Collier County is putting a sixth penny of tourist tax on the November ballot to finish the Paradise Coast Sports Complex, and it has booked twelve public meetings between now and October to explain it
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Collier County wants a sixth penny on every dollar visitors spend on a short stay, and it has set out a two month schedule to argue for it.
The county announced on August 10 that it is holding a series of public information meetings on a proposed one percent increase to the Tourist Development Tax, which it says will go to voters in the November 2026 General Election. Twelve meetings are booked, each from 6.00 to 7.30 p.m., beginning at North Collier Regional Park on Monday, August 24 and ending at Immokalee Community Park on Thursday, October 15. In between are the South Regional Library on August 27, UF IFAS Collier Extension on August 31, Headquarters Library on September 2, Golden Gate Community Center on September 9, Max Hasse Park on September 14, Naples Regional Library on September 16, the Collier Clerk Heritage Bay office on September 24, the Naples Park Association Clubhouse on September 28, the Marco Island Community Room on September 30 and Fire Station 32 on October 6.
The county says two or more commissioners may be present and participate at the meetings.
On its own information site the county puts the current rate at five percent, generating approximately 48 to 50 million dollars a year, and says the extra penny would raise approximately 10 million dollars more. It states the money would finance completion of the Paradise Coast Sports Complex, promote the complex, and pay for beach renourishment and other tourism-related infrastructure.
The tax is paid by visitors, not by residents on their homes. It applies to rentals of six months or less, and the county states that an annual lease of more than six months and an owner-occupied home are outside it. Including the six percent state sales tax, the county puts the all-in rate on a short stay at eleven percent today and twelve percent if the measure passes.
The legal route runs through a specific paragraph of state law. Section 125.0104(3)(m), Florida Statutes lets a high tourism impact county levy an additional one percent by ordinance approved at referendum. A county earns that designation when the Department of Revenue certifies that sales subject to the tax exceeded 600 million dollars in the previous calendar year, or were at least 18 percent of the county's total taxable sales where those sales were at least 200 million dollars. Collier says it has reached that status. The statute also provides that once a county qualifies, it keeps the designation for as long as the tax is levied, and that the levy takes effect on the first day of the second month after the referendum passes unless the ordinance names a later month.
The county's comparison to other destinations checks out against the state's own table. Form DR-15TDT, the Department of Revenue's list of local option transient rental tax rates, puts Collier and Lee at five percent each, lists eleven counties at a flat six percent including Sarasota, Pinellas, Palm Beach, Broward, Orange and Osceola, and carries Miami-Dade at six percent across most of the county.
No ordinance number and no ballot wording were published with the announcement, and neither was located for this item. The county gave 239-252-8999 as its contact number and directed residents to CollierTDT.com.
