Serious Fee Hikes Coming September 1st!

As you may have read the State of Florida balanced their budget by raising fees on many of the services provided by Florida Tax Collectors.  

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18 Reasons Why You Do Not Wait In Line Very Long At The Tax Collector's Office

We have been blessed over the years with a great part time staff.  They play a very important role to the success of our operations.

Our eighteen part timers:

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The day the Tax Collector struck out Babe Ruth

Spring Training

McKechnie Field

Spring Training has been around in Bradenton since 1923.   All the games have been played in the same location which today is known as McKechnie Field.  It was originally built for the St. Louis Cardinals.  Dizzy Dean's ("The Gas House Gang") gas station was caddy corner from where our Downtown Bradenton office was formely located.

http://www.baseballpilgrimages.com/spring/bradenton.html

As spring training is upon us again ( Bradenton has hosted the Pittsburgh Pirates since 1966) it reminds me of a true story that happened in 1928.

The background

There is a road off SR 64 just west of I-75 called Morgan Johnson Road (57th St. E).  It runs south to Caruso Rd off SR 70.  Morgan lived there circa 1900 and had two sons Henry and Gilbert.  There could have been more children, but the two boys are the story.

 

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Staff Shedding The Pounds And Pounding The Pavement

Congratulations to my 21 of my staff for shedding over 1140 lbs over the past year.  We think that is pretty impressive.

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Are you Real ID Ready?

Many people have heard or been inconvenienced with the Patriot Act in recent years, but very few have heard of the Real ID Act.

 

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So How Is Business?

I get asked this question a lot.

Through January 2009 we are about 1% behind where we were at this point last year.

 

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Don't Take Chance With Insufficient Funds

Each year our office takes in over $500,000 in bad checks mostly for property taxes.

The days of "floating" your money writing a check has long past and there are substancial penalties for taking the risk.

We recently reposted an article on our website showing the additional cost involved in writing a bad check; and put information in our tax bill insert.  It is also explained on the back of the tax bill.

Please read: http://www.taxcollector.com/index_news_detail.asp?id=315

 A $2,000 tax bill with a bad check will result in a $100 (5%) fee.

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Driver License Services Will Suffer With Amendment 5 Passage

On election day November 4th, Florida voters will decide if they want to swap paying property taxes for education and replace it with an increases in sales tax and other unknown taxes yet to be determined.  What many people do not realize is that driver licenses services will take a big hit statewide with the passage of Amendment 5.

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Response To A Letter to the Editor in The Bradenton Herald

Dear Editor:
 
In a recent letter published in the Sunday edition of The Bradenton Herald (Aug. 3, 2008), Marion Bartholf commented on her recent visits to the Manatee County Tax Collector’s office. I usually leave the occasional letters of discontent alone; however, there were some circumstances to her story that I feel compelled to clarify in support of my staff.

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Measuring Customer Service

One of the ways we measure customer service at the Manatee County Tax Collector's office is the feedback we receive on comment cards.

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