School district demands repayment of tax fees

In a flurry of emails between the Tax Collector’s office and Sarasota County Schools on Wednesday, school district attorney Daniel DeLeo demanded repayment of more than $2 million of “purported commissions on voter-approved school millage.''

The demand came about 24 hours after Sarasota County commissioners rescinded a 2025 vote shifting the payment responsibility for the 2% fee to the school district and called into question the appropriateness of the fee itself.

The Tuesday discussion and vote had not been publicly noticed and sprung from a statement initiated by Commissioner Tom Knight. A formal vote would likely take place at a future meeting, along with a request for potential accounting of the actual costs incurred by the Tax Collector’s office in administering the voter-approved tax for the school district.

“This appears to me to be a discretionary action that is not required by law," Knight said of the 2% commission. “The Tax Collector may be entitled and believe he is entitled to the commission, but it is not illegal to not charge commission for the service.’’

A lawsuit filed in late April by the school district claims Tax Collector Mike Moran’s collection of the fee is “unlawful” and amounts to more than $2 million as of mid-March. Moran, in an op-ed published this week on several news sites, says the fee is legally required to cover costs associated with the tax.

In response to DeLeo’s Wednesday letter, Bradley Ellis, general counsel for the Tax Collector’s office, said “My understanding, after our discussion earlier today, is that County Administration does not yet possess actionable authority and needs to bring this issue back before the BoCC at the earliest opportunity.’’

Moran himself wrote to both Sarasota Schools Superintendent Terry Connor and County Administrator Jonathan Lewis that the details of any repayment to the school district must be worked out between the county and the schools. “Please note, that we will continue to collect commissions, calculate interest and return excess funds according to state statute until we receive a formal agreement and clear direction from both parties,’’ he wrote.

Beyond repayment, DeLeo’s letter also requests interest on “improperly retained funds” and a written commitment to end further commissions. 

“The County Commission's May 5, 2026 vote to rescind its prior action and direct your office to revert withheld funds removes any arguable justification (to the extent it ever existed at all) for continued retention of these trust funds,’’ DeLeo wrote, closing with "Should your office fail to comply with the demands set forth herein within twenty-four (24) hours, the School Board will seek all available relief from the Court."

Connor has said the referendum-approved tax, last renewed by voters in 2024, is responsible for providing roughly 20% of the school district's operating budget.

It allows the district to continue to levy a 1 mill per year property tax, equivalent to $1 per $1,000 of taxable value, from 2026 to 2030, over which time its total projected revenue is $356 million. The referendum has been passed continuously every four years since 2002.

Until August, coinciding with the first budget with Moran as tax collector, the burden of paying that commission on that tax had fallen to Sarasota County. The August vote to move the fee to the school district was swift and unanimous, 5-0. At the time, Commissioner Teresa Mast said: “I’m not interested in continuing to pick up the tab. This needs to be passed on to the school board. They can find the money. It’s time to turn that over after 23 years.”

On April 24, the school district sued Moran's office over the shift, saying the responsibility of paying the commission annually would take money away from educational needs. In its court filing, the school district argued that the commission through March has diverted $2,055,798.65 to Moran’s office.