Today the Supreme Court denied the motions we filed on the Pensacola Beach Taxes on Improvements. The lawyers representing all plaintiffs will be sending letters to all of the clients in both cases.

They will be asking for permission to dismiss all of the improvements cases in Escambia County (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013) since they are now superceded by this decision.

They will also be advising all clients that if you have not paid the taxes, do so now. Interest will jump from 12% through June 21 (probably extended until Monday, the 23rd), to 18% -- calculated from the beginning.

The attorneys will also advise their clients on their chances of success in the outstanding lawsuits challenging the taxes on the land. If you do not receive a letter within the next week, you should contact your attorney's office.

PBA mailed a printed survey with our March 2014 newsletter to 3500 leaseholders in March. The survey is open to all stakeholders on Pensacola Beach - regardless of your membership status in Pensacola Beach Advocates.  Tell us what issues are most important for us to work on this year. We will close the survey on April 30th. 

In a letter to the Pensacola Beach Tax Case Liaison Committee, attorney Danny Kepner says:

This article was published in the printed March 2014 newsletter sent to all residential and commercial leaseholders.

• Worked with County and Congressman Jeff Miller to draft “Fee Simple Title” legislation to be ready in case of leaseholders losing tax litigation.
• Kept our members updated on beach tax litigation. We notified everyone in our contact list about Tax deadlines and the Supreme Court decision the day the opinion was issued.
• Acted as a “watchdog” in the SRIA’s annual budgeting process to assure that residential lease rates would not be increased.  This saved PB residential leaseholders $250,000 for the fourth year in a row. This may have saved you 10% per year increase in your lease fees .
• Worked with Escambia County and beach businesses to pass a new Noise Ordinance that restricts noise levels in residential neighborhoods.
• Helped draft a Sea Turtle Lighting Ordinance that was passed by Escambia County.  This will gradually darken the light footprint on the island to help protect nesting sea turtles and their hatchlings. It also puts Pensacola Beach in compliance with new FL Dept of Environmental Protection rules, thus allowing for sand re-nourishment of our eroding beaches.
• Sponsored annual Earth Day Island Style event with sea turtle education, recycling, free document shredding and a community yard sale.  
• Worked with the Tourism Board to set up an independent Visit Pensacola board to better market the Pensacola Area with the millions of dollars each year from the Bed Tax.
• Collaborated with Pensacola Beach Chamber to propose beach projects to Escambia County RESTORE Committee for spending BP Oil Spill dollars coming to Escambia County. 
• Worked with the SRIA to get a special $500,000 BP grant to buy the Eco-Tourism Trail signage throughout the Beach and fund advertising to promote the Beach in the shoulder seasons.
• Notified members about potential BP claims available to some homes.
• Worked with the local community to stop a trashy reality show from filming on Pensacola Beach this Spring.

Please consider joining if you are not a member. Visit www.pbadvocates.org/join  

In a pair of unanimous opinions issued on March 20, 2014, the Florida Supreme Court approved of the county’s assessment and collection of ad valorem real property taxes for certain leaseholds on Santa Rosa Island.  The Court found that Pensacola Beach leaseholders have “virtually all the benefits and burdens of ownership.” This effectively makes them the private owners subject to property taxation.  The cases largely put to rest the decades long debate over beach leasehold taxes. Visit our website for more information and links to the two recent court opinions.

With these rulings, the tax collector will soon begin efforts to collect any outstanding property taxes.  The beach leaseholders’ lawyers will seek a reasonable grace period before enforcement efforts begin and try to negotiate the assessed interest payments.  The lawyers will also consider and advise us whether they will seek a rehearing by the Florida Supreme Court or whether they will continue to challenge the assessment of taxes on the land (the Court’s decision specifically address Pensacola Beach improvements and not land taxes).  However, to avoid additional interest accruing or the sale of tax deeds, Pensacola Beach leaseholders should consult with tax professionals and prepare to pay any outstanding real property taxes due.  And as the lawsuit challenging the 2013 taxes was late and likely will be dismissed, everyone should pay their 2013 property taxes by the March 31, deadline.

