by Richard Prior
Staff Writer
by Richard Prior
Staff Writer
Mike Hogan is The Collector.
Elephant statues and paintings, thousands of lapel pins, all manner of Coca-Cola memorabilia, old cameras and telephones, golf balls, mugs, newspaper clippings . . . and taxes.
“My family makes fun of me” for the extensive collections, “but they do buy them for me,” said Hogan, who was elected Duval County tax collector in April.
Hogan, who served on City Council from 1991-99, began thinking about being tax collector not long after he started his first term.
He was in the first crop of officials who had term limits placed on them and was asked early on what he intended to do when he hit his limit. Becoming tax collector was the immediate answer, but challenging the incumbent, Lynwood Roberts, never entered his mind.
“I would never run against him, for a variety of reasons,” said Hogan. “First and foremost, I don’t think he could have been whupped. And, number two, he is a personal friend.
“Lynwood was one of the guys in government I always wanted to emulate. He was steady. He ran a good shop. He is one of those icons.”
When Roberts decided in January to retire, Hogan was in Tallahassee, where he had won a seat to the State Legislature in 2000. The timing created its own special problems.
“I’ve been told by other tax collectors that this is the only city/county in the state that holds elections at different times than everyone else,” said Hogan. “The fact that we have elections in odd years, and the state elections are in even years, it creates a situation where, if someone is an elected official, he has to resign to run for the seat he is interested in.”
Hogan was elected to the office he had eyed for 11 years, even though he spent most of his time in Tallahassee.
“I was home only on the weekends,” he said. “It was a very unusual campaign.”
Hogan said there is some “misunderstanding” about the role of The Taxman, portrayed in legend as the villain society loves to hate.
“I’m not the property appraiser; I don’t have anything to do with the tax rate,” he said. “We collect the tax — ad valorem, fees and fines — for Duval County. And we’re responsible for distributing it to the right organizations.”
After so many years in government, Hogan may have expected to find few surprises in his new job. But the transition hasn’t been entirely seamless.
“The budget process is a little bit surprising to me from the standpoint that it appears the constitutional officers are being treated much like department heads in the City,” he said.
His primary objection is to the “lapse” which has to be built into the budget that each department submits.
An example of a “true lapse” — as it’s understood in the business world — is when a department budgets for a position that won’t be filled until later in the fiscal year, he explained. The money will be there when the position is filled.
The problem with the City’s version, Hogan said, is that some extra expenses, the “lapse,” are built into the budget with the knowledge they won’t be covered.
“In business,” he said, “you budget for what your needs are. I don’t budget for what I don’t need. If I ask for 19 [employees], I need 19.
“But we’re required to build a lapse into our budget, which is really a false budget.”
Hogan may not succeed in adjusting how budgets are prepared, but he’s determined to try. He said other constitutional officers have problems with the lapse, and he has already discussed it with Mayor John Peyton.
“Changing tradition is sometimes difficult,” Hogan conceded.
He has had several pleasant surprises in his new job. He is responsible for 203 employees and already has “tremendous respect” for them.
“They are very competent,” he added. “I wouldn’t say that’s as much a surprise as a pleasant surprise.”
His focus, Hogan said, will be on customer service.
“Right now, I’m spending a lot of time getting to know the branch operations,” he said. “To the average citizen, the tax collector is not Mike Hogan. It’s that person they encounter, that teller position when they go to one of our branches.”
To enhance customer service, Hogan is starting a recognition program for exceptional service.
“I’m really pleased because I’ve already received four or five letters from citizens, praising the work of our employees,” he said. “I followed that up with a letter to them and a personal visit.”
One of his bigger disappointments has been the lack of “structured training” in the department.
“There are a lot of courses that are available, certification through the state, and we’re way, way behind in that area,” said Hogan.
The problem has been the lack of money to pay for those courses, he said. Hogan intends to ask City Council for permission to keep some of the taxes the office collects to pay for needed training.
Other counties — Hillsborough, for example — charge fees for their collections and use that money to update their systems, outfit employees with uniforms and provide training.
“Hillsborough last year collected $1.2 billion with 297 employees,” he said. “We collected $1.6 billion with 203.
“Their fee income last year was $23 million. Mine was $9 million.”
Getting to keep more money would take a charter change, he said, “and I’m not suggesting we charge the City and the School Board a fee” for collecting their money. “But, obviously, there’s a lot of money that’s made by the other tax collectors.”
After examining the system from the administrative and the policy sides, Hogan said, “ I would say, yes, we’re fairly taxed. I think there’s very little fat in the budget.
“I think there are a few things we could do without. I hope we’re through purchasing land. Every time we buy another 10 acres, we take that property off the tax rolls, so it’s really a double hit to the taxpayers. They bought the land, and they lost the income on it.
“We’re the number one city in the nation in land for parks. Let’s stop.”
At the most basic level, Hogan was pleased to discover he won’t have business and fax lines installed in his home.
“That was wonderful,” he said. “Both the legislative job and the Council job were really 24-7. You were always on call. I’ve had them call me at 11:30 at night and tell me the lights were on in the park.
