Moran spent more than $30k on restaurants, hotels while running Florida government agency

Sarasota County Commissioner Mike Moran has spent more than $30,000 at high-end restaurants and expensive hotels in Las Vegas, New York and California while leading a government agency created to help finance energy efficient home improvement projects for people with lower incomes, according to receipts first obtained by the Florida Trident.

The Herald-Tribune has independently confirmed these expenses after the Trident shared the receipts with the newspaper.

The largest single expense was for half of a $8,220 dinner for 30 people at the upscale New York steak house Smith & Wollensky on June 6, 2023.

As with the the other expenses, the bill was paid by Florida PACE Funding Agency , for which Moran serves as executive director. The other half of the bill was picked up by California-based DTA, a consulting partner of FPFA.

Moran defended the expenses, pointing to $869 million in private money the program has brought to Florida. He said the expensive dinners served the agency's public purpose as the government agency needed to attract private dollars from "highly sophisticated investment bankers in a specialized arena."

Attendees of the private party at Smith & Wollensky spent more than $2,200 on alcohol, including $1,620 on nine bottles of wine , shown on a receipt from the event in the records from the agency obtained by the Florida Trident.

Other FPFA expenses billed by Moran include expenses at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, a Gaylord Palms hotel and the Piccolo Hotel in Paso Robles, California. The FPFA spent at least $10,800 on hotels, $14,800 at restaurants and $5,700 on transportation over an 18-month period, according to the agency receipts.

The expenses raised questions from government watchdog Ben Wilcox, the research director at Integrity Florida , who reviewed some of the expenses and called the high-dollar expenses shocking.

"This is not how government typically operates," said Wilcox, whose agency's website says the nonpartisan research institute's mission is to promote integrity in government and expose public corruption. "You would expect people to have a little more responsibility and sensibility in the way they're using" money generated for a public purpose.

"I don't see the public purpose in those expenditures," he said. "To my mind, it's lavish spending on the public's dime."

The FPFA has also attracted controversy after it received a circuit court judgement in a bond validation that the agency says allowed it to operate in all 67 Florida counties, even if local governments did not want to participate in the PACE program. This has resulted in a Florida Supreme Court case that's currently pending as a majority of tax collectors and county governments challenged the FPFA's interpretation of the decision.

Florida PACE Funding Agency created as special district under state law

The Florida PACE Funding Agency was created in 2011 through an interlocal agreement with the city of Kissimmee and Flagler County.

It is one of four "special districts" created with an aim to help finance energy efficient home improvement projects.

While there are no income limits on the program, PACE funding was originally created to help people unable to obtain traditional credit an option to finance costly energy efficient home improvement projects.

The special district has the power to issue bonds with private companies providing financing directly to Florida homeowners.

However, unlike traditional financing options which result in a loan, Property Assessment Clean Energy (PACE) financing results in an assessment on a homeowner's tax bill.

That mechanism confers a benefit private lenders typically don't enjoy: a near guarantee the financing company will be paid back. If a homeowner doesn't pay their tax bill, local tax collectors will sell a tax certificate to obtain the funds.

The tax collector can auction the property to cover the tax debt in as little as two years if the homeowner can't catch up on their tax bill.

Moran is completing his eighth and final year as a Sarasota County Commissioner and is running against Charles A. Bear in the Republican primary for tax collector. The winner will take on nine-term incumbent Sarasota County Tax Collector Barbara Ford-Coates.

In recent months, Moran has also spearheaded the County Commission's decision to slash funds to various other nonprofit programs, including the 211 helpline and arts and culture funding .

Funding cuts: Sarasota County Commission slashes childcare help; Sheriff's eviction program at risk

Previous reporting: Sarasota foundations urge do-over after county commission changed nonprofit funding rules

Moran has said he will step down from his position at the FPFA if he wins the tax collector election.

Interest rates for FPFA financing are at 9%, with an additional 6.99% fee on the loan that funds operations. That 6.99% fee is paid up front, and can be added into the finance cost.

Florida PACE Funding Agency, and other PACE programs in Florida are funded exclusively through the fees they generate from financing home improvement projects.

Because of the way they're set up, they're considered a government agency, subject to public records laws.

Moran: Meals and other expenses boost business

Moran said before he joined the agency in 2020, the organization had "absolutely no new money" flowing into the public special district. He argued the expenses incurred were justified by the agency's performance.

