Sarasota Tax Collector
The elected office of Tax Collector was established in the 1885 Florida Constitution based on the idea that local taxes could best be collected at the local level. By being an independently elected officer, the Tax Collector is more responsive to the needs of the community in which he or she is elected. This independence, coupled with a wide variety of duties and responsibilities, allows Tax Collectors to exercise valuable leadership roles in Florida's government. In most counties, the Tax Collector is responsible for not only the collection of ad valorem taxes, which is the single largest tax collected in Florida, but also collection of other taxes at the local level and on behalf of state agencies such as the Department of Revenue, Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles, and the Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.
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Staff members from the various state departments, along with state legislators, draw heavily on the broad base of knowledge accumulated by Tax Collectors in drafting tax legislation and establishing rules and regulations for carrying out laws regarding the collection of taxes. Furthermore, Tax Collectors are the only locally elected officials who come into contact with almost every citizen.