With these rulings, Pensacola Beach Advocates will invigorate its efforts to ensure Pensacola Beach leaseholders are not subject to a de facto double taxundefined from real property taxes and lease fees.  We will work to eliminate the lease fees and obtain refunds of past double payments.  We will talk to local leaders and continue to push the U.S. Senate to pass legislation like the Public Access and Lands Improvement Act (H.R. 2954) that would allow leaseholders to purchase their land fee simple, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Feb. 6, 2014. 

Attend the PBA Town Hall meeting on April 14th to learn more.

The two opinions may be found here:

1108 Ariola v. Jones (Pensacola Beach improvements):  http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/2014/sc11-2231.pdf

Accardo v. Brown (Navarre Beach land and improvements): http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/2014/sc11-1445.pdf

 

A Country Music Television reality TV show was planning to film on Pensacola Beach for two months during Spring Break. At first it sounded like a great way to bring jobs and showcase our. When we first heard about the show,  PBA did some research and talked with people from Murrell’s Inlet, a small community in South Carolina where CMT filmed "Party Down South" last year. The more we learned, the less impressed we were. It turns out that "Party Down South" is a trash reality show with excessive drinking, nudity, profanity and just bad behavior.

We asked SRIA to add the show to a committee meeting. The Board listened to our concerns. Even though they didn't have a legal way to prevent the show from coming to the beach, they  did send a strong letter saying that all local laws and ordinances would be strictly enforced.

It was amazing how quickly the community came together - PBA, the SRIA, county commissioner Grover Robinson, Gulf Breeze and Pensacola communities and many Beach businesses. The community sent a very clear message to 495 Productions that they were not welcome on Pensacola Beach. Within a week the issue came and went. Thanks to Innisfree Hotels for taking a stand. Their refusal to rent rooms to the entire cast probably had the most impact.

You can thank all the businesses who took a stand and said our image was more important than the money - by spending your money on the beach this Spring and Summer.

 

Today, March 20^th, the Florida Supreme court ruled against the leaseholders on Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach, and ruled that both the land and improvements of the leased properties are subject to ad-valorem taxes.

For leaseholders, this means that all unpaid property taxes and interest will be payable.  Leaseholders are reminded to pay their 2013 real estate taxes by March 31^st to avoid penalties.

PBA will work with Escambia County officials and the Santa Rosa Island Authority to resolve the issues that will now need to be addressed, including the elimination of lease fees, refunds of lease fees paid while we were “double taxed”, and the future of the SRIA.

If you want to read the rulings, go to www.floridasupremecourt.org and click on Case SC11-2231, the Pensacola Beach ( Ariola) case involving taxation of leased improvements, and Case SC11-1445, the Navarre Beach (Ricardo)case involving taxation of leased land.

These links all open a PDF file of the articles so you can read them after the links to original article expire.

02-24-2014 Kimberly Blair_ 'Party Down South' eyes Pensacola Beach for sordid reality show _ Pensacola News Journal Feb 24 2014.pdf

02-25-2014 Troy Moon_ It's a Southern thang, y'all _ Pensacola News Journal _ pnj.pdf

02-26-2014 Kimberly Blair Raunchy reality show 'Party Down' bound for Pensacola Beach _ Pensacola News Journal.pdf

02-27-2014 Kimberly Blair Not a warm welcome for CMT's 'Party Down South' _ Pensacola News Journal _ pnj.pdf

02-27-2014 Dennis Pillion Residents, officials hope to keep raunchy reality show out of town - al dot com.pdf

02-28-2014 Kimberly Blair No 'Party Down South' on Pensacola Beach _ Pensacola News Journal _ pnj.pdf

03-01-14 Andy Marlette_ Our phony fatwa on 'Party' _ Pensacola News Journal Mar 1 2014.pdf

03-03-2014 Kimberly Blair_ 'Party Down' pushback _ Pensacola News Journal _ pnj.pdf

03-03-2014 Kimberly Blair Producers told to 'Party Down' somewhere else _ Pensacola News Journal March 3 2014.pdf

March 3, 2014 Update: This reality show is not coming to stay or film on Pensacola Beach. Thanks to SRIA Board Chair Tammy Bohannon and our County Commissioner Grover Robinson for taking a stand on this. And thanks to the greater Pensacola community and the businesses on the beach who took a stand.

