That was the legacy left by T. Keith Hall, Lake County tax collector for 25 years and a 39-year county employee before he retired in 1997. Hall died June 25 at 69 of pulmonary fibrosis.

He held his elected position longer than any other Florida property tax collector except for Earl K. Wood, the 85-year-old Orange County collector now in his 38th year on the job in Orlando. Hall worked out of offices in the county seat of Tavares, 32 miles northwest of Downtown Orlando.

A longtime Lake County commercial real estate broker tells GlobeSt.com the reference to checks crossing Hall's desk is important because in Florida checks for property taxes, fishing licenses, auto tags and a host of other services and tangible assets are made out directly to the tax collector, not to a specific government department or even to Lake County.