Stan Nichols
Most people associate the Tax Collector’s Office/Department of Motor Vehicles as being an intimidating place.
But Santa Rosa County Tax Collector Stan Nichols’ staff proved, once again, that that’s clearly not the case.
Last week, Nichols’ staff reached into their own pockets to help victims of the recent tornado that brushed across Pensacola. The tornado displaced dozens of people who lived on the East side of Pensacola.
Nichols posted the story to his Facebook page last Thursday.
“(Thursday) we had a young couple come to our office. They were victims of the recent tornado in Pensacola…they had lost everything, including her driver license. When they called the Escambia County Tax Collector Office, they were told that no appointments would be available for several weeks,” Nichols said in the post.
The SRC Tax Collector told South Santa Rosa News that the Escambia County Tax Collector’s Office told the couple it would be nearly a month before they could get an appointment at the office. But at Nichols’ office in Milton, it was immediate.
His office took care of the couple without any hesitation, ensuring the visitors received the proper documents.
But it didn’t stop there.
“(My office) took it a step further and took up a donation for this family,” Nichols said. “It was a young man and a young woman. The female didn’t even have shoes, she had to borrow a pair of house slippers.”
Nichols was not in the office at the time, but arrived a short time later and learned of the gratuity from his employees.
“My staff reached into their own pockets and gave them a handful of cash and gift cards that totaled about $200,” Nichols said.
Nichols said the customers kept stating, “You know, we are from Escambia County?”
But Nichols said that didn’t matter to his employees.
“Our employees told the couple that where they were from didn’t matter. They just wanted to love on them,” Nichols said. “That’s the type of people we have working at the tax collector’s office.”
The tax collector’s office merged with the Department of Motor Vehicles back in 2011. So Nichols’ office handles both aspects in Milton and in Midway.
“My staff not only made sure they got the needed documents, but they went a step further and took up a collection for this family,” Nichols said.
Touched by the act, his office is keeping the momentum going and are continuing to pool money together to donate to victims of the tornado that hit Pensacola.
“I am always proud to serve at Santa Rosa’s Tax Collector, but never more than today,” Nichols said.
