirements,” Boerum said, referring to several requirements she mentioned in the letter, including septic and well inspections, Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation licensing, installation of an indoor sprinkler system and others. “In addition, redundant requirements have been imposed.”

Boerum noted in her letter that the permitting process is still unresolved and she believes the county is losing out on tourist development tax money by not signing an agreement with Airbnb. To date, she claimed she and her husband have spent $18,000 in legal fees during the permitting process.

“Ultimately, we are bearing the cost of helping the county come up to speed on the residential vacation-rental industry,” Boerum said.

This story was originally published August 21, 2017 at 3:53 PM with the headline "Manatee County revisits idea of signing contract with Airbnb."