Hillsborough Tax Collector tired of unfunded mandates

TAMPA (FOX 13) - Hillsborough County Tax Collector Doug Belden says in 2010 the state of Florida mandated the closing of DMV offices, transferring the role of licensing services to the Tax collector. 

He says that is costing the county a pretty penny because of an imbalance of things like costs and labor fees.

“I am losing Hillsborough County about 15 million dollars a year,” he said. 

Belden says for example, the average cost of a license transaction is about $18.63 cents but the tax collector only keeps about $6.25 of that, meaning they're losing $12 every time. 

“I would bet to say 90 percent of my constituency in Hillsborough County has no idea they're subsidizing a state unfunded mandatory,” Belden said. 

Belden says exploring legal action against the state. 

“I’m trying to prevent a lawsuit but I’m not scared to do whatever’s necessary something needs to be done you cant continue lose $12-15 million and its increasing every year,” he said.  “We're not interested in making a profit I’m interested in breaking I will not ask the constituents for a single
dime for more,” he said.