Edit - details added ... proposed 4-story, 90-room Hampton Inn
The Chateau is a proposed 90 room hotel going before the county on December 11 at 5pm. the location is Seagrove Beach, near the First Baptist Church on 30A. I can't imagine the impact to this area, parking, beach access??? What are your thoughts?
Edit - details added ... proposed 4-story, 90-room Hampton Inn
Edit - details added ... proposed 4-story, 90-room Hampton Inn
Edited
Replies
800Banned
repeat: that's what I'm saying. BUT does all tax money stay South or is it shared? Bet it's shared. That's a lot of $$$ if all owners pay it......... I'll make it simple so even you "poppy" can understand and then I'm done....1) take time to read Miz statement: " speaking of the bed tax on rentals"? 2) my answer," that's what I'm saying". 3) even you should have seen the whole conversation was about Collected Taxes and that's a lot of $$$$$$ (as stated) and of course owners need to pay only if its collected. I guess the high humidity today confused your mind? Ain't SOWAL great ?
Looks as if I'm not the only one who has difficulty interpreting your posts.
Edited
Beach Fanatic
Are bed taxes charged anywhere but in the South ?
How about all the establishments in the North ? Do they collect ?
How about all the establishments in the North ? Do they collect ?
Beach Fanatic
Are bed taxes charged anywhere but in the South ?
How about all the establishments in the North ? Do they collect ?
No, not bed taxes. At one time the DeFuniak Springs City Council looked at getting the TDC special district expanded countywide so that bed taxes could be collected from the hotels/motels north of the bay, but at this time bed taxes are only collected south of the bay.
Banned
Then you don't understand the table as it does not show where money is spent.
It only shows where it came from.
Look around you Bob. It's pretty obvious where it isn't being spent...in NoWal.
Beach Fanatic
I look and that's not what I see !
Give me verifiable data.
Give me verifiable data.
Beach Fanatic
No, not bed taxes. At one time the DeFuniak Springs City Council looked at getting the TDC special district expanded countywide so that bed taxes could be collected from the hotels/motels north of the bay, but at this time bed taxes are only collected south of the bay.
Dotty
Do you know if the Bed Tax was created by referendum or by legislative action ?
Beach Fanatic
I know there was a referendum of voters in the special district area. I would imagine that there had to be action by the legislature as well.
Banned
I look and that's not what I see !
Give me verifiable data.
You're not looking very hard.
How bout the ATV's, wave runners (we don't need those up here) and four wheel drive trucks patroling the beaches...does the Sheriff Dept still own the Nautica RIB 24 Catamaran, equipped with GPS tracking and all the bells and whistles that cost $58.000 to patrol the "beaches"??
How bout that $2,500. M-RAP protected vehicle?
How bout that Aviation Unit...I'll give you a brief synopsis of how the OH-58 helicopter is outfitted. It has the latest in thermal imaging technology, GPS and moving map systems, equipped with a forward looking infa-red system and is able to detect the slightest heat signatures, a 15 in touch screen flat panel monitor, night and sun spotlight, Avelex moving map system Garmin GPS BUT is NOT a full time active unit and only flew 28 missions in 2013 (the latest I have info for) 3 of which were maintenance, 7 were Public Relations rendezvous, 6 for marijuana eradication , 4 "other Agency Assists", and 3 suspect searches.
Or how bout the Emergency Management Bunker? I didn't realize there was anything wrong with the old one but the new amenities include: A $385,000 renovation including the following:
• State of the Art Technology Upgrades include 65” HD TVs, Smart Board Technology and Full Internet Capability
• Separate Media Room
• Communications Office
• Multiple Staff Offices
• Large Lounge
• Full Restroom Facilities
The Sheriff's Dept. is larger than life and so is the budget! Don't blow smoke up our backsides making it appear you are supporting the North End....you SoWalers are supporting the damn Sheriff and his toys!
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Beach Fanatic
I'm truly glad that they have full restroom facilities as well as full internet capability.
