Every year Santa Rosa officials apply for and win grants for hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state and federal governments, and they’re currently focused on gaining millions more as the county’s share of the BP oil spill settlement.

Navarre residents received two tax notices in the mail this year. Santa Rosa County Property Appraiser Greg Brown sent out TRIM (Truth in Millage) notices of proposed ad-valorem taxes, but for the first time of his tenure he declined to send the Holley Navarre Fire Department (HNFD) assessment increase notices.

Santa Rosa officials have sidestepped the volunteer Tourist Development Council to revoke the county’s longtime membership in the state’s leisure industry marketing agency–Visit Florida–prompting a warning from state House Speaker Richard Corcoran.

Telephone con artists are getting more aggressive in finding victims hereabout, even placing calls to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office.

The money-pit image of Tiger Point Golf Club is well known among taxpayers and officials in the City of Gulf Breeze, which owns the 375-acre property.

Santa Rosa County’s impending quest for an outside economic development consultant will lead officials into a nationwide network of highly paid advisors who often work for both local governments and the companies they seek to recruit as new employers.

Promises, promises.

The County Commission’s recent proposal to pay up to $120,000 for an economic development strategy devised by a private consultant seems to ignore that it paid $25,000 for such a plan in 2013.