Lessons on how not to do it

At the time of this writing, the Sarasota County tax collector and Sarasota County administration have reached a partial resolution over who owes what commissions to the tax collector. 

Yay, it was in the school board’s favor. 

Sarasota County Administrator Jonathan Lewis emailed School Superintendent Terry Connor at 4:56 p.m. Monday confirming the resolution. 

Refunded to the Sarasota County School District Monday and Tuesday was $2,149,558.86.

The disputed $2 million was to be taken from the tax collector’s excess cash that typically goes to Sarasota County at the end of the fiscal year. That, of course, will leave the county, not the school board, with less cash than it previously budgeted. That draw down, in turn, will have a domino effect on the county, but that’s another side issue. 

As Lewis told Superintendent Connor in his email: “Figuring out the details of how to unwind was not straightforward; there was no rewind button.” 

Thank the tax collector for that.

For the moment, let’s just call this a win for the school district. 

Objective One was accomplished — getting its money back. Objective  Two was accomplished: Having the County Commission rescind its August 2025 decision, which shifted the cost of a tax collector commission to the school district. 

Objective Three, however, remains unresolved. That is: How will this tax collector commission dispute be handled annually going forward? 

The answer could be in the board’s lawsuit sitting on the docket of 12th Circuit Court Judge Hunter Carroll.

Because he filed the suit, we asked school board attorney Dan DeLeo whether the school board will pursue the suit to an ultimate judicial ruling. 

“I’m going to say to them (the school board) … you need to negotiate some clarity about how long the County Commission is going to pay (the commission) so we have certainty. 

“Hopefully, we can all get together … Governments shouldn’t be suing each other. They should be working stuff out. And that’s our first plan, not to litigate.”

So, as the cliché goes, that puts the ball in Moran’s court. 

Asked his intention, Moran did not respond before press time.

On the one hand, you can make a case for taking the school district lawsuit to its ultimate end. That could/would definitively settle the matter — not who is right, but how a judge interprets the law. Cha-ching, cha-ching go the legal fees. 

While such a ruling may clarify the matter, you can also see how a fully argued lawsuit ultimately would have lasting effects — tender scars and animosities among these government bodies. Even if Moran wins — giving him the option to charge a commission on the collection of the district’s voter-approved school tax — Moran would forever after be dubbed the tax collector who robbed Sarasota schools to build his tax collector empire.

On the other hand, there is a more magnanimous approach that could defuse animosities and actually elevate Moran’s standing in Sarasota County: 

Take the high road. 

Admit you misjudged the issue and the will of the voters, and announce that the tax collector’s office will go back to the way the system worked for 23 years — but with a reasonable proviso. As DeLeo says: The tax collector, Sarasota County Commission and School Board would work together to create a satisfactory interlocal agreement on tax collector commissions.

Call it the adult thing to do. 

That takes leadership — and a dose of humility.

Like the recent humility of Sarasota County Commissioner Tom Knight.

‘That's on us’

Knight did the rarest of actions last week coming from a politician. He admitted regret for his action and admitted making a mistake.

At the commission’s May 5 meeting, Knight said he regretted his vote in August 2025 on the tax collector-school board issue. He said he and his fellow board members erred when they took information from Moran at face value without checking.

“We never saw an accounting of the actual costs of the collection of the money,” Knight said to his fellow commissioners. “The tax collector didn’t offer the information, and neither did our staff. But none of us here asked for that, and neither did I. And I believe that was a mistake. That’s on us.”

Knight last week triggered the motion to rescind the commission’s 5-0 vote from last August, in which the commission said it would no longer continue its 23-year practice of covering the school board’s tax collector commission.

Continued Knight: “I believe the residents believe their money was to be used entirely for the benefit of the education of the children, not for the tax collector’s office … I wish I would have asked more questions last August.”

That is all it would have taken to avoid what has since transpired.

So, in hindsight, some shame goes to the commissioners. They took Mike Moran at his word. 

But no surprise there. When you watched Moran make his presentations to the commissioners last summer, you could see the commissioners giving him deference and light-hearted, chummy greetings. After all, Moran was one of them for the previous eight years. Why shouldn’t they believe and trust him?

Sorry, but this is the truth: Mike Moran is a politician. And if you’ve had experience with any politician, you know that behind every issue, there are influencing factors they don’t tell you. They’re always playing poker, never revealing all they know and what’s in their hand. 

“Honest politician”? No such thing.

Which brings us to trust and misinformation, Moran’s “misinformation.”

‘Entitled,’ not ‘mandated’

“My oath of office isn’t a suggestion, it is a binding promise to every taxpayer that I will follow Florida law, even when it is politically inconvenient.”

That was Moran’s opening last week in the Observer in response to our April 30 report on this dispute. But the thing is, he has been the one misleading the public.

Throughout this dispute, Moran has said he is “mandated by law” to collect a commission on the voter-approved, school ad valorem tax. 

“There is a current dispute regarding the state-mandated commission charged by the Tax Collector’s Office to the School Board,” Moran wrote. “Let me be clear: This is not a new fee, and it is required by law … This is not a matter of opinion or preference; it is a matter of legal obligation.” (Editor: bold-face added)

But here is how Florida Statute 192.091 is written (see box above): “The tax collectors of the several counties of the state shall be entitled to receive … the following commissions …”

“Entitled,” not “mandated.” “Entitled to receive,” not “shall receive.”

Moran went on to push his mandate idea further and that he is just following the rule of law when he hired the New York-based public relations firm, Lou Hammond Group, to produce a video intended to help the public understand the history of the issue.

As you can see in the box, the script makes four references to the tax collector being “mandated” to collect the school commission and two references to his office being “required by law” to collect the commissions.

This is propaganda. Who among the public knows what statute 192.091 says? Watching Moran’s video, any innocent taxpayer would be easily swayed to believe that every word is fact. What’s more, Moran and the video make the point of accusing the press and others of being the ones spreading “misinformation.”

It’s all too much. 

Yes, taxpayers want and expect their tax collectors always to follow the rule of law. But, equally, they want from them truth and trust. 

The right thing, right way

As this dispute progresses, hopefully to a sensible end, you can see lessons surfacing and useful for the future.

One we already noted: Always take the high road.

Another is from business guru Stephen Covey: “Do the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons.”

And then there is this — lessons and wisdom from a Tampa business psychologist and coach. When there is disagreement or conflict, don’t email; talk face to face. Be a learner, not a judger — ask questions. (“Can you help me understand why?” “I’m having trouble understanding. What would happen if we did X?” “How do you think this could be addressed?” “Here’s what I’m hoping to do; can we get there in a way that makes sense?”)

Had all that been done, none of where we are would have occurred.