Brenda Bridges – Putnam County Tax Collector
About the job of Tax Collector
The elected office of Tax Collector was established in the 1885 Florida Constitution based on the idea that local taxes could best be collected at the local level. Constitutuionally elected tax collectors are State Officers elected to serve in each County; this results in the tax collector being more responsive to the needs of the community in which he or she is elected. This independence, coupled with a wide variety of duties and responsibilities, allows Tax Collectors to exercise valuable leadership roles in Florida’s government and to carrry out specific delineated statutory and regulatory laws enacted by the Florida legislature. In most counties, the Tax Collector is responsible for not only the collection of ad valorem taxes, which is the single largest tax collected in Florida, but also collection of other taxes at the local level and on behalf of state agencies such as the Department of Revenue, Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles, and the Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.
About Brenda Bridges
Brenda Bridges has been a resident of Putnam County since 1988, moving here with her late husband Terry Bridges from Jekyll Island, Georgia. Brenda and Terry owned and operated Half Shell Resort Inc., (Restaurant/RV Park/Marina) in San Mateo from 1988-2003 and Bridges Supply Inc., (Paper & Janitorial Supplies) in San Mateo from 1990-2002.
Brenda began her career with Putnam County in 2001 and served as the Office Administrator and Zoning Administrator for Planning & Development Services under the Putnam County Board of County Commissioners. Brenda was hired by the Honorable Ken Mahaffey, in 2012 serving as Operations Director with the Putnam County Tax Collector Office and continued in that role until appointed as Deputy Tax Collector by the Honorable Linda Myers (serving from 2013 – January 6, 2025); Brenda was elected and sworn in as the Putnam County Tax Collector on January 7, 2025.
Brenda graduated from Flagler College with a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration and is a Florida Department of Revenue, Certified Florida Collector Assistant and on February 1, 2025 will be recognized as a Florida Department of Revenue, Certified Florida Collector and is also a Certified Executive Leader via Valencia College & Florida Tax Collector’s Association.
Brenda is proud to call Putnam County home and feels fortunate that she is surrounded by her family residing here as well which now includes four generations.