The Board of Directors of PBA wants to make our members and the beach community aware of a trashy reality show that is considering Pensacola Beach for filming this Spring. Apparently the producers of "Party Down South" have been in discussions and negotiations with various entities in our community, but it has all been kept very quiet.  The first season was filmed in a quaint beach community much like ours -- Murrell’s Inlet, South Carolina -- and it was a very unfortunate experience for residents, locals and tourists alike.

"Party Down South" is a trashy, sordid show featuring eight young adults who drink and bed hop to excess while in front of the camera, and who were reported to have been verbally abusive and offensive in restaurants as well as to residents. It is in our opinion that a reality show like this will do nothing but damage our community's image. It will not  reflect well on the upscale family oriented community that we truly are on the beach, and in fact, is polar opposite to a community that supports a nationally honored and recognized elementary school. 

Over the past 20 years, the Greater Pensacola area to include Gulf Breeze and Pensacola Beach, has been diligently working to court businesses to bring jobs to boost our economy beyond tourism. Again, it is in our opinion that being associated with a show like this could derail any such future development. A temporary economic gain that hosting a show like this allegedly brings to a community could result in a tremendous loss in the long run.

One of our board members contacted  the County Councilman who represents Murrell Inlet in Georgetown County. Councilman Jerry Oakley shared that "the crew and cast of 'Party Down South' turned their small beach community into a six week living nightmare." When the producers of "Party Down South" asked permission to return to Murrells Inlet, the answer was "no" and Georgetown County now has a very protective filming ordinance, not just for Murrells Inlet but for the entire county.

We ask that you do your research on this show, the cast and the crew. We have provided a multitude of links and you can come to your own conclusion.

Local reporter Kimberly Blair has written two articles in the "Pensacola News Journal "this week.

http://www.pnj.com/article/20140225/NEWS09/302250008/Kimberly-Blair-Party-Down-South-eyes-Pensacola-Beach-for-sordid-reality-show

http://www.pnj.com/article/20140226/NEWS09/302260016/Raunchy-reality-show-Party-Down-bound-for-Pensacola-Beach?nclick_check=1

If you are curious as to the content and advertising regarding the show, here is the website for the CMT reality show  – also known as “The Dirty South”.

http://www.cmt.com/show/party-down-south/series.jhtml

Here is a link to a Facebook Page that was created by the community of Murrell’s Inlet to document how bad this was.

http://www.facebook.com/refused.reality.release

Read this page and also the links to other article that were written by the local press in South Carolina, including a most recent development about one of the cast members being arrested for theft.

http://m.myrtlebeachonline.com/?cu=spreed%3A%2F5851085%2F27891233

http://www.weeklysurge.com/2014/01/15/3960528/party-down-south-goes-head-to.html

http://www.wbtw.com/story/24438794/murrells-inlet-tv-show-party-down-south-to-debut-wednesday

http://www.wbtw.com/story/22972326/controversey-heats-up-over-reality-show-filming-in-murrells-inlet

http://www.coastalobserver.com/articles/2013/080813/1.html

http://www.savingcountrymusic.com/cmt-whores-itself-with-new-party-down-south-show

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/2013/12/20/3915353/party-down-south-reality-show.html#storylink=cpy

http://m.myrtlebeachonline.com/?cu=spreed%3A%2F5851085%2F27891233

A Facebook Page started today for people in Pensacola to post their concerns

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Locals-Against-Party-Down-South-in-Pensacola/708000069252398

 

All Pensacola Beach leaseholders who are a party to residential ad-valorem tax litigation should have received a letter dated January 30, 2014 from the law firm Shell, Fleming, Davis and Menge regarding 2013 property taxes and the ongoing beach taxation lawsuit.  In short, our attorney failed to file the 2013 lawsuit in time.  Their report details actions that leaseholders must take to preserve their rights in the prior suits from 2004-2012.  Please read the letter and plan to take action ASAP to preserve your rights in the suits filed from 2004-2012. 

Another letter was sent on February 14, 2014 to all members of the lawsuit regarding "Waiver of Conflict of Interest for Continual Representation". If you think you are a party to the lawsuits (2004 - 2012) and did not receive either or both of these letters, please contact the law office at 850-453-1074.

View the Jan 30th Letter

View the Feb 14th Letter

Look up your current and past tax bills on Escambia County Tax Collector website

Visit the Beach Taxation Litigation Website (not updated with this info yet)