Once again your incorrect - we "Sowallers" pay taxes. The BCC decides how to allocate those revenues.
Hard to run a county, sheriffs dept, planning dept, fire and rescue, court services, roads and bridges, animal control, and everything else on 9.0 million.
Once again your incorrect - we "Sowallers" pay taxes. The BCC decides how to allocate those revenues.
Hard to run a county, sheriffs dept, planning dept, fire and rescue, court services, roads and bridges, animal control, and everything else on 9.0 million.
Edited
Banned
I'm truly glad that they have full restroom facilities as well as full internet capability.
Yes absolutely. When the Gov. comes to "bunker" down during the next hurricane I'm glad he can shower and watch the 65" HD tv(s) plural! One just wouldn't suffice.
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Beach Fanatic
Maybe we can run the Emergency Operations center out of a tent on the beaches.
Still no data !!!
Still no data !!!
Banned
Maybe we can run the Emergency Operations center out of a tent on the beaches.
Still no data !!!
Or the nice sub station that was built down there!
Banned
I'm truly glad that they have full restroom facilities as well as full internet capability.
Once again your incorrect - we "Sowallers" pay taxes. The BCC decides how to allocate those revenues.
Hard to run a county, sheriffs dept, planning dept, fire and rescue, court services, roads and bridges, animal control, and everything else on 9.0 million.
And NoWalers pay taxes as well and don't use any of the amenities the BCC provided down there.
Beach Fanatic
Give me a list of "amenities" provide in the South that are not also provided in the north.
Beach Fanatic
There are unique characteristics in both North and South Walton. And improvements needed in both areas. People are free to choose where they live and should understand the pros and cons of living in an area before they move there. It is disingenuous to move to an area and then start complaining about the amenities or lack thereof. Property values are greater per comparable residence, business or acre in the South so the amount of taxes collected on an average house, business or acre in the South is greater than the North. There is no legal way around that circumstance. How those funds are spent is the decision of the elected BCC. They recently passed "TIF" zones for both the South and the 331 corridor. If my understanding is correct these zones will hold taxes collected from increased value in the areas they are collected from. Let's see how this works.
Beach Fanatic
I could do without the rambo armored tank, but I'm fine with the EOC. I think they did well for the money spent. Those tv's and the internet capability aren't for watching netflix, and I have no problem imagining a number of scenarios where first responders need a shower. I guess people living in nowal do understand that they are at higher risk from tornados spun off by a hurricane than the actual coast? That our railroad infrastructure is deteriorating at the same time that it carries more and more hazardous materials? That sowal has no trains passing through, but no wal certainly has quite a few?
I also have no problem with sowal paying more school taxes because of the higher property values. I'm not happy with the current school administration, or with the bizaro world of school funding, but I believe in the concept of equal spending countywide. It's in everybody's interest that all of Walton County's children receive a good education.
I would really like to see an end to all this *****ing about who gets what. Everytime I drive through the 395/30a intersection I get pissed off all over again that we have no solution about eight years after the problem was identified. But somehow I doubt that money is the real problem. There are other political issues at play, and some of them have to do with the very same nowal vs sowal attitude expressed by some posters to this thread.
I also have no problem with sowal paying more school taxes because of the higher property values. I'm not happy with the current school administration, or with the bizaro world of school funding, but I believe in the concept of equal spending countywide. It's in everybody's interest that all of Walton County's children receive a good education.
I would really like to see an end to all this *****ing about who gets what. Everytime I drive through the 395/30a intersection I get pissed off all over again that we have no solution about eight years after the problem was identified. But somehow I doubt that money is the real problem. There are other political issues at play, and some of them have to do with the very same nowal vs sowal attitude expressed by some posters to this thread.
Beach Fanatic
Very well said notdeadyet.
Banned
NotDeadYet and Danny....I don't disagree with either of you but I do take grave exception to the "donor community" mentality or the "idea" that the South end carries the dead weight of the North and are the bane of their existence.
