Property tax bills upheld for Pensacola Beach
Oct 23, 2007
A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal took only five days to turn around a decision from oral arguments that were held last week. The judges upheld the Escambia County Circuit Judge Nick Geeker's November decision that about 40 commercial leaseholders on the beach must pay property taxes. The ruling can be appealed to the state Supreme Court. Monday's decision by the 1st District court is one among five ongoing court challenges to Escambia County Property Appraiser Chris Jones levying property taxes on leaseholders since 2004. In April, Escambia County Circuit Judge Frank Bell ruled against Portofino Tower leaseholders. Other lawsuits on behalf of more than 3,400 Pensacola Beach residents and condominium owners are still pending in circuit court. "We're just taking them one case at a time," Jones said. "I take (Monday's ruling) as another decision that affirms the belief that there is equitable ownership and they are subject to property taxes." Phone calls to an attorney for commercial leaseholders who brought the lawsuit were not returned. In a September memo to residential plaintiffs in a separate lawsuit, lawyers said they would argue that 99-year beach property leases are not perpetual and that appeals judges should rely on 1980s court decisions that prohibited property taxes. Some leaseholders have paid challenged property tax bills into escrow, with the money held there until the lawsuits are settled. Some have chosen not to pay more than $12 million in billed property taxes and will have to pay up if the courts continue to rule in the property appraiser's favor. Jones said the property tax bills total about $10 million a year for the county and schools. Beginning in 2001, Santa Rosa County Property Appraiser Greg Brown began levying property taxes against leaseholders on Navarre Beach. Brown argued that the long-term leases on the beach were the equivalent to ownership. He sent property tax bills to those owners who previously had paid only annual leases and tangible personal property taxes on the improvements. The Florida Supreme Court in February 2006 refused to hear the Santa Rosa case, thus upholding lower court rulings in favor of Brown. Paul Flemming News Journal capital bureau
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