Episode 28 focuses on one of the Constitutional Officers ensuring the county operates effectively. The county could not discharge its responsibilities to its residents and visitors if it were not for our tax collector, Anne Gannon. The tax collector is just one of the mandated positions for every Florida county. In addition to the tax collector, we have the sheriff, state attorney, public defender, clerk of the circuit court, property appraiser, supervisor of elections and, of course, the county commissioners. While each of these officials is elected on a partisan basis, their tasks require the incumbents to ignore party affiliations, once in office. We take a deep dive into the operations of our tax collector. In addition to ensuring the funds due to taxing authorities is collected, Ms. Gannon also serves as the county's department of motor vehicles. This task consumes a great deal of her staff's energies as they must issue driver licenses, state ID cards and registrations to every driver and boater in Palm Beach County. As tax collector, Ms. Gannon is required by law to hold an annual tax certificate sale to collect the preceding year's unpaid taxes and associated fees within 60 days of the date of delinquency or June 1st, whichever is later. The two things her office does not do are setting the tax rate (millage) or establishing the taxable value of the property to be taxed. Setting the millage rate is handled by the taxing authorities (e.g. municipalities and county) and establishing the "true value" of the property within the county is the task of the property appraiser. If you live in Florida, you should pay attention to this episode!
