Incorporate South Walton? What do you think?

I'll see if I can get it posted tomorrow. I don't remember if it was a letter to the editor or a paid ad. I'll have to look.

What would be the the benefit of incorporation?

Yes! Every morning I wake up wishing I had a little more bureaucracy.

Yes! Every morning I wake up wishing I had a little more bureaucracy.

And most likely- increased taxes to pay for the new bureaucracy.

Kurt and Beachsand summed it up for me.

What are the benefits of incorporating? And most importantly these days, who profits if we do?

I can never get a concrete handle on what is involved in incorporating. On the surface it seems to be a great idea and one that people in South Walton have been throwing around in different forms for a long time. I think there is a growing frustration with the huge percentage of money generated south of the bay but never the feeling that enough of that money (and decision making power) ends up down here.

How does incorporating change that? I was told bed tax collecting and dispersal is decided at the state level, so an incorporated Sowal will not change that.

It's not just about bed taxes.

It is the ad valorem taxes from south of the bay that historically have irritated people, because of the higher property tax values in the south end.

A link to information on the new county ordinance that triggered the piece (a letter to the editor) which called for incorporation:

http://www.co.walton.fl.us/index.aspx?NID=860

Aha! They want to incorporate because then the latest attempt to solve the FRICKING wedding house problem wouldn't apply. (It only applies to unincorporated areas.)

Thanks miz notebook! I miss the Thanks button!

"On July 12, 2011, the Walton County Board of County Commissioners adopted Ordinance 2011-62, amending the Walton County Land Development Code that established the requirement for a Certificate of Land Use Compliance for all businesses located in unincorporated areas of Walton County.

Effective July 13, 2011, all businesses located in UNINCORPORATED areas of Walton County must apply for and receive a Certificate of Land Use Compliance from Walton County Planning and Development Services.

All new businesses must apply for and receive a Certificate of Land Use Compliance prior to opening the business.

Existing businesses in operation on July 12, 2011, must apply for and receive a Certificate of Land Use Compliance within 180 days of the adoption of Ordinance 2011-62, or by January 9, 2012.

This Certificate of Land Use Compliance is not a "business license" but all businesses located in UNINCORPORATED Walton County are now required to obtain this Certificate."

You're putting two and two together, Scooty, but I have to point out that this ordinance does not include anything about wedding houses or even rental properties. Standards for short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods had been part of the ordinance at one time, but that part was removed some time ago. Also I believe the letter writer was opposed to the regulation of weddings.

I'm sure it's not the only reason, but it makes sense in this case.

If they were opposed to regulation of weddings, they would want incorporation because all the businesses in that incorporated would not be controlled by this.

Oh, I see, you may be right. But I think that for some or all of the municipalities the reason for excluding them from the ordinance was that they require business licenses, which the county does not. The commissioners have discussed starting up a business license program for the county but have been reluctant to so far because of fees that would be associated with it, with so many businesses struggling now. The Certificate of Land Use Compliance serves some of the same purposes but there is no fee for the certificate except when one has to be reissued.

A link to information on the new county ordinance that triggered the piece (a letter to the editor) which called for incorporation:

http://www.co.walton.fl.us/index.aspx?NID=860

Great catch miznotebook. I followed the link and reviewed the ordinance.

See here: http://www.co.walton.fl.us/DocumentView.aspx?DID=3654

The ordinance does not mention anything about Defuniak Springs, Paxton and Freeport or any other incorporated area being excluded. Nor is the word "unincorporated" contained in the legislation.

The law applies to all businesses throughout the county.

This smells of a "back room" deal.

"On July 12, 2011, the Walton County Board of County Commissioners adopted Ordinance 2011-62, amending the Walton County Land Development Code that established the requirement for a Certificate of Land Use Compliance for all businesses located in unincorporated areas of Walton County.

Effective July 13, 2011, all businesses located in UNINCORPORATED areas of Walton County must apply for and receive a Certificate of Land Use Compliance from Walton County Planning and Development Services.

All new businesses must apply for and receive a Certificate of Land Use Compliance prior to opening the business.

Existing businesses in operation on July 12, 2011, must apply for and receive a Certificate of Land Use Compliance within 180 days of the adoption of Ordinance 2011-62, or by January 9, 2012.

This Certificate of Land Use Compliance is not a "business license" but all businesses located in UNINCORPORATED Walton County are now required to obtain this Certificate."

Good catch Scooterbug !

The article below is a copy of a letter to the editor published in the July 21, 2011 Defuniak Herald/Beach Breeze newspapers.


Upon reading the article I was prompted to start this forum to see what you all thought about incorporating Walton County south of the Bay.



