Manatee board presses tax collector after 2% commission taken from voted half‑penny sales tax; members warn charter students will lose

Manatee County School Board members on June 24 pressed staff over a new practice by the county tax collector to take a commission from the district's voter‑approved half‑penny sales surtax, a change district staff said has reduced available money for programs and the charter schools' proportionate share.

The discussion followed a public comment from longtime district employee Steve Zickafus, who applauded the board for proposing to share the surtax with charter students but said the district's plan "deducts more than 12,000,000 annually in debt service tied to the district's 2,017 sales tax bond before funds are distributed. That significantly reduces the overall amount charter students can receive." He also warned language allowing future debt to be deducted "opens the door to ongoing reductions in charter student funding."

Finance director Kathy Miley told the board the tax collector recently began taking a 2% commission on the voted millage after the office asked that the voter‑approved millage be listed separately on tax bills as an SC‑14 item rather than combined with other school millage on an SC‑12 line. "Through the month of May the tax collector has taken 1.45 million in revenue for their commission on that," Miley said.

Board members pressed staff for a statutory citation and legal analysis. Attorney Jared Penley of the school board legal staff said he had reviewed the statute the tax collector cited and called the language ambiguous. "When you look at the statute, you'll see it's hanging out there," Penley said, and added he could "see their logic and how they were interpreting it" but that the statute did not clearly resolve whether the commission applied to the voted millage.

Board members said they were upset at the timing and the effect of the commission. One board member urged the public to contact the tax collector, calling the action "disgusting" and saying parents and voters had not approved the tax collector to divert funds they had voted for schools.

Legal staff and others noted at least one prior case in Florida in which a city sued its tax collector over a similar commission and recovered charges; school counsel said there is precedent for litigation if the district chooses that path.

Board members asked staff to meet with Tax Collector Michael Burton to seek explanation and remedy and suggested escalating the issue to the county commission and state associations if necessary. Staff said they intend to meet with the tax collector and to share the statutory citations and budget documents with the board.

Why it matters: the volunteer half‑penny sales surtax is earmarked by ballot language for school programs including safety, literacy, STEM and a proportionate share for public charter schools. A recurring 2% commission on those collections reduces the money available for those programmatic uses and for charter schools that are legally entitled to a share. The legal ambiguity cited by board counsel means the dispute could be resolved administratively, legislatively or, if necessary, by litigation.

Next steps: district staff said they will schedule meetings with the tax collector's office, share the documents and legal evaluation with the board and consider further steps — including involving the county commission, state school board groups or legal action — depending on what those meetings produce.