Tax Collector Moran educates county commissioners about revenue and expenditures for his staff’s state work compared to figures for other activities
With the funding of multiple technological updates for his offices included in his budget for this fiscal year, Sarasota County Tax Collector Mike Moran said this week that his projected operating and capital expenses for the 2027 fiscal year will be down about 27.48%.
His total expenses will be about 1.3% lower, a slide noted as Moran provided details of his proposed FY 2027 budget to the commissioners as part of their regular meeting on July 7.
However, Moran spent part of his approximately 44-minute appearance before them to talk about his office’s expenses and revenue in light of what he indicated the state refers to as the annual “excess” turned over to the county. Moran made the point that his office this fiscal year will take in about $8.3 million less than it costs to provide state services to customers, including driver’s license renewals and issuance of hunting licenses.
Conversely, he noted, his fees — or, commissions — for handling the collections of revenue from 137 taxing authorities in the county are projected to add up to nearly $26.4 million more than the expenses related to that work.
After the Sept. 30 end of this fiscal year, Moran showed the board members that he anticipates the excess revenue he will have taken in will be $18,108,966. For the 2027 fiscal year, the projected figure is $15,876,169.
Yet, Moran explained, future changes in state law could end up having an effect on that “excess.”
He also reminded them that the Florida Department of Revenue approves his budget.
Technological improvements
Near the outset of his remarks, Moran told his former County Commission colleagues that, after he won the election for the tax collector’s position in November 2024, “My priority was modernization and infrastructure investment …We were committed to building a modern institution. We did just that,” he continued, “with an incredibly amazing staff.”
Moran noted that former Tax Collector Barbara Ford-Coates had served the county for 49 years before he defeated her.
Among examples of the changes he had implemented, he pointed out, had been “a total upgrade of technology … And I’m talking about servers, software, laptops, desktops, payment devices — everything you could possibly imagine related to technology.”
Further, Moran said, “Cybersecurity has been completely redone with very robust efforts related to that, including third-party review,” 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
He also noted that new accounting software is being used to produce monthly reports that allow staff to review actual expenditures in comparison to what was budgeted.
Additionally, Moran said, all of his office’s interlocal agreements with the 137 taxing authorities the office services are being rewritten.
In regard to customer service, Moran reported that one innovation has been the sending of a text notification to any person waiting to take care of a state transaction as soon as an employee is ready to help that individual. In the past, he said people “[stared] up at the monitors” in the offices, to learn where they were in the queue.
Another initiative that will be getting underway, he reported, will be the installation of self-service kiosks in six Publix stores, as a pilot program.
After talking about those changes, Moran told the commissioners that one of his favorite new activities is reviewing the surveys that customers provide through Google Reviews. “Anything that gets … a 1 or two rating goes directly to me,” he emphasized.
A slide he showed the commissioners said that the overall ratings for his offices are as follows:
“The goal here for this organization is 4.8 [on Google Reviews],” Moran pointed out. “Staff leadership knows this.”
Two of the offices had reached 4.8, while a third had earned a 4.6, he said. However, after the state introduced a new system called Orion, he said, “There was a tremendous amount of downtown over several weeks [as his employees learned how to use that software]. Made our rankings go down a little bit. But … we’ll get them back, I’m sure.”
Noting that the North Port office had the lowest rating of all of his office locations, Moran reminded the board members that he had talked with them in the past about the fact that his staff members in North Port “are working out of an old storage closet with four desks.” Customers must make appointments to get service, he added.
“It’s an absolute priority of mine to bring full-service capabilities to North Port,” he stressed: “completely operational, modern systems in a building … equivalent to [the one in downtown] Sarasota, as should be deserved in North Port.”
In fact, he told the commissioners, one of his major priorities is establishing a new location in that city.
When Commissioner Teresa Mast asked him whether he had a timeline for achieving that, Moran explained that one option would be to “buy an existing facility and retrofit it.” That would be the fastest approach, he noted.
Another option, which he has presented to the North Port City Commission, Moran added, is constructing a new building on a city-owned parcel; it would be similar to the office that the county built years ago on Sawyer Loop Road in Sarasota. That facility serves as the Mid-County Tax Collector’s Office, which the county owns.
