Commissioners surprised everyone by reversing a previous vote on collection fees. But the story isn’t over.
By Derek Gilliam/Suncoast Searchlight
Original Air Date: May 8, 2026
Host: Local officials thought a dispute over who would pay to collect a voter-approved school tax had been settled when Sarasota County commissioners agreed in a surprise vote this week to resume covering the millions of dollars withheld by Tax Collector Mike Moran. Turns out, the fight isn’t over. Derek Gilliam with Suncoast Searchlight has the report.
Derek Gilliam: Behind the scenes, county, school and tax officials spent the past few days sparring over whether Tuesday’s commission vote actually restored the decades-old practice—or whether another formal vote would be required before the money could be released to the school district.
The dispute centers on a voter-approved property tax that raises millions of dollars annually for Sarasota County Schools to pay for teachers, support staff and equipment. For more than two decades—through multiple referendums—the county had covered the fees. But after taking office last year, Moran challenged the arrangement and convinced commissioners to end covering the costs, which they did in an August vote.
Since then, Moran has withheld more than $2 million from school tax revenues to cover collection fees, triggering a lawsuit filed against Moran’s office on April 24 by the school board and two county taxpayers.
For more than two decades, Sarasota County paid the fee of collecting a voter-approved school tax, allowing all of the revenue to go directly to schools to help pay for teachers, support staff and equipment. But after taking office last year, Tax Collector Mike Moran challenged the arrangement, and commissioners voted not to pay it. Photo by Emily Le Coz via Suncoast Searchlight
On Tuesday, the commission reversed course, voting 3-2 to once again cover the collection fees.
Just hours after that vote, the school board sent notice to Moran’s office demanding the immediate release of the millions of dollars it had already withheld in fees.
What followed was a series of communications between the Tax Collector’s Office, Sarasota County attorneys and school district officials that revealed uncertainty, disagreement and no immediate path forward.
In a letter sent the next day to County Administrator Jonathan Lewis and Sarasota County Schools Superintendent Terry Connor, Moran referenced the school district’s demand but said his office needed written clarification on how the arrangement would be carried out.
In the meantime, Moran said, his office would continue collecting commissions and handling excess funds according to his interpretation of state law until it received “a formal agreement and clear direction from both parties.”
Shortly afterward, Deputy Tax Collector Bradley Ellis, who is also the office’s general counsel, sent an email to county attorneys asking that they respond to the school district’s demand to immediately release the withheld funds.
In the same email, Ellis asked county officials to clarify whether Tuesday’s commission vote gave them the authority to act and, if not, when commissioners would need to take additional formal action.
In response, Daniel DeLeo, an attorney who represents the school district, fired off an email to Ellis insisting that the commission’s decision was “very clear.”
“You and I both know that they rescinded the August vote that declared they would not pay the commission. You are playing games and you are better than this,” DeLeo wrote, before adding, “Moran is gaslighting the taxpayers and voters of Sarasota County.”
On Thursday, County Administrator Jonathan Lewis emailed Connor, saying that the commissioner’s vote on the issue had not been anticipated and had not been on the agenda.
Sarasota County Commissioner Tom Knight framed last year’s vote as a mistake that needed correcting. Photo by Derek Gilliam via Suncoast Searchlight
Commissioner Tom Knight, who made the motion to cover the tax collector’s school tax commission on Tuesday, questions how this decision was any different from the August vote to stop paying the fees.
That decision was not on the agenda.
Commissioner Teresa Mast had spearheaded last year’s efforts to stop the county from covering the fee during an August budget workshop, arguing the school district, and not the county, should bear the cost. Photo by Derek Gilliam via Suncoast Searchlight
During the August budget workshop, County Commissioner Teresa Mast brought up a July 28 letter from Moran where he questioned the more than two-decade arrangement that had the county picking up the cost to collect the tax.
Moran’s letter was not in the publicly available backup materials for the meeting and was not an item on the agenda for public comment and review.
County spokesperson Josh Taylor said the reason county commissioners may need to vote again was that the decision could impact the budget.
DeLeo told Suncoast Searchlight on Thursday that the tax collector’s stance aggravated him and that he had responded in anger, noting his decades of work advocating for the referendum and his own personal history where many of his family members have served as educators.
He said that, since that email, there’s been more discussions after prominent local attorney Morgan Bentley filed legal notice to represent the tax collector as outside legal counsel in the lawsuit with the school district.
A meeting has been tentatively set for sometime next week, DeLeo said.
“We’re happy to talk. It’s always better to settle a dispute without litigation.…But sometimes people have to be dragged kicking and screaming.”
Still, what the county commission will have to do to formalize their Tuesday vote remains unclear.
Meanwhile, the lawsuit filed in April is ongoing.
This has been Derek Gilliam with Suncoast Searchlight. To read the full story, visit suncoastsearchlight.org/sarasota-county-reverse-tax-collector-moran-schools.
WSLR News aims to keep the local community informed with our 1/2 hour local news show, quarterly newspaper and social media feeds. The local news broadcast airs on Wednesdays and Fridays at 6pm.