Age: 58
Current Occupation: Director of tax operations for the Charlotte County Tax Collector — 10 years in two five-year periods, with an eight-year gap in the private sector working for software firms providing services to Florida tax collectors statewide.
How long have you been a resident of Sarasota County: 42 years
Why are you running for election?
I believe I have the experience and knowledge (23 years working in the Florida Tax Collector Community either for the Charlotte County Tax Collector or for multiple Software Firms that provide Tax Collection and Administration Software to Florida Tax Collectors Statewide) to add value to Sarasota County and specifically this office over the next 8-12 years. I believe I can shepherd in necessary change while respecting Barbara Ford-Coates' Legacy.
What makes you a better candidate than your opponents?
- While I have the utmost respect for Barabara Ford-Coates she has not kept up with the technological advancements available in this space. She has also not kept up with the growth in Sarasota County over the last decade and is underserving portions of our community.
- Mike Moran shouldn’t even be running for the position, as he has an ethical conflict of interest in running for the position. He serves as the executive director of Florida Pace Funding Agency.
Florida Pace Funding Agency assessments appear on Sarasota County tax bills. Therefore, Moran would be responsible for billing, collecting and distributing funds to an agency for which he serves as executive director and is paid a salary of $185,000 a year in that position.
In addition, he has sued (in his capacity as executive director) multiple Florida county tax collectors for refusing to collect Florida Pace Funding Agency assessments without interlocal agreements between the counties and tax collectors and the agency. This litigation is ongoing and will result in potentially more than $1 million in legal fees being incurred by Florida tax collectors.
Were he to win the election, he would be on an island with no support from the Florida Tax Collectors Association.
What priorities would you have if elected and why?
- Tax Collection and Administration Software Update. The current product being used by the Tax Collectors Office is over 2 decades old and is not capable of keeping up. I was on the implementation team for the software firm that installed that product over 20 years ago. The vendor was supposed to replace it over a decade ago but the replacement product will never come to fruition. (I worked on that product as well, writing functional designs.) A new software product can provide superior on-line services and streamline internal functions which will make the entire office run more efficiently. It will also allow for a level of transparency via online reporting available to all constituents 24/7 as to exactly what is being collected and distributed as well as the number of and type of transactions being processed by each branch. It can be as detailed or as generic as the public wishes and requests for online access to data can be provided in hours if it isn't already available. And that data is LIVE if the report is structured in that manner, it can also be static as of a particular date. The data format can be either excel or .pdf at the option of the person who selects to run the report.
- Build/Buy/Create a full service (including driving road tests) branch in North Port. North Port has been underserved by the Sarasota County Tax Collector for over a decade. 10 thousand Sarasota County Residents used DMV and Driver's License services in Charlotte County in the last fiscal year. Most of those residents were from North Port. The current Sarasota County North Port branch is incapable of the volume necessary to properly serve the community. Those individuals are being forced to the Clark Rd Office, Venice Office or are going to Charlotte County to get those services. North Port is growing too rapidly to continue using the current facilities.
- A complete review of all systems/vendors and processes looking for opportunities to enhance the customer service experience and internal efficiencies within the office. This is where 23 years experience in the environment comes into play. Until you've seen it you don't know what else can be done. I suspect given that some things are at least a decade out of date there are other opportunities. In no way am I trying to discount what Barabara Ford-Coates has meant to this community. But she has been in office for 40 years and sometimes it's easier to stick with the status quo than shepherd in change. I believe I can be that agent of change and set the office up for success for the next decade.
