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Highlands Today

Sun 'N Lake Of Sebring Drops Tax Collector

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By Joe  Seelig | Highlands Today

Published: January 14, 2008

SEBRING — Having two incompatible computer systems was ultimately why the Sun 'n Lake of Sebring Board of Supervisors voted 3-0 Tuesday night to drop the services of Charles L. Bryan, tax collector for Highlands County, in 2008-2009.

Up until the end of fiscal 2006 the district had been collecting its own assessments.

Letting the tax collector collect the district's assessments turned out to not be such a good idea, to hear General Manager Al Grieshaber tell it.

"The intent was good when they entered into the agreement," Grieshaber said, explaining he came aboard on Jan 11 and the board passed its first resolution to do so on Jan. 12.

The tax collector's staff has been very helpful, he added.

"Neither the tax collector nor the district understood the complexities of what would make our systems compatible for collections," he said.

He explained that when the district staff received the paperwork documenting the collections, it, at first, got a one line item, mixing all of the money collected, taxes, bonds, assessments, etc.

It couldn't figure out what parcels were collected from and for what reasons.

Later, a better accounting included the property strap numbers, but all of the tax information it received had to be manually input into the system. And there were still complexities that could not be reconciled.

"It's like a marriage," he said. "You think you know the folks really well, but sometimes it just doesn't work out."

"It's not that you can't remarry once you mature a little bit," implying that perhaps one day the problems could be resolved.

He said as a prudent manager, he could not continue to expend the taxpayers' money on a system that requires duplication of effort and does not increase efficiency.

The tax collector's office earns a 3 percent commission on the non ad valorem tax money it collects. So, in essence, the district will pay about $187,000 in commissions on the roughly $6,257,000 in assessments on parcels current with their assessment payments.

Part of the problem with using the tax collector comes with properties that were not current, did not pay the assessments and ended up in tax certificate sales.

Will it be the county or will the district that takes control of them for a future investment, when the market is better?

When the district entered into the agreement with the tax collector, there was a different market, Grieshaber explained.

Over the last three years all of the certificates were sold.

"Tax certificates and tax deeds were selling at the time," said Grieshaber. "Nothing was unsold. We know since that time the economy and the mortgage market have taken some serious setbacks."

When the tax collector does the tax foreclosures, after a period to sell tax certificates or collect unpaid taxes, the unsold land is held by the clerk of courts and then after three years the land goes to the county, he said.

When the district does its own collection of assessments, in the case of tax foreclosures, if National Recreational Properties (NRPI), the district's largest land holder, doesn't pick them up, the district can obtain the properties for future sale or use including paying a fee to its attorney.

"I think our window of opportunity is wide open," said Supervisor Robert Severino. "I want to go back to our own foreclosure policy."

He said it provided an opportunity to pick and choose what properties the district wants and when it wants them. He believed the market for properties in the district would turn around.

"Finally, I think the collector is the right move, but not at this time," Severino said. He did not know where NRPI stood on foreclosures.

"Why would NRPI want properties if it can't sell what it has?" asked resident Bill Jackson.

During the meeting, Grieshaber assured the board and residents that no additional staff would have to be hired to take the reins back from the tax collector.

"I think we have the people in place to adequately collect the district's assessments and furnish the district residents with accurate information," he said after the meeting. "There will be no additional staff hired."

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