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Jim Tucker

Beach Fanatic
Jul 12, 2005
1,189
497
A good start. I just hope that when the town of SoWal Beach is made that we put protection of our environment first and foremost.
 

Lake View Too

SoWal Insider
Nov 16, 2008
6,862
8,298
Eastern Lake
A good start. I just hope that when the town of SoWal Beach is made that we put protection of our environment first and foremost.
I'm not sure what you mean, "a good start". This effort has been defunct for over five years. The goal was to try to curb overdevelopment and environmental degradation, but clearly the powers that be do not care about such things.
 

Bob Wells

Beach Fanatic
Jul 25, 2008
3,380
2,857
I think things would be better if we didn't vote on commissioners outside of the district one lives in. I know as much about the needs in Paxton as the average Paxtonian knows about those of south Walton. It is absurd that we mutually choose one another's commissioner.
In fairness, if people would vote the possibility is there to have Commissioners who would represent all of Walton County. If you have District voting there is not a guarantee you could muster the 3 required votes to get your issue passed. Whether you like it or not having single District voting doesn't help one area over another. As for how the District are set up, it is population based, and SoWal is a part of 3 BCC seats, 1, 4, 5. Granted 1 and 4 have small enclaves of SoWal.
 

Bob Wells

Beach Fanatic
Jul 25, 2008
3,380
2,857
There was a very serious effort to try to incorporate the area south of the bay. I think the general intent was to curb out of control development. It failed to ever come to s vote because our representative, Brad Drake (I think)refused to sponsor the bill that would authorize an initial vote on whether there was a threshold of interest to move forward with the proposed articles of incorporation. You know that every single government official in Walton County would be opposed to it because we are their money cow.
I do not see how it would effect the money from SoWal. Incorporating would not have alleviated any tax collected.
 

Bob Wells

Beach Fanatic
Jul 25, 2008
3,380
2,857
There was a very serious effort to try to incorporate the area south of the bay. I think the general intent was to curb out of control development. It failed to ever come to s vote because our representative, Brad Drake (I think)refused to sponsor the bill that would authorize an initial vote on whether there was a threshold of interest to move forward with the proposed articles of incorporation. You know that every single government official in Walton County would be opposed to it because we are their money cow.
Incorporation would not have changed how one dime was collected.
 

Lake View Too

SoWal Insider
Nov 16, 2008
6,862
8,298
Eastern Lake
Incorporation would not have changed how one dime was collected.
I’m really not an authority on it, but I did listen attentively at one meeting and tried to read up on it. You are correct that all basic taxes would still be paid to the county as before and that money to run the “town” would be additional taxes. It would come down to agreements on what services the “town” would provide and what sort of deal would be made with the county to provide these services. The town wouldn’t have its own police force, for instance, but it did want to have its own waste disposal service. It would have an extra layer of building permitting, which would slow down growth, and affect the flow of revenue to the County
 

Dawn

Beach Fanatic
Oct 16, 2008
1,203
519
Taxes when a new city is formed in a county even out it might take a little while. might even go up a little bit. But it would be worth it to have a government that actually cares about locals and cares about our environment.
 

Bob Wells

Beach Fanatic
Jul 25, 2008
3,380
2,857
Taxes when a new city is formed in a county even out it might take a little while. might even go up a little bit. But it would be worth it to have a government that actually cares about locals and cares about our environment.
Please explain how. If the County were to charge a 6 mil ad valorem and a city were to charge a 1 mil ad valorem it still sounds as though taxes went up. My issue is not whether taxes go up. My issue is the same folks I hear everyone complain about are the ones who will finance the politics and it is still amounts to voters making good choices, which could be just as easy to do in the county politics as it is for a city.
 

Matt J

SWGB
May 9, 2007
24,646
9,496
Please explain how. If the County were to charge a 6 mil ad valorem and a city were to charge a 1 mil ad valorem it still sounds as though taxes went up. My issue is not whether taxes go up. My issue is the same folks I hear everyone complain about are the ones who will finance the politics and it is still amounts to voters making good choices, which could be just as easy to do in the county politics as it is for a city.

You're also forgetting to mention that incorporation takes time. Several years in fact, and during that time developers will get the county to approve whatever ridiculousness they can come up with. If it's approved before incorporation and ratification of a cities building code and comprehensive plan then it's a green light and the city can't stop it. You'll have large tracts of vacant land with a pile of dirt moved around on it for years to keep an active development order running. The whole thing was a "it's my ball and I'm playing with it over here" scenario.
 
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