|
 |
|||||
|
|
*Credit cards are accepted online only |
Belden sworn in as president of statewide association
Belden was sworn in by Hillsborough Circuit Judge Ronald Ficarrotta during a special 10 a.m. ceremony at County Center in downtown Tampa.
As president, Belden will oversee the association representing Florida’s 67 tax collectors, which collect over $5 billion a year in licenses and property taxes. The association also works closely with the Florida Legislature to develop legislation concerning motor vehicles, property taxes and licensing.
Belden was elected Hillsborough County Tax Collector in 1998 and has been re-elected twice since without opposition. He was appointed to the association’s board in 2002 and has served as second and first vice president, respectively.
Fellow tax collectors around the state said they look forward to Belden’s presidency. “I’m personally excited to have Doug as president of the organization,” said Joe Tedder, the Polk County tax collector who serves with Belden on the association’s Legislative Committee. “His vision and energy will be an asset for the citizens of Florida as well as the Tax Collector.”
Belden said he plans to implement a three-year plan to develop legislative policies and customer service initiatives that will be a model for tax collectors in Florida.
“I look forward to working with the Legislature and state government to make all the tax collector offices the best they can possibly be,” Belden said.
The association also works with the state Department of Revenue, the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The association has helped pass legislation that automated the issuing of hunting and fishing licenses and is working to make driver license services more accessible to Floridians.
Chris Hughes, Okaloosa County Tax Collector and outgoing president, said Belden has made a big impact in a relatively short period of time.
“One thing about Doug is that he’s an innovator,” Hughes said. “His office is known around the state as being an innovator in technology and customer service.”
Belden has made a lot of changes in the Hillsborough County Tax Collector’s Office. He has remodeled and modernized all the agency’s offices and has relocated the largest branches to make them more accessible with more parking. He has just finished a multi-year campaign to rebid all of the agency’s major contacts, such as banking and insurance, and was one of the first government agencies in Hillsborough County to enable citizens to do business with government via the Internet.
When Belden took office in 1998, the average wait time for the offices’ estimated 1.2 million customers was around 45 minutes. Through efficiencies and modernization, that time has dropped to just under 8 minutes. Belden was also the first tax collector in Florida to use Q-Matic, a sophisticated and computerized line-queuing system that allows employees to process transactions more quickly.
-30- | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
