Tax collector charges Manatee County schools $1.5M

The School District of Manatee County board members have expressed concern over what seems to be a new charge from the Manatee County tax collector.

The district has been charged $1,499,943.50, or 2% of the $74,977,174.64 that the district received from October 2024 through June 2025 from the 1 mill referendum that was approved by voters. The charge is called a "commission" that is allowed by state law. It is the first time that the Manatee County tax collector had issued the charge.

Tax Collector Ken Burton said the school district's voter-approved millage should have been triggering a 2% commission charge for the county since the special tax was approved in 2018 and then extended in 2021.

Rachel Sellers, the deputy superintendent of business services for the school district, said the Board of County Commissioners had previously paid the 2% commission.

“We were unaware that the tax collector was going to start taking a commission,” Sellers said.

School Board Member Chad Choate has been in talks with Burton, who references Florida Statute 192.091, commissions of property appraisers and tax collectors, for why he began to charge the commission. 

Photo by Madison Bierl

Choate has encouraged his fellow school board members to meet with Burton. Choate said Burton provided the district with no warning the commission would now be collected.

A June 27 meeting between Choate and Burton came to no resolution, but attorneys representing the school board and the county have scheduled to meet to determine what happens next. Choate said his assumption is that the "commission" will be removed and the district will be able to go on using all the funds in respect to the referendum.

Burton maintained that it was just "human error" as to why the commission hadn't been collected in the past. He said the district always should have been paying the 2%.

Choate said if the 2% commission is collected by the county, it will come out of the teachers' pockets as well as taking money from the STEM programs, arts programs, student security, and athletics. 

School board members said they weren't sure what Manatee County intends to do with the money if it is collected and School Board Member Richard Tatem said Manatee County should explain why it needs those funds.

Burton said the money will go toward "converting data, mailing bills, and collections." He also said some of the commission collected could be refunded to the district if there are leftover funds from those purposes. He estimated that $750,000 of the $1.5 million collected is likely to be returned.

Choate said his talks with Burton and Tax Collector's Office Directors Steve Riley and Mandie Furgeson, have not been contentious.

“Everybody was very nice and cooperative,” Choate said. “I don't think there was any malice.” 

Choate said the school district, as its own government agency, shouldn't be charged a commission.

School Board Member Charlie Kennedy said no other county in Florida, where voters have approved a special property to benefit schools, is collecting a commission.

“Why is every county in Florida not taking it?” Kennedy said. “Why isn’t every tax collector? Was Mr. Burton the first one to catch on to this?” 

“Everybody who actually cares about kids went out there and fought for this millage,” said School Board Member Heather Felton. “The tax collector didn't get out there and do anything to get this millage. The fact that he gets a commission off doing nothing is disgusting to me. And yes, I'm very irritated about this.” 

Felton encouraged the public to contact the tax collector’s office to express their concern with the commission.

“Remind him that we voted for him, that he is taking money from children. This is not a good thing,” Felton said. 

Kennedy said he would have much less of a problem with the commission if other counties were paying it.

School Board Member Spray said it is “utterly ridiculous” the tax collector can charge a commission, or “taxing the tax” as she put it. 

"It's very crafty how they do that," Spray said. "It's almost a loophole. To me, I think it's absurd, and I think we all should.”