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Citrus County tourism staff push new software to find and tax short-term rentals
Summary
The Tourist Development Council heard staff describe plans to use GovOS software to identify and notify short-term rental operators, increase compliance with the tourism development tax, and provide data previously unavailable from the state Department of Revenue.
Citrus County tourism staff outlined plans Thursday to deploy GovOS software to identify short-term rentals and improve collection of the tourism development tax (TDT).
Staff said the county lacks detailed reports from the Florida Department of Revenue showing which properties remit the TDT. The proposed GovOS service scrubs online listings, compiles addresses and screenshots, and would produce lists the county could use to notify hosts and pursue compliance. Staff said other Florida counties that use the software report 95% or higher compliance after the provider’s notices and human review.
The tourism director told the council the software will identify rentals ranging from condos and houses to RVs and can break down collections by community. Staff said the system will also produce historical snapshots of listings and could support outreach to owners who have not registered or remitted taxes. The council discussed the process, including a registration component and coordination with the county tax collector, Janice Warren.
Council members asked whether local ordinances would be needed to make registration mandatory; staff said no additional local ordinance was required for TDT collection and that the collection requirement is established under state law and enforced through the Department of Revenue. Staff said the vendor scrubs listings and performs a human review before providing the county data, and the county would follow up with notices to operators and the Department of Revenue when appropriate.
Timing: staff said they planned to submit the procurement to the county this week and hoped to have contract movement to discuss in July, with an implementation goal aligned to a January start tied to fiscal-year and collection cycles.
Why it matters: Local enforcement and better data could recover significant revenue left uncollected, provide transparency about where bed taxes originate and help fund local tourism programs and facilities.
