Boarded up windows overlook white sand beaches and garbage lays alongside a new for sale sign at a home that has riled neighbors for more than a decade. Legal proceedings to terminate the lease on the crumbling Gulf front home at 7315 Gulf Boulevard on Navarre Beach have stalled, and the owners have made yet […]
Voters in Escambia County may have barred Navarre Beach residents from receiving fee simple title following a referendum in the November election. More than 80 percent of the roughly 119,000 voters that cast a ballot on the issue called for a federal deed controlling the island’s ownership to remain in place. Read the full article […]
When Florida voters go to the polls Nov. 6 they will be greeted by a dozen potential amendments to the state’s constitution. From dog racing to taxes to vaping at work, the amendments hit a variety of issues. Read the full article in the Sept. 13 issue of Navarre Press for brief guide on what […]
Santa Rosa Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) unanimously approved increases for several Municipal Service Benefit Units (MSBUs) for fire districts throughout the county, including Navarre Beach Fire Protection. The reevaluation of fire MSBU rates in the county began after Navarre Beach Fire approached the BOCC in February requesting to raise residential and commercial rates for […]
Non-homestead properties in Santa Rosa County could see their taxes automatically rise next year if a ballot initiative known as Amendment 2 fails in November. Voters will be presented with 13 proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution. Read the full article in the June 28 issue of Navarre Press. Visit www.navarrepress.com/subscribe to view subscription options. […]
While trying to reconcile the Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office’s budget request to revenue realities, the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) discussed the possibility Thursday of implementing a Municipal Service Taxing Unit (MSTU) for law enforcement services during the first of their annual budget workshops. Sheriff Bob Johnson told commissioners that he needs nearly every penny […]
The squeeze could be on soon for City of Gulf Breeze homeowners to pay special assessments for stormwater control now that officials there have acknowledged that the prospect of more government grants is unlikely. That’s a sea change in a city where a blue ribbon Stormwater Task Force got off to a fast start after […]
As state auditors prepare to examine the books at the City of Gulf Breeze, officials there are outlining spending plans to showcase the municipality: from a new police station to a children’s park splashpad. Although funding isn’t yet available for all the myriad projects detailed in a new city report, officials say the money can […]
Federal fee simple legislation for Navarre Beach is dead in the water, but the Santa Rosa Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) discussed possible alterations that could jump-start the bill’s chances in the Senate. Three of five commissioners indicated they would be willing to modify the language of Senate Bill 1073 if it meant securing fee […]
Looking back over history in Navarre, since 2010 our population has grown by more than 69 percent. The rule of thumb around here has been to select a piece of vacant property, buy it, clear it, build on it and sell it. Wait…we forgot to mention the very important step of building up the dirt […]
In yet another sign of the area’s economic recovery, the number of Santa Rosa property tax delinquencies continues to fall. County records show that the percentage of property taxes collected after the annual March 31 delinquency deadline—when the levy for 2016 was due–fell to 5 percent this year. Read the full article in the Oct. […]
Never before has legislation to give Santa Rosa Island residents ownership of their property been so favorably positioned according to supporters. The fee simple title bill, entitled “Escambia County Land Conveyance Act,” has made it out of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Spearheading the bill is freshman U.S. congressman […]
It’s no secret that Navarre’s schools are bursting at the seams, but relief is one step closer. Plans to build a new kindergarten through eighth-grade school near Edgewood Drive have been incorporated into the Santa Rosa School Districts five-year survey at the urging of the Florida Department of Education (FDOE). The school board unanimously approved […]
Legislation to give residents of Navarre Beach equal rights to their land has garnered a new supporter in Washington. Democratic U.S. senator for Florida Bill Nelson signed on as co-sponsor earlier this month for a bill that would allow fee simple title for Navarre Beach residents. Senate bill 1073 entitled “Escambia County Land Conveyance Act” […]
Just one lot short of Gulf Islands National Seashore there is a brick-and-concrete home at 7315 Gulf Boulevard. Across the street there are condominiums and brightly painted beachfront homes. Some are newly constructed. A blue-and-green “Navarre Beach” sign welcomes visitors a few feet away. Read the full article in the March 9 issue of Navarre […]
U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz spent most of his inaugural Open Gaetz Day Thursday touring Santa Rosa County and discussing his views and the views of his constituents on issues including Veterans Affairs, the Environmental Protection Agency, building a wall at the Mexican border and Obamacare. Read the full article in the March 2 issue of […]
The school district is pushing for voters to renew the half cent sales tax in March, but just how much of their budget do they stand to lose if it were not renewed for another 10 years? According to current fiscal year data, 33 percent of the entire capital outlay budget is provided by this […]
Steve and Ann Hering get it: numerous neighbors of their would-be 60-house subdivision on Navarre Beach adamantly oppose the project, in part because the couple owes about $1.4 million in back property taxes. The Herings are all too aware that the building and zoning board has voted 6-1 against their request for variances that would […]
Developer Steve Hering is seeking a zoning variance on 8-and-half vacant acres of Navarre Beach to build a 70-house subdivision he calls “Topaz Beach-An Island Community.” Hering needs the county commission’s approval – not to mention financing – to break ground as he proposes in December or January. ”These will be beautiful houses: steel construction, […]
Santa Rosa County will be $5.1 million richer in the fiscal year starting Oct. 1, but not at the expense of property owners. That’s because of the half-penny sales tax to pay for various infrastructure improvements that was approved by county voters on Aug. 30. Although the new tax is expected to bring in about […]
Santa Rosa residents won’t have to pay higher ad valorem taxes because they rejected the referendum to fund a new county courthouse in downtown Milton with a temporary sales tax increase. Although some commissioners had indicated before the election that higher property taxes seemed the only alternative to building the $35 million courthouse, three of […]
The residents of Santa Rosa County delivered the message Monday night to the Board of County Commissioners during the Local Option Sales Tax workshop that they would not support writing a blank check to the commissioners to do with as they please. The board is asking the voters of Santa Rosa County to support a […]
This editorial published in the Orlando Sentinel on Oct. 17, 2015 Tallahassee wants to provide “historic” school spending by continuing to play Tallahassee’s trick on taxpayers. You might think that Florida’s system of financing education is simple: Your property taxes pay for the schools in your county. It’s not that simple. Local taxes pay […]
