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Stability vs. modernization
By JOY DAVIS-PLATT © St. Petersburg Times, published October 23, 2000 The race for Hernando County tax collector has come down to this: a longtime employee in the office who is the sister of the retiring tax collector and a former department employee who thinks he can do a better job. Juanita Sikes serves as director of tax and operations services for the Hernando County Tax Collector's Office. She has worked there for 27 years. Like her sister, retiring Tax Collector Leona Bechtelheimer, Sikes is a lifelong Brooksville resident and a Democrat. Republican Garry Allen has been Hernando County's technology services director since 1989. Before that, Allen helped modernize the tax collector's office, even writing the earliest program to computerize county tax rolls. Allen says he would update the technological capabilities of the tax collector's office. Expected population growth with the opening next year of the Suncoast Parkway will necessitate means of helping customers other than the front desk, Allen said. The Internet, he says, is the latest technical tool for doing business. Hernando County taxpayers, who can already get fishing and boating licenses online, he said, should be able to renew vehicle tags that way as well. The technology exists to renew automobile registrations online, Allen said, but requires the taxpayer to pay a convenience fee to an outside company that provides the service. The service itself is free for the government. "Technology and innovation are tools that give us new ways to solve problems," Allen said. "You always have to be looking for a better way of doing things." Just because a system has worked for 20 years, he said, doesn't mean it is the most efficient way. In her nearly three decades in the tax collector's office, Sikes said, she has seen a lot of changes. She saw a time when tax bills were typed and validated by hand. For that reason, impending growth in Hernando County doesn't scare her, she said. "We have a very well-run office," said Sikes. "I feel like we have moved in the right direction to deal with what is coming in the future. This is not the first time we've faced rapid growth." Sikes said Florida is set to have automobile registrations available online by the middle of next year, and she sees no reason for the tax collector's office to pay for the setup of an online system. She also cautions that the office should not allow technology to replace the "personal touch." "No matter how many services we provide on the Internet, there are still going to be people who are uncomfortable with it," she said. "People need to know they can come in and talk to a real person." Despite Allen's technological expertise, Sikes said, he is not familiar with the intricate workings of the tax collector's office and would have to rely on the staff to bring him up to speed. Because she started "at the bottom," Sikes said, she is the most well-rounded and informed candidate. "I've built a lot of connections in my years in this office," said Sikes. "I know the staff at these different agencies (with which the tax office does business), and they know me. That counts for a lot." Another key issue, according to Allen, is that both the Spring Hill and Brooksville tax collector's offices suffer from limited space and parking. By increasing the hours of operation, the county can delay the addition of more staff, space and overhead and at the same time make it more convenient for the public to do business with the office. "People try to do business with us, and we make it inconvenient," Allen said. "Anyone who works during normal business hours has to make special arrangements to visit the tax collector's office." The hours of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Spring Hill office are especially inconvenient, he said. Allen proposes extended hours during the week, spreading the customer load over a longer period of time. As the population grows, he said, the offices can serve more people with the same parking, staff and building space. Sikes said the office hours in Spring Hill coincide with those of the sheriff's substation next door. Keeping the office open without adequate security, she said, poses a serious risk. "We would have to hire security guards in order to change our hours on a daily basis," said Sikes. Further, Sikes said she does not think demand justifies late or weekend hours. "I would hate to see the office open with no customers. That would be a waste of tax money," she said. Allen said he thinks hiring a security officer for a few hours one or two evenings a week would be well worth the cost. "There are ways to find economical solutions to these problems, or you can just make excuses," he said. A related issue is the annual office budget surplus from which Allen suggests paying for additional security. Sikes said the surplus shows the fiscal responsibility shown by Bechtelheimer in the past -- a pattern she intends to follow. This year, the tax collector's office will turn in to county government a surplus of $1.5-million, Sikes said. About 80 percent of that money comes from commissions on the collection of property taxes -- an amount mandated by the Florida Legislature. All of the fees and taxes collected could be used in the tax collector's office. But because Bechtelheimer runs such a tight ship, Sikes said, most of the money is turned over to the county, which means the county doesn't have to generate the revenue from some other source. Allen has said that having a year-end surplus in the budget means the office is overcharging taxpayers. Specifically, he sites the 50-cent branch fee charged on all tag and title transactions. "If we are turning in money at the end of the year, I really don't think we need to be charging everybody that 50 cents extra," he said. But Sikes said the measure ensures that even those who do not pay Hernando County property taxes help foot the bill for running the tax collector's office. Those who come from outside the county to register vehicles or who rent rather than owning Hernando County property, she said, would otherwise not pay anything toward the office operations. "This way everyone pays a little bit to help run our office," she said. After knowing and working with one another for two decades, the candidates admit there are personal feelings involved in this election. Allen says he feels as if Sikes got the endorsement of her sister because of familial ties. Sikes said she has earned the backing and is disappointed in Allen for suggesting otherwise. When Bechtelheimer announced her retirement earlier this year, Allen said he was surprised that she did not let him know ahead of time since -- more than a year ago -- he told his former employer of his intention to run for the office. On his return from a ski vacation, Allen said, he learned not only of Bechtelheimer's retirement, but also of her endorsement of Sikes. "It was all too coincidental," Allen said. "I don't feel like I'm running against Juanita now. I feel like I'm running against Leona." "I can't change the fact that we are sisters," said Sikes, who had been working in the department for four years when her sister was elected to office. "When I walk into the office, as far as Leona's concerned, I am an employee." Over the years, Sikes said, she has worked harder than was likely necessary to allay any concerns of nepotism. According to county and state attorneys, the sisters are not violating any nepotism laws because Sikes had been a department employee before her sister was elected to office, Sikes said. "I don't think we have been improper," said Sikes. "We both share the same bloodlines, yes, but we also both have a very strong work ethic." Though Bechtelheimer does not endorse Allen, letters from her praising his contributions to the tax collector's office have become a part of Allen's campaign pitch. In a 1986 memo, Bechtelheimer said Allen "is most brilliant in data processing matters as well as knowledgeable of collection functions." Allen said that in recent speeches, he has made it clear that he does not have Bechtelheimer's backing. The positive statements in the letter, however, reflect her feelings about him before politics was involved, he said. "Whether her sister is running doesn't make those statements true or untrue," he said. "If they were true when she wrote them, then they are true now." One letter, Sikes said, was written in response to a 1997 audit that was critical of the county's Technology Services Department. "(Bechtelheimer) felt that as his employer, she needed to defend him," said Sikes. By reading excerpts from the letter, Sikes said, Allen implies that he has Bechtelheimer's campaign support. For her last two terms, Bechtelheimer ran unopposed. But Allen said Bechtelheimer's seemingly unbeatable popularity was not the reason for the Democrats' monopoly on the office. "(The Republican Party) has never really had a qualified candidate to support before now," Allen said. "I try not to look at this as a party-line issue," said Sikes. "I do not feel politics has a part to play in the running of this office."
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