County must pay back misdirected sales tax; $227,000 goes to Sarasota County instead of Manatee County, an investigation finds.(B SECTION)

Byline: HOWARD M. UNGER howard.unger@heraldtribune.com

MANATEE COUNTY -- For the past decade, nearly 50 businesses north of University Parkway, including Wal-Mart, have been inadvertently collecting sales tax for Sarasota County.

In all, $227,000 went to the wrong tax collector, according to a seven-month investigation by the state Department of Revenue. It will be returned to Manatee County.

"It was an honest error. Frankly, it also happens in other locations around the state, especially in rural areas near major cities," said department spokesman Dave Bruns.

The problem stems from the Postal Service's assigning Sarasota mailing addresses …