Candidate: Scott Lunsford

Scott Lunsford was elected Escambia County Tax Collector in November 2016 with the goal of running the tax collector’s office as efficiently as possible while incorporating new technology to minimize wait times and promote world-class customer service. Scott cares deeply about the citizens of Escambia County and their interaction with the office.

With an annual budget of $7 million, Scott operates four offices with a staff of 104 full-time employees.  In his first two years in office, he has given over $1,048,000 in unspent revenue to the Board of County Commissioners.

Since taking office in January 2017, Scott has brought many innovations to the office, including:

• Expanding concealed weapons services to an additional office
• Making Florida birth certificates available at all four offices
• Making vehicle and vessel registrations available for same-day pick up
• Offering more services online, such as property tax installment applications and business tax receipts
• Installing self-service kiosks at some locations for quicker on-site service
• Improving services by updating tax bills, re-organizing office structure and call center, and queuing system
• Working toward automating title and lienholder services to offer expedited and simplified processes to omit trips to the office
• Coordinating the State’s mobile licensing unit to visit the town of Century regularly to assist citizens in the northernmost part of Escambia County
• Updating servers and streamlining systems for agents

Along with the expansion of services, Scott has increased office participation in community events, including:

• Participating in naturalization ceremonies, offering services and guidance to our new citizens
• Educating the public through staffing a booth at the Pensacola Interstate Fair
• Participating in Driver License Clinics to assist citizens clear their licenses

Scott Lunsford is a native Floridian. He lives in Pensacola with his wife, Hope.

His public service career began in 1987, when he served the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) as a Duty Officer and later with the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV), where he served as a License and Registration Inspector, Compliance Examiner, and Regional Administrator for the 17 Florida panhandle counties.

Scott served 30 years as an Auxiliary State Trooper, retiring at the rank of Captain, where he worked closely with FHP investigators and received a Davis Productivity Award for his efforts investigating title and insurance fraud.

In 2001 he joined the Escambia County Tax Collector’s staff, serving as Deputy Tax Collector, Assistant Tax Manager, Senior Tax Manager, and Director of Driver License Services.

As tax collector, he is responsible for the collection and distribution of a variety of taxes and fees. A constitutional officer and a few officer with the office funded by the fees earned for services provided, the tax collector’s office has a cash flow of $600 million. The office collects taxes for the District School Board, Board of County Commissioners, City of Pensacola, Town of Century, Sheriff, Downtown Improvement Board, Northwest Florida Water Management District, Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, Department of Revenue, Department of Health, and Department of Agriculture.

The tax collector’s office issues driver licenses and identification cards, registrations and titles for vehicles and vessels, sells hunting and fishing licenses and business tax receipts, collects real estate and tangible personal property taxes, and issues Going Out of Business Permits. All four offices issue Florida birth certificates, and the Warrington and Molino offices accept concealed weapons license applications and processes renewal licenses.