by Miranda G. McLeod
Staff Writer
Mike Hogan has been a staple in the Jacksonville political scene since the early 1990s. He was a state representative for Dist. 13 from 2000-03 (he resigned to run for Tax Collector) and a City Council member from 1991-99. Currently, he is the Duval County Tax Collector and oversees the operations of the main office in the Yates building and nine branch offices.
His typical day starts with an unannounced visit to the branches, checking on customer service and overall quality control.
Walking through the downtown branch where his office is housed, Hogan greets nearly every employee with a smile and a wave, asks about their weekend and proceeds with his day.
The Yates Building branch employs more than 230 people who processed over 400,000 payments during November and December last year, a time when citizens could save four and three percent on their property taxes, respectively.
“We receive 90 percent of our payments in those two months,” said Hogan.
As a result of consolidation in 1968, the office receives high volumes of fines and payments for the City. Hogan says his offices strive for quality.
“Our objective is to get citizens in and out as quickly as we possibly can. We want accurate information no matter which branch they visit,” he said.
Beyond various license payments, tag renewals and parking tickets, Hogan collects far more than just taxpayer dollars. He is an avid collector of coffee mugs, Coca-Cola memorabilia, elephants and historical Jacksonville artifacts.
He has a plethora of Coca-Cola items, many of which are stored at his house. He says his wife isn’t the biggest fan of the collection and delegated it to the bonus room of their home in the Ortega Farms area.
Hogan’s prior hobbies include sports. He’s a University of Florida fan and enjoys baseball. He was a walk-on at the University of South Florida where he received his bachelors degree in zoology.
“If I didn’t have a real heartfelt desire to serve the public, I would be a baseball coach or a grocery clerk,” said Hogan, who worked at an A&P grocery store for seven years when he was younger.