We do have a Sheriff's Dept. (with "toys") and a budget that I do think has become larger than life and a school system in dire need of an "elected" Superintendent with a vision and desire to educate all of our children, who can't be bought off by special interests and political pandering. Our current super (IMO) is hideous.
That isn't to say that I don't think the Sheriff hasn't done a good job but the M-RAP was/is overkill and I doubt anyone can tell you the last time they saw the Catamaran "patrolling" the beaches. Buying expensive "toys" that sit unused in storage somewhere is not effective use of tax dollars.
My point in mentioning the EOC (albeit lost on some) was to show (once again) that County Government has the largest budget, receives the "lions share" of taxes collected and has the best salaries/retirement plans. The people living North of the Bay are not the proud recipients of SoWals tax dollars, living in the lap of luxury nor are we supported by their "donations".
If SoWal wants to be indignant about how their tax money is spent reigning in County government (not creating another layer of it) is a suggested antidote.
We do have a Sheriff's Dept. (with "toys") and a budget that I do think has become larger than life and a school system in dire need of an "elected" Superintendent with a vision and desire to educate all of our children, who can't be bought off by special interests and political pandering. Our current super (IMO) is hideous.
That isn't to say that I don't think the Sheriff hasn't done a good job but the M-RAP was/is overkill and I doubt anyone can tell you the last time they saw the Catamaran "patrolling" the beaches. Buying expensive "toys" that sit unused in storage somewhere is not effective use of tax dollars.
My point in mentioning the EOC (albeit lost on some) was to show (once again) that County Government has the largest budget, receives the "lions share" of taxes collected and has the best salaries/retirement plans. The people living North of the Bay are not the proud recipients of SoWals tax dollars, living in the lap of luxury nor are we supported by their "donations".
If SoWal wants to be indignant about how their tax money is spent reigning in County government (not creating another layer of it) is a suggested antidote.
Edited
Beach Fanatic
Yahata, yahata, yahata!
Beach Fanatic
NotDeadYet and Danny....I don't disagree with either of you but I do take grave exception to the "donor community" mentality or the "idea" that the South end carries the dead weight of the North and are the bane of their existence.
This is an obvious problem in Florida and across the US for that matter. In Florida anywhere around the coast, homes are going to have higher property values. So there is always going to be an us vs. them mentality with other parts of their respective counties..Longboat pays for Lakewood, Palm Beach pays for Lake Worth etc...so Not Dead was right on. It is always Robinhood, that's the way it works!
Banned
It is always Robinhood, that's the way it works!
My point is... I'd like to know what exactly Robinhood took form the rich in the South and gave to the poor beggars in the North.
Beach Lover
The law requires the bed tax to be used for purposes that promote tourism and for beach nourishment (one of the four "cents"). The commissioners have recently gotten attorney general opinions and made legislative findings to provide for some of the funds to be used for such purposes...
Would love for some of the bed tax funds to be reallocated, as three of the four "cents" toward tourism promotion when we are already at record-breaking occupancy doesn't quite seem like the best use of funds. Would be great if there was a trigger whereby when tourism exceeds a certain occupancy or percentage of beds, then partial funds are relocated away from promotion to more pressing needs. This assumes a large part of our tourism population is made up of repeat guests who don't need ongoing marketing to drive their patronage as tourists, but I'd be surprised if that isn't the case. And social media outlets are a very inexpensive way to keep them connected in between visits, freeing up tax revenues for other purposes.
SoWal Insider
I agree. A much higher percentage of the bed tax should go to helping alleviate the extra burden our visitors put on our infrastructure. Period. Too much traffic. Crumpling bridges. Etc.
Beach Fanatic
If it helps any, I believe the bike path maintenance and construction and acquisition of land for beach accesses and parking, along with picking up trash on the beach and funding lifeguards, are also paid for from the three "cents."
Beach Lover
Some say "The Lodge 30A" is a Hampton by another name.
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