“I don’t have that now.”
Elephant statues and paintings, thousands of lapel pins, all manner of Coca-Cola memorabilia, old cameras and telephones, golf balls, mugs, newspaper clippings . . . and taxes.
“My family makes fun of me” for the extensive collections, “but they do buy them for me,” said Hogan, who was elected Duval County tax collector in April.
Hogan, who served on City Council from 1991-99, began thinking about being tax collector not long after he started his first term.
He was in the first crop of officials who had term limits placed on them and was asked early on what he intended to do when he hit his limit. Becoming tax collector was the immediate answer, but challenging the incumbent, Lynwood Roberts, never entered his mind.
“I would never run against him, for a variety of reasons,” said Hogan. “First and foremost, I don’t think he could have been whupped. And, number two, he is a personal friend.
“Lynwood was one of the guys in government I always wanted to emulate. He was steady. He ran a good shop. He is one of those icons.”
When Roberts decided in January to retire, Hogan was in Tallahassee, where he had won a seat to the State Legislature in 2000. The timing created its own special problems.
“I’ve been told by other tax collectors that this is the only city/county in the state that holds elections at different times than everyone else,” said Hogan. “The fact that we have elections in odd years, and the state elections are in even years, it creates a situation where, if someone is an elected official, he has to resign to run for the seat he is interested in.”
Hogan was elected to the office he had eyed for 11 years, even though he spent most of his time in Tallahassee.
“I was home only on the weekends,” he said. “It was a very unusual campaign.”
Hogan said there is some “misunderstanding” about the role of The Taxman, portrayed in legend as the villain society loves to hate.
“I’m not the property appraiser; I don’t have anything to do with the tax rate,” he said. “We collect the tax — ad valorem, fees and fines — for Duval County. And we’re responsible for distributing it to the right organizations.”
After so many years in government, Hogan may have expected to find few surprises in his new job. But the transition hasn’t been entirely seamless.
“The budget process is a little bit surprising to me from the standpoint that it appears the constitutional officers are being treated much like department heads in the City,” he said.
His primary objection is to the “lapse” which has to be built into the budget that each department submits.
An example of a “true lapse” — as it’s understood in the business world — is when a department budgets for a position that won’t be filled until later in the fiscal year, he explained. The money will be there when the position is filled.
The problem with the City’s version, Hogan said, is that some extra expenses, the “lapse,” are built into the budget with the knowledge they won’t be covered.
“In business,” he said, “you budget for what your needs are. I don’t budget for what I don’t need. If I ask for 19 [employees], I need 19.
“But we’re required to build a lapse into our budget, which is really a false budget.”
Hogan may not succeed in adjusting how budgets are prepared, but he’s determined to try. He said other constitutional officers have problems with the lapse, and he has already discussed it with Mayor John Peyton.
“Changing tradition is sometimes difficult,” Hogan conceded.
He has had several pleasant surprises in his new job. He is responsible for 203 employees and already has “tremendous respect” for them.
“They are very competent,” he added. “I wouldn’t say that’s as much a surprise as a pleasant surprise.”
His focus, Hogan said, will be on customer service.
“Right now, I’m spending a lot of time getting to know the branch operations,” he said. “To the average citizen, the tax collector is not Mike Hogan. It’s that person they encounter, that teller position when they go to one of our branches.”
To enhance customer service, Hogan is starting a recognition program for exceptional service.
“I’m really pleased because I’ve already received four or five letters from citizens, praising the work of our employees,” he said. “I followed that up with a letter to them and a personal visit.”
One of his bigger disappointments has been the lack of “structured training” in the department.
“There are a lot of courses that are available, certification through the state, and we’re way, way behind in that area,” said Hogan.
The problem has been the lack of money to pay for those courses, he said. Hogan intends to ask City Council for permission to keep some of the taxes the office collects to pay for needed training.
Other counties — Hillsborough, for example — charge fees for their collections and use that money to update their systems, outfit employees with uniforms and provide training.
“Hillsborough last year collected $1.2 billion with 297 employees,” he said. “We collected $1.6 billion with 203.
“Their fee income last year was $23 million. Mine was $9 million.”
Getting to keep more money would take a charter change, he said, “and I’m not suggesting we charge the City and the School Board a fee” for collecting their money. “But, obviously, there’s a lot of money that’s made by the other tax collectors.”
After examining the system from the administrative and the policy sides, Hogan said, “ I would say, yes, we’re fairly taxed. I think there’s very little fat in the budget.
“I think there are a few things we could do without. I hope we’re through purchasing land. Every time we buy another 10 acres, we take that property off the tax rolls, so it’s really a double hit to the taxpayers. They bought the land, and they lost the income on it.
“We’re the number one city in the nation in land for parks. Let’s stop.”
At the most basic level, Hogan was pleased to discover he won’t have business and fax lines installed in his home.
“That was wonderful,” he said. “Both the legislative job and the Council job were really 24-7. You were always on call. I’ve had them call me at 11:30 at night and tell me the lights were on in the park.
“I don’t have that now.”