Every year, by October 31st, Sarasota County Tax Collector Barbara Ford-Coates must complete an annual financial report and return excess fees to all taxing districts and the Sarasota County Board of County Commissioners. This year, Mrs. Ford-Coates is pleased to share that her office has returned a record $17.8 million in excess fees to the taxing districts, including $16.3 million to the Board of County Commissioners. In her message to the Commissioners sharing this good news, Mrs. Ford-Coates explained that these excess fees represent “what the private sector would call ‘profit’,” and added that “this is the highest percentage returned of all Florida Tax Collectors.” Mrs. Ford-Coates added that over the last 10 years, her office has returned nearly $114 million of “profits” to the Board to fund County expenses. In acknowledgement of the efficiency and creativity of her staff, Mrs. Ford-Coates added, “I am pleased to report that my office cost per capita remains the lowest of all Florida Tax Collectors. One reason for our cost effectiveness stems from my office’s extensive use of technology, including the use of electronic payment methods.” In the last 10 years, over 2 million transactions have been paid at www.SarasotaTaxCollector.com totaling approximately $2.5 billion.