Letter to the Editor - Defuniak Herald/Beach Breeze Newspapers - editions published on July 21, 2011


Who’s Running Walton County – Part Deux

The July 12, 2011 Walton County Commissioners meeting opened with a bang, as one of the commissioners explained to the public that the separation between North and South Walton County must end.Lofty words coming from a County Commission that has over the years put the “squeeze” on the businesses and short term rental property owners along the beaches. Regulation after regulation has been voted into law by the Commissioners in order to control how residential and commercial property near the beaches is developed and used.

Now, the County Commissioners have pointed their compass at ALL business owners throughout the county through their ratification of the new Certificate of Land Use Compliance (“CLUC”) ordinance at this meeting. This ordinance is step one in a two step process to regulate businesses that operate in the county and to regulate the use of short term rental properties (a.k.a. the Wedding/Events Industry Affair).

During the County Commission meeting, the CLUC legislation was put forth by the Planning Department Executive Director and then the floor was opened to public comment. I asked the Commissioners three simple questions about this legislation in order to determine how much expense the taxpayers and business owners would have to bear in order to comply with the law.


These questions were:

Question 1. - Do you have any information that estimates how much this program will cost?

Commission Answer: "No."

Question 2. - Do you have any information that estimates how many companies will be required to comply with this law?

Commission Answer: "No, that is the purpose of the ordinance, to identify the companies doing business in Walton County."

Question 3. – Do you have any information as to what the “Cost of Compliance” will be to each business owner in order to comply with the law?

Commission Answer: "No."

The Commissioners did ask clarifying questions of the Planning Department. The Planning Department Executive Directorcould not provide any hard cold facts to answer anyone’s questions.

I was embarrassed for each and every Commissioner as they were provided “responses” from the Planning Department and no real “answers” about the cost impact to the tax payers and business owners. The Planning Department Executive Directorshould be ashamed of his unprofessional performance.

Firstly, how can a “Planning Department” Executive Director put forth legislation to the Commission with a recommendation to vote to approve when there is no “Cost Accounting Plan” or “Business Plan”?

Secondly, how does the Planning Department intend to notify businesses that they must comply with the law?

The Planning Department Executive Director authoritatively stated that the legislation would cost very little to enact, implement and manage. The Planning Department Executive Director further emphasized that the department had available resources that could implement and manage the entire program without a problem.

Does this mean the Planning Department has “plenty” of resources, or are the current department employees are going be forced to work longer hours, or enabled to work more efficiently?

The public could easily conclude that that the continued policy to reduce county expenses appears to have been tossed out the window.

This is evident by the fact that the Commissioners agreed to enact this legislation without A) Budget/Cost Estimates, B) knowing how many businesses would be required to comply, and C) how much it would cost business owners to comply.

With this sort of financial “planning”, how do the county executives and Commissioners expect to resolve the $4 million budget shortfall for the 2011-2012 budget year?

Our County Commissioners deserve better support from county department executives in order to make “smart” decisions. It would also be prudent for the Commissioners to exercise the wisdom to vote against legislation when a clear cost to taxpayers is not provided by a county executive.

Neither smart decision making nor wisdom was employed by the Commissioners’ when this legislation was presented, discussed, and enacted on July 12, 2011.

If a business operates without cost controls and a budget, it often fails.When local, state and federal governments operate without cost controls, they simply send citizens and business owners a tax bill to keep the cash flowing. It is unfair to all taxpayers.

Look out local county business owners, added regulation is headed your way.

On July 14, 2011, only two days after the CLUC was approved, Mr. Mac Carpenter of the Planning Department issued the following statement in an e-mail:

“Effective July 13, 2011, all businesses located in UNINCORPORATED areas of Walton County must apply for and receive a Certificate of Land Use Compliance from Walton County Planning and Development Services. This only applies to business locations on parcels of land outside the city limits of DeFuniak Springs. Freeport and Paxton. “

The ink is not even dry on the CLUC and now the Planning Department is excluding businesses located within three cities in the northern part of the county from having to comply with the new legislation. The word “unincorporated” does not even exist with the CLUC ordinance itself.

How can the Planning Department “selectively enforce” the law so soon or create exclusions without a Commission vote? Can you believe it?

So much for the county commissioners “words” about all of us being part of one county “community”.

Maybe now is the time to take a new look at incorporating Walton County south of the bay.

Enough is enough.


John Stark
Seacreast, FL

What Service Do We Gain and At What Price ?

What Service Do We Gain and At What Price ?

Mr. Hudson, an excellent question. Thank you for posting the tax comparison information. Would you happen to know where one can "easily" obtain more detail about Freeport's tax money expenditures? It would be interesting to know what a Freeport owner of a $200k property gets for $946.40.