"I will gladly take a group of investment bankers to a nice dinner and buy them a glass of wine to bring another billion dollars to Florida and continue carrying out this mission," Moran said in an email to the Herald-Tribune.

Moran initially was compensated by FPFA through a 0.2% cut of every assessment to a limited liability company controlled by Moran, in addition to a yearly salary.

However, in his latest contract with FPFA he became an employee of the district receiving a salary of $194,250. His salary at FPFA is in addition to his county commission salary of about $100,000.

FPFA has five employees, including Moran's daughter, who is the social media manager, for about $45,000.

While conferences in Las Vegas, New York and California accounted for the bulk of the travel, lodging and entertainment expenses billed to FPFA, Moran also paid for dinners with several local officials in the Sarasota area, with FPFA picking up the tab.

For example, in October 2022 the organization's check registry notes a $210 expense for a meeting with the executive director of the Manatee-Sarasota Building Industry Association at La Violetta, an Italian restaurant in Sarasota.

The Manatee-Sarasota Building Industry has since changed its name to the Suncoast Builder's Association and is led by Jon Mast, who joined the board of the FPFA in November 2023.

Moran later also picked up the tab for a dinner with Mast and his wife Teresa Mast, who is running to replace the term-limited Moran on the County Commission, at Pascone's in February 2024. The cost of that dinner was $301, according to the FPFA ledger.

Other meetings with local officials included Manatee County Commissioner Mike Rahn, State Senator Jim Boyd, former Sarasota County commissioner Al Maio, Sarasota County Administrator Jonathan Lewis and FPFA Board Member Jim Ley, who is also a former Sarasota County administrator.

The local meetings were typically at more modest locations with the bill often under $50. Some local restaurants frequented by Moran and his guests included First Watch, Season's 52, Miller's Ale House and Der Dutchman. A few of the receipts were about $30.

The purposes of the meetings, such as with Maio, a principal at the civil engineering firm Kimley-Horn, are not identified.

Moran and FPFA's lawyers dispute any description of the funds spent as being considered public, though they originate from a Florida special district created by local government.

Another large PACE program paid no expenses

In contrast with the spending by Moran's organization, a similar program called Green Corridor PACE spent zero dollars on the those types of expenses, according to a 2022 audit by the Florida Auditor General.

Moran said it was not a fair comparison since Green Corridor relies on just one financing company, with any entertainment expenses likely coming out of the budget from that private company.

Phillip Stoddard, a former mayor of South Miami and the chair of Green Corridor PACE District's board of directors, said his organization has financed more than $2 billion in projects since it was created by seven municipalities in South Florida about 10 years ago.

"We've never been able to go to fancy restaurants," he said.

He confirmed he would sometimes meet with private companies at a local sandwich shop where the total bill often is less than $35. However, spending thousands of dollars at fancy restaurants that include expenses for wine and alcohol would cross a line, he said.

He noted the agency's partner — a company called Ygrene — may spend money on those types of expenses, but added the partner is a private company and no expenses are charged or paid through the public entity.

"If they (FPFA) are spending on the public side of the line, then that needs to be shut down," he said.

The FPFA has also spent $900,000 on lobbying efforts to kill state legislation after FPFA became embroiled in lawsuits with multiple elected tax collectors that has now reached the Florida Supreme Court.

The effort to kill Senate Bill 770, which was one of the last bills signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis from the 2024 legislative session, was unsuccessful.

That bill put in place more consumer protections and required PACE programs to obtain local agreements before they could operate in a county.

During an interview about the expenses, Moran blamed Florida tax collectors for some of the private dollars drying up in recent months, pointing to the Florida Supreme Court case as a reason.

"The real issue: All roads lead back to the tax collectors not doing their jobs," he said. "They are not following the law."

The tax collectors see it differently.

Pasco County Tax Collector Mike Fasano has been a vocal critic of the Florida PACE Funding Agency. The former state senator, who reviewed some of the agency's receipts, said he felt the FPFA "forgot they are a governmental agency and they forgot they are accountable to the taxpayer."

He said the $900,000 lobbying expense was "absurd" while noting expenses like that highlight the need for oversight.

Fasano said he will bring the issue up to the Pasco County Commission, noting he may stop allowing FPFA to operate in Pasco County.

"These people were spending money like drunken sailors," Fasano said.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Moran spent more than $30k on restaurants, hotels while running Florida government agency