The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1942-12-11
COMPTROLLER Lee.
TELLS OF SALE OF.
TAX CERTIFICATES.
STATE OFFICIALS ATTENDED
MEETING OF FLORIDA TAX
ASSESSORS AND REPORT
ERS AT LAKELAND

Modern, streamiinec advertiS-
ing and merchandising methods
are collecting delinquent taxes
and doing the job at a remark
ably low cost, Comptroller ]. M.
Lee told Florida's county tax as
SCISSORS and reporters at Lakeland
on Thursday. Newspaper adj
vertising of certificates under
the Highlands county plan of
undermining the style of the ads
is really selling the tax certific-
ates wherever it is being tried"
Comptroller Lee said.
Citing concrete examples from
several counties which have re-
ported to him on the success of
their canpaigns, Comptroller Lee
said the low cost of collections
was notwithstanding from 2 to
5rer cent for collecting what must
be classed as bad accounts"
For instance Hillsborough Co.
received $12,275 from delinquen-
cies in August with attorneys
pressing every claim and suing
hundreds. September was run
ming about the same rate when
the first bargain sale" advertise
ment was run September 26. Col
lections had jumped to $18,345
before the first; October procluc-
ed $4,000 as more advertisements
exploited the desirability of tax
certificate investments and in
November the total ran S30,305.
Turning to one of the smallest
counties. Comptroller Lee point
ed to Charlotte where collections
totaled $2,858 for the eleven days
after the first advertisement ap-
peared as against $406 for the
first 10 days of November and
$432 for November 1941. The
seyen-fold jump cost about l IL
per cent.
Martin county in just a week
collected $2,l75 from items adj
vertised the last week of the
month not to mention accelerated
receipts from unadvertised items
at cast of well under 2 per cent.
In Osceola county receipts from.
delinquencies jumped from 1894
in Novemebr 1871 to 1896 this
Now mber-of which $500 came,
from advertised items. The ads
cost less than 2iper cent. sr{e ~
The remarkable thing about
this county's return, Comrholler
Lee said, is that Officials dish
think they had anything but Cats
and dogs to advertise and debat+I
ed for a couple of months before
deciding to give the program,
which has been generally urged
and prompted by the st. Cloud
Tribune, a trial.
Putnam county cashed in heav-
lily through a nIonth-long cam
paign of half-page advertise
ments. collecting $3,711-or way
over three times the average de-
linouent collections. The last
week in October, for instance,
produced 5000 after the first adj
was run, as against 1888 for the
first % days of the month. The
cost here was reported at approx
imately per cent
Meanwhile, down in Highlands
county where a group of newspa-
per men, business men and Off
Gals originated the program last
June-ar proXimately half of the
total delinquencies accommodating
ovSr the five years since the Muir
rh" act, have been paid The TO-
tai collected was $25, 74-running
frcr~ S2,302 in June Gas cor>na~ed
with SAT- for May up to $7,739 for
the biz month of the half year. 7
One amazing sidelight comes
from Orange where commission
crs have only recently announced
they plan to start the program
next month. One official notice
of the contemplated plan and sew
eral rews stories in the papers
brought $2,697 receipts in Novem-
bs-5) per cent more than Octo-
her produced while the first two
days of December, according to
Clerk Clarence Gay, saw S2,003
in collections and more than $10,-
900 worth of applications filed.