Administration

Do you have a question? To contact us by telephone: Dial 863-534-4700; For all general contact methods, click here!

Tax Collector

Joe G. Tedder
Tax Collector

Joe G. Tedder was first elected to the position of Tax Collector in 1996 and was subsequently re-elected  in 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020. Joe’s past public service includes serving as a Member in the Florida House of Representatives from 1992 through 1996. He is the past President of the Florida Tax Collectors Association and past Chair of the United Way of Central Florida Board of Directors. He is a graduate of Leadership Lakeland Class XIII and Leadership Polk Class I. For more about Joe, click here. For information on how to contact Joe directly, click here.

Executive Leaders

Christopher C. Rudolph, Jr.
Chief Deputy Tax Collector/Chief Administrative Officer

Christopher currently directs leadership in the areas of Administration, Business Process Analysis, Safety & Security, and Public Communications. For telephone directory information, click here.

Tim Murphy
Chief Information Officer

Tim provides leadership in the Information Technologies Application Development Department and directs leadership in the areas of Information Technologies Support Services, Application Development, and Project Management. For telephone directory information, click here.

Chris Jaramillo
Chief Operations Officer

Chris provides leadership in the areas of Service Center and Call Center Operations, as well as coordinating with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and approved private tag agencies operating in Polk County. For telephone directory information, click here.

Lisa Harder
Chief Human Resource Officer

Lisa provides leadership in the Human Resource and Training Departments and is responsible for developing policy as well as directing and coordinating human resource activities such as employment, compensation, labor relations, benefits, and employee services. Lisa also oversees the administration and development of office knowledge, including the instruction of educational and training programs for staff. For telephone directory information, click here.

Tineshia Morris
Chief Tax Officer/General Counsel

Tineshia directs leadership in Legal Affairs, Tax Programs, and Technical Processing. Tineshia handles all legal and litigation matters including public records requests, contracts, general civil cases, eminent domain, and foreclosure. For telephone directory information, click here.

Steve Zarycki
Chief Financial Officer

Steve directs leadership in the area of Finance & Accounting, which processes records and distributes revenue collected on behalf of other entities to appropriate taxing authorities. For telephone directory information, click here.

Leaders

Julie Simon
Call Center Manager

Julie currently serves as the Call Center Manager where she provides leadership in the processing and collection of funds for motor vehicle title and registration transactions, property taxes, county local business taxes, driver licensing, and hunting and fishing licensing. For telephone directory information, click here.

Dianna Terry
Bartow Service Center Manager

Dianna currently serves as the Bartow Service Center Manager where she provides leadership in the processing and collection of funds for motor vehicle title and registration transactions, property taxes, county local business taxes, driver licensing, and hunting and fishing licensing. For telephone directory information, click here.

Tracy Davis
Lakeland Service Center Manager

Tracy currently serves as the Lakeland Service Center Manager where she provides leadership in the processing and collection of funds for motor vehicle title and registration transactions, property taxes, county local business taxes, driver licensing, hunting and fishing licensing, and concealed weapon licensing. For telephone directory information, click here.

Gail Stace
Davenport Service Center Manager

Gail currently serves as the Davenport Service Center Manager where she provides leadership in the processing and collection of funds for motor vehicle title and registration transactions, property taxes, county local business taxes, driver licensing, and hunting and fishing licensing. For telephone directory information, click here.

Tari Shannon
Lake Alfred Service Center Manager

Tari currently serves as the Lake Alfred Service Center Manager where she provides leadership in the processing and collection of funds for motor vehicle title and registration transactions, property taxes, county local business taxes, driver licensing, and hunting and fishing licensing. For telephone directory information, click here.

Elizabeth Santos
Lake Wales Service Center Manager

Elizabeth currently serves as the Lake Wales Service Center Manager where she provides leadership in the processing and collection of funds for motor vehicle title and registration transactions, property taxes, county local business taxes, driver licensing, hunting and fishing licensing, and concealed weapon licensing. For telephone directory information, click here.

Hilary Stubock
Tax Manager

Hilary provides leadership for the Tax Programs Department, which includes the administration and collection of current and delinquent ad valorem real estate property taxes and non-ad valorem assessments as well as installments, partial payments, deferrals, tax certificates, and tax deed applications. Hilary provides additional oversight in administration and collection of current and delinquent tangible personal property taxes, county local business taxes, and tourist development taxes. For telephone directory information, click here.

Clifton J. Garcia
HR/Employee Relations Manager

Clifton provides leadership in the Human Resource Department where he is responsible for developing and executing human resource strategies in support of the overall business plan, specifically in the area of employee relations which includes progressive discipline, coaching/counseling, conflict resolution, and policy administration. For telephone directory information, click here.

Chris Rose
Information Technologies Support Services Manager

Chris provides leadership in the Information Technologies Support Services Department for local and wide-area networks, communication systems, and system security and recovery. Chris also oversees network administration and desktop support staff, as well as all networking and hardware projects, and is involved in the development of Department budgeting. For telephone directory information, click here.

Sean Krause
IT Application Development Manager

Sean provides leadership in the Information Technologies Application Development Department and oversees application development and the support staff responsible for analysis, design, development, and database administration. Sean also leads testing and implementation of business applications software, both in-house developed and vendor supported. For telephone directory information, click here.

Brandi Haney
Project Manager

Brandi provides leadership in Project Management which includes portfolio management, budget management, resource management and coordination, vendor management, and process improvement for the organization’s IT and operational and strategic projects. For telephone directory information, click here.

Amber Davis
Service Center Operations Manager

Amber currently serves as the Service Center Operations Manager where she provides leadership in the areas of service center business day-to-day readiness and change management initiatives (development and implementation). For telephone directory information, click here.

Katelyn Zelinko
Accounting Manager – Operations

Katelyn provides leadership in the Finance Department’s Operations Area of Accounting, which processes records and distributes revenue collected on behalf of other entities to appropriate taxing authorities. She prepares and files annual financial reports, monitors funds received to ensure that they are collected in accordance with Florida Statutes and applicable state departmental regulations, policies and procedures as well as county ordinances, and coordinates banking activities, including the electronic transfer of funds and the investment of surplus funds. For telephone directory information, click here.

Chelsea Allen
Technical Processing Manager

Chelsea provides leadership in the Technical Processing Department which includes the processing of customer payments received by the Tax Collector’s Office via mail and online services. Chelsea also oversees customer mail operations, email service operations, utility payments processing, office supply inventories, as well as the transport of items between offices. For telephone directory information, click here.

Ashleigh Mills
Public Engagement Specialist

Ashleigh provides leadership in Public Communications, which includes reaching people the Tax Collector’s Office serves with important information online at www.polktaxes.com, by mail, through social media, and other communication channels. Ashleigh receives and coordinates responses to all media requests. She also heads the Tax Collector’s Kids Tag Art (KTA) program, which inspires fifth grade elementary art students to design specialty tag license plates as a fundraiser for school classroom art programs. For telephone directory information, click here.

Rhett Suarez
Accounting Manager

Rhett provides leadership in the Finance Department, which processes records and distributes revenue collected on behalf of other entities to appropriate taxing authorities. He prepares and files annual financial reports, monitors funds received to ensure they are collected in accordance with Florida Statutes and applicable state departmental regulations, policies, and procedures, as well as county ordinances, and coordinates banking activities, including the electronic transfer of funds and the investment of surplus funds. For telephone directory information, click here.