Hillsborough County tourist-tax receipts climb; council approves quarterly financial and activity reports

The Hillsborough County Tourist Development Council on Feb. 13 accepted its quarterly financial and activity reports after hearing that hotel-tax collections and hotel performance were markedly higher than a year earlier.

The reports, presented during the council's quarterly meeting, showed double- and triple-digit month-over-month increases for the early months of the county's fiscal year and confirmed a board-approved allocation of $6,000,000 to Visit Tampa Bay and $272,000 for film incentives. The council voted unanimously to approve meeting minutes and to accept the financial and activity reports.

Mr. Barton, a Hillsborough County staff member presenting the financial statement, told the council that October collections were 3.8% higher than the prior year, November about 28% higher, December almost 36% higher and January about 30% higher. "Being the first quarter, obviously not a lot to talk about," Barton said, noting the board had already added two items to the budget: the Visit Tampa Bay allocation of $6,000,000 and $272,000 for film incentives.

Barton said the 6¢ share of the tourist development tax includes three principal allocations: a $2,000,000 allocation to the City of Tampa for convention center improvements (which had not billed the county as of the meeting), the pro-rata allocation to Visit Tampa Bay, and funding for cultural- and attraction-based infrastructure projects. He said applications for the cultural/attraction capital program had not yet opened and that awards were shown as $0 in the report because no applications had been awarded.

Council members asked for clarification on the cultural- and attractions-based infrastructure program. Barton said applicants may request one-, two- or three-year projects, that staff performs an internal review and site visits, and that the board must approve any resulting agreements. He said project caps had been revised and recalled a cap in the neighborhood of $1,000,000 per project but suggested members rely on the formal application when it opens for precise limits.

Council member Mr. Placencia asked about the roughly $5,500,000 line in the cultural/attraction total; Barton and staff described the application window and review process but did not state a final award amount for the current cycle.

Santiago, representing Visit Tampa Bay, delivered the activity report and highlighted hotel performance metrics from Smith Travel Research (STR) and Visit Tampa Bay tracking. He said weekly STR figures showed average occupancy above 80% in January and about 81% for a February weekend, and that revenues for those weeks were up roughly 18.9% and 19.8% respectively compared with the prior year. Santiago said the destination had nearly 1,000 partners and credited a recent $6,000,000 marketing investment for contributing to bookings and conventions that arrived after two hurricanes impacted the region.

Santiago said campaign performance indicators tied to the board-funded marketing included a reported return on ad spend and an estimated $24,000,000 in hotel revenue bookings associated with the campaign; he also cited an average reported rate of roughly $227 tied to the campaign's booking performance. "I've always said you have to invest money to make money," Santiago told the council.

Barton and council members discussed forecasting for fiscal years 2026–27, with Barton saying he would present budget recommendation scenarios at the May meeting. Barton described three projection scenarios based on different historical growth windows (pre-COVID 2014–19, a blended average of 2014–19 and 2022–24, and 2022–24 alone) and said he would likely model a decreasing growth curve across the two-year budget window rather than assume ongoing double-digit increases.

The council approved three formal items by unanimous voice vote: the minutes for May 23, Aug. 8 and Nov. 7 (motion by Mr. Antonasio; second Mr. Placencia), the quarterly financial report (motion by Mr. Manti; second Mr. Morrison), and the activity report from Visit Tampa Bay (motion by Mr. Placencia; second Mr. Manti). Each motion passed with the chair calling for "aye" and recording the motions as carried unanimously.

The council adjourned after the votes. Barton said he will present formal budget recommendations for the tourist development tax at the council's May meeting, timed to align with the county budget calendar and the Board of County Commissioners' deliberations.