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Pinellas tax collector reports tourist-development-tax collections near pre-storm levels; $6.5 million in catastrophic refunds returned
Summary
Pinellas County Tax Collector Adam Ross told the Tourist Development Council that year-to-date tourist development tax (TDT) collections are about 5.23% below last year despite two hurricanes, and that nearly $6.5 million was returned as catastrophic refunds to about 13,000 taxpayers.
Adam Ross, the Pinellas County tax collector, told the Tourist Development Council on Oct. 15 that county collections of the tourist development tax are recovering after last year’s storms and are down 5.23% from the previous year so far in 2025.
Ross said the office redistributed nearly 13,000 catastrophic refunds, totaling about $6,500,000, to taxpayers after storm damage, and he predicted revenue should normalize as rental properties and hotels come back online. “As more and more of these properties, the rental properties and hotels, are back up and running in normal capacity, I do we do expect these to level out next year,” Ross said.
The tax collector’s office also reported an increase in new account applications following the county’s launch of a short-term rental certificate-of-use program for unincorporated Pinellas County. Elizabeth Gianquinto, identified in the meeting as the TDC champion, said many new accounts reflect owners registering because the unincorporated-county certificate requirement now obliges them to show they are paying TDT. She cautioned that some of those properties had already been remitting through platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO and therefore may not create new net tax revenue.
Ross explained reporting differences the council asks about often stem from two distinct reports: a local option report that records amounts for a specific reporting period and an official comparative report that records amounts actually collected in a month regardless of reporting period. He said Florida law limits which entities he can discuss with account-level detail. “The only entity that I can talk about specific details on accounts is the Department of Revenue,” Ross told the council, citing confidentiality under Florida statute 213.053.
Council members asked clarifying questions about whether the new accounts represent previously unreported short-term rentals or simply registrations required by the county certificate program. Gianquinto said the increase largely reflects registrations tied to the unincorporated short-term rental certificate program. Council members also discussed how property-management partnerships and a new owner portal have helped streamline collections and reporting.
Ross closed by noting service improvements in the tax-collector office and promising further updates on administrative improvements designed to reduce costs and processing times.
