Florida Files

Board of County Commissioners, Hardee County — District 4

Russell Melendy

2025 Form 6 · annual filing (Commission on Ethics) · received 2026-06-03 · 6 pages (text)

Net worth$4,647,372
Income listed$172,789
Real estate$2,408,0215 properties
Debts listed$762,901
Worth a look0

Where listed income comes from

  • Other / unclassified 70% $120,650 · Coker Fuel, Inc., Sebring Gas System, Inc
  • Government & public payroll 22% $38,661 · Hardee County BOCC
  • Agriculture 8% $13,478 · Cattle Sales

Worth a look 0

Nothing stood out under the current rules.

Context 7

Context Unusual reporting

Lists 1 investment account ($8,972) instead of what's in them

The instructions say the investments held in a brokerage account or IRA are the assets to report — not the account itself. As listed, the public can't see what the filer is invested in.

What to check
  • Which companies or funds are in these accounts? Holdings matter for conflicts of interest.

Rule: Accounts listed instead of investments
“Note that the product contained in a brokerage account, IRA, or the Florida College Investment Plan, is your asset”2025 Form 6 instructions, Assets ✓ quoted from the saved instructions · how this rule works

Context Unusual reporting

“Bank Account” ($193,337) doesn't name the institution

Intangible assets should name the entity they relate to.

What to check
  • Which bank, company or fund is this?

Rule: Asset without a named institution
“Do not list simply "stocks and bonds" or "bank accounts."”2025 Form 6 instructions, Assets ✓ quoted from the saved instructions · how this rule works

Context Unusual reporting

Net worth $4,647,372; listed items add up to $4,647,372

Reported net worth: $4,647,372. Household goods + listed assets − listed liabilities = $4,647,372. They roughly agree.

What to check
  • No action needed unless other items look off.

Rule: Net worth vs. listed items
“Simply subtracting your liabilities from your assets will not result in an accurate net worth figure in most cases.”2025 Form 6 instructions, Net Worth ✓ quoted from the saved instructions · how this rule works

Context Income & business ties

Earns from 4 separate employers or businesses

Several distinct earned-income sources (excluding investments, retirement and Social Security).

What to check
  • Are any of these sources connected to each other or to the office sought?

Rule: Several earned-income sources

How this rule works

Context Wealth & holdings

Reports a net worth of $4,647,372 — a millionaire on paper

Net worth is the filer's own figure. Being wealthy isn't a problem; it's context for comparing candidates and for reading the rest of the form.

What to check
  • Compare with the other candidates in the race.
  • Check that the large assets below are described and valued clearly.

Rule: Net worth tier
“Report your net worth as of”2025 Form 6 instructions, Net Worth ✓ quoted from the saved instructions · how this rule works

Context Wealth & holdings

Real estate worth $2,408,021 across 5 properties (52% of net worth)

Real estate holdings, as listed.

What to check
  • Look the parcels up with the county property appraiser: land use (vacant or improved), assessed value and when they were bought.
  • Check whether any listed liability is a mortgage on these properties.

Rule: Real estate holdings
“Real property: Identify by providing the street address of the property.”2025 Form 6 instructions, Assets ✓ quoted from the saved instructions · how this rule works

Context Wealth & holdings

Lists 1 business under “Interests in Specified Businesses”

Listed under “Interests in Specified Businesses”: Sebring Gas System, Inc. That section covers banks, insurers, mortgage and small-loan companies, utilities, alcohol licensees, pari-mutuels and holders of city or county franchises — industries where officials' interests are disclosed separately.

What to check
  • Check whether the office sought oversees or contracts with these industries.
  • Look the businesses up on Sunbiz for officers and registered agents.

Rule: Stakes in closely regulated businesses
“The types of businesses covered in this section include: state and federally chartered banks”2025 Form 6 instructions, Interests in Specified Businesses ✓ quoted from the saved instructions · how this rule works

Where to look next

These links open official public records, built from what the filer disclosed. They're searches you run yourself — results may include other people or companies with similar names.

Their filings

Their campaign

Businesses they disclosed

Other filings by Russell Melendy

FilingReceivedNet worthItems
2024 Form 6 — annual (Commission on Ethics)2025-06-28$3,583,244

Net worth

Net worth
As of
Household goods (lump sum)

Assets over $1,000 $5,251,273 listed

DescriptionValue

Liabilities over $1,000 $762,901 listed

CreditorAddressAmount

Joint and several liabilities not reported above

Reported as “N/A”.

Income $172,789 listed

Elected to attach federal tax return instead:

Primary sources

SourceAddressAmount

Secondary sources (major customers of businesses owned)

Interests in specified businesses

#1 Name
Address
Activity
Position
Owns > 5%
Nature of ownership

Signature

Signed by
—
Date
Filed with COE

Source

Document
Open PDF · original source
Retrieved
2026-10-07T20:27:08+00:00
SHA-256
32cce8a07ca53010aa971779ff1de89533ba7656b15690ecae31914528faf6f5
Pages
p1 form6 · p2 form6 · p3 form6 · p4 form6 · p5 form6 · p6 form6
Extraction
parser v0.5.2; 0 value(s) below 80% confidence