However, he said, it likely would take 18 months to two years to have that type of office ready for use.
One other alternative, Moran continued, would be “some type of public-private partnership,” which he would prefer, he told them, because that would be a faster means of getting a new facility open. Moreover, he said, that option would be less expensive.
Budget details
On July 7, Moran reprised another point he has made to the commissioners in the past: “We do not take money from the General Fund.”
That fund is the primary repository for county property tax revenue. It covers the expenses of departments and the operations of the county’s constitutional officers — such as the sheriff and the supervisor of elections — that do not generate sufficient revenue — or any revenue — to cover their expenses.
“We are completely self-sustaining,” Moran stressed. However, he noted, “We are not allowed to keep any reserves whatsoever.” That is why it ends up giving the “excess” to the county.
Even though the Florida Department of Revenue’s deadline for tax collectors to provide their budgets to its staff for review, he said his proposed 2027 fiscal year budget is complete. “The numbers that I’m gonna show you here you can rely on.”
If any changes do have to be made, he characterized them as “very miniscule.”
Then he delved into the differences between the work his staff members do on behalf of the state and the county-focused work they handle.
A slide showed that 97 members of his staff handle state transactions. This year, the total revenue expected from that work is $3,362,983, the slide said.
Only 12 of his employees deal with matters related to Sarasota County, Moran continued. The revenue he collects from the 137 taxing authorities in the county is projected to be $32,280,322 this fiscal year.
He has another 21 general employees who split their time between state and county functions, Moran said.
He showed the board members another slide with the 2026 fiscal year figures for total expenses for the state transactions compared to the county work.
For the state functions, the expense was put at $11,651,188; for the work related to the county taxing authorities, the figure was $5,883,152.
Typically, Moran indicated, his offices handle 1,400 transactions a day involving state matters.
In the past, when the state had an office near the Sarasota County Fair Grounds on Fruitville Road, where people went to obtain or renew driver’s licenses, the standard state charge was $48, Moran said.
With state leaders having decided years ago to shift all of the driver’s license work to the tax collectors’ offices, Moran noted, his employees, in county facilities, charge individuals $54.25. The state sets that fee, he added.
“We get to keep $6 and 25 cents of it,” Moran pointed out.
Turning again to the “excess” issue, he indicated that the suggestion has been made that the fees that Sarasota County residents pay for driver’s license transactions be raised. While “that might be a logical argument,” he continued, “I don’t know how we, in good faith, increase [those fees] while I’m giving back ‘excess’ of $18 million.”
“In a perfect world,” Moran pointed out, no “excess” would exist. “You should collect the appropriate amount of fees to carry out the functions …”
Moreover, in his opinion, Moran continued, the County Commission should not be relying on the annual “excess” to cover expenses for its departments, such as Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources, whose budgets are dependent on General Fund money.
Commissioner Joe Neunder told Moran, “I agree with your opinion [about] a perfect world … You want to charge the appropriate fee for the taxpayers and not have ‘excess,’ right? I mean, in a perfect world, that’s what we like.”
Chair Ron Cutsinger asked Moran, “How do you work that out with the fact that we’re $8.3 million in the red already [with the state transactions],” and the fees for collection of revenue for the taxing authorities are covering those costs?
“I’m not a policymaker any longer,” Moran replied. “I do a ministerial function. If I could snap my fingers on this, I’d have a lot to say about it.”
Yet, Moran pointed out, the commissioners are policymakers, as are the members of the Sarasota County Legislative Delegation.
He added, “You have lobbyists; you have governmental affairs folks. I’m bringing you the math.”
“I understand,” Cutsinger replied, “and you’re right. … We need to charge a fee for service” that covers the expense of providing that service. … We don’t want to go in the hole on this,” he continued. “So I think, for us, it’s gonna take a little time.”
Moran also pointed out, “For your FY27 budget discussion, there is zero impact other than the ‘excess’ conversation we had.”
Nonetheless, he said, “I’m … trying to bring as much education to you and the public [as possible]. I would venture to guess none of you have ever heard this before I brought it about right now.”
“You’ve done a great job … in terms of … helping us understand how this works,” Cutsinger told him.