Commissioner Ziegler listed the smallest net worth of the five board members
Sarasota County Commissioner Alan Maio far surpasses his colleagues in terms of personal wealth, as detailed in the most recent financial statements filed with the Florida Commission on Ethics, The Sarasota News Leader has found.
In his Form 6 document dated June 20, 2019, Maio put his net worth at $3,252,097. Most of that is based on real estate holdings, he noted; they were valued at $1,941,600.
His retirement account at Caldwell Trust held $1,061,564, the form said, and his bank accounts held a total of $650,298.
The commissioner with the smallest net worth was Christian Ziegler. His Form 6 said that as of Dec. 31, 2018, it was $206,324.83.
Commissioner Nancy Detert noted an amount slightly higher than Ziegler’s in her latest Form 6 filing. As of Dec. 31, 2019, her net worth was $322,206.
In second place behind Maio, Commissioner Charles Hines listed his net worth as $1,264,992.85 as of May 31, 2019.
Finally, Commissioner Michael Moran put his net worth at $620,716.38, as of May 1 of this year.
Both Detert and Moran are running for re-election. None of the Form 6 documents for their opponents were available when the News Leader reviewed the files on the Florida Commission on Ethics website this week.
Detert, who lives in Venice, represents District 3; Moran, who lives in The Meadows community in the northern part of the county, holds the District 1 seat.
With his June 2019 Form 6 filing, Maio attached a sheet listing all of his real estate holdings. They include his home in Nokomis, which was valued at $1.2 million, along with several properties in Sevierville, Tenn.
In years past, Maio has talked about owning vacation rental homes. A News Leaderonline search found that Sevierville is near the Gatlinburg Pigeon Forge Airport in Tennessee; the community is north of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and east of Cherokee National Forest
Maio also listed a 2-acre “Bldg. Lot” in Blue Ridge, Ga., which he valued at $50,000. Blue Ridge is in the northernmost part of Georgia.
Maio included another attachment that showed his total liabilities were $491,365.
Finally, he noted that his salary at the time was $87,423, and he also received Social Security income.
As for Hines’ May 2019 form: He wrote that his household goods and personal effects added up to $132,000; his salary as of that time was $77,255, and his income from his law practice was $3,857.
Further, Hines provided details about his IRA accounts and funds set aside for the college education of his three children.
One attachment was a statement from Charles Schwab & Co. for the period of May 1 to May 31, 2019. Providing details of contributions to Hines’ IRA, it listed a number of major corporations in which Hines was invested. Among those were Abbott Laboratories, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, BB&T Corp. — which has been rebranded Truist since its merger with SunTrust, Berkshire Hathaway, Home Depot, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Johnson and Johnson, Merck, Pepsico, Pfizer and Philip Morris International.
The total account value of investment income for the IRA at that time was $372,912.81, the document said.
Net worth below the $1-million level
Commissioner Moran also used attachments with his May 1, 2020 Form 6 to provide details of his net worth.
His household goods and personal effects added up to $100,000, the form noted. He listed other assets, including stock worth $405,503.62 in Blue Water Insurance Group LLC and his home ($332,000), which totaled $928,827.69.
His liabilities — including a $273,500 mortgage on his home — and leases on three vehicles added up to $308,111.31.
Moran listed his primary sources of income as his county salary — $87,451; wages from Blue Water Insurance Group LLC — $80,271.12; and Moran 360 LLC — $100,000. His main client is Wilde Automotive Management, for which he handles its insurance, the form indicated.
Buzzfile.com says Blue Water Insurance Group, which “also operates under the name Wilde Insurance Services,” was established about 18 years ago. Moran is listed as president.
The Florida Division of Corporations says Moran 360 LLC filed its Articles of Organization in late May 2019 with Moran as the manager.
Moran’s biography on the county website says he “is a self-made businessman … After selling his payroll and insurance firm in Michigan, Moran moved to Sarasota in 2002 with his wife of more than 26 years, Lori, and their two children, Laina and Mike, Jr.”
The biography also notes that he “is a Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) …”
Commissioner Detert’s latest Form 6 said her household goods and effects added up to $80,000. The form showed the value of her personal residence in Venice was $262,000. She also listed $25,000 in a savings account with Bank of America and $9,500 in a checking account with Wells Fargo.
Further, Detert noted stock in Amazon, Apple and Home Depot, among other companies, which had a value of $72,406.
Her only liability on the form was a $125,700 mortgage.
Detert listed her salary as a county commissioner as $90,210.05, plus with Social Security income.
In the most recent Form 6 the News Leader could find for Commissioner Ziegler, he put the value of his Sarasota home at $310,000 and wrote that his income from his business — Microtargeted Media LLC — was $76,747.01.
An attachment to the form showed that Microtargeted Media had worked on the campaign for state Sen. Joe Gruters of Sarasota, the Republican Party of Sarasota, and Sarasota 500 LLC, which the Florida Division of Corporations shows is registered to Matthew Buchanan, son of U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan of Longboat Key. Sarasota 500’s address is 707 S. Washington Blvd. in Sarasota, which is the location of Sarasota Ford.
Gruters is chair of the Republican Party of Florida, while Ziegler is vice chair.
Ziegler’s retirement account as of Dec. 31, 2018 had $3,913.22 in it, the form said.
Ziegler was just elected to the board in November 2018, slightly more than a month before he filed the form. At the time, the income he had received as a commissioner was only $7,934.72, the form said.
Among his liabilities, he listed a mortgage of $190,809.78.