Search results

  • Trouble logging in? Send us a message with your username and/or email address for help.
New posts
  1. WCTA

    Non-Partisan Candidate Forums

    Sandestin Voters and the Walton County Taxpayers Association present a series of free public Candidate forums. Please see the schedule below for more information.
  2. WCTA

    Why was Jail findings report removed from the BCC agenda?

    Sheriff's Report and Corrrections Response Glad to provide both reports. I would suggest that you read both in detail. My Cliff Notes - The Truth is Somewhere between the two. It is obvious that they don't seem to like each others work product. The Sheriff's report has been available long...
  3. WCTA

    BCC Votes To Pay New TDC Director $125,000 per year

    The Sun Editorial Cartoon Staff Nails It !
  4. WCTA

    Seawall Bailout ?

    A DEP records request was made looking for evidence of the Marti Coley seawall bill and imagine my surprise when the response received stated that some of the same language was included in HB 5003. It's part of our budget, has passed and is waiting for Crist's signature. I'm having trouble...
  5. WCTA

    Future Direction of TDC Marketing ?

    The following quote is attributed to our new TDC director about the merger of Coastal Vision 3000 and the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association. “The greatest advantage we have as a region is that we are now a cohesive group that understands in order to survive and thrive, we must not care...
  6. WCTA

    BCC Votes To Pay New TDC Director $125,000 per year

    I apologize for misspelling Dawn's name. My mistake. Our organization believes in transparency, fiscal responsibility and holds those in elected office accountable for their actions. Do we always agree with the actions of those elected officials - No - just as I'm sure that others disagree...
  7. WCTA

    BCC Votes To Pay New TDC Director $125,000 per year

    In a 4-0 (Commissioner Cecilia Jones was not present) vote the BCC this afternoon voted to set the starting salary for the new TDC director at $125,000 per year making the new director the highest paid non elected employee in Walton County government. The salary set by the BCC is $28,000 per...
  8. WCTA

    Sonny Mares Retirement Update

    Yes the county has a written approved policy on accruals and payouts. Max of 120 hrs each. Mr. Mattison claims her was given broad powers by the Commission - have not be able to find that in the BCC minutes at this time. Still looking. Please see the attached.
  9. WCTA

    Sonny Mares Retirement Update

    The Wcta has continued to follow the trail on Mr. Mares retirement from the TDC directors position. The following Documents were obtained through public records requests. First the letter of notice to retire dated 3/31/10. The Notice of retirement states that he will use accrued and unused...
  10. WCTA

    Herald-breeze Kudu's

    I would like to recommend that everyone read two articles in this weeks Herald-Breeze. Of particular interest is the excellent article by none other than Dotty Nist on the BCC meeting where the Chamber/Maliterno -TDC discussions were held. Dotty was the only newspaper reporter actually at the...
  11. WCTA

    Interim-Director Agreement for TDC

    The file was originally created by Karen Shehan on 3/17/2010 at 3:27 pm. Yes you see all changes. All 34 edit sessions are available by who opened the file and who made the changes. The original agreement was created in the HR department not the Legal Department. Tonight we had call that...
  12. WCTA

    Interim-Director Agreement for TDC

    We found the whole agreement interesting. It went through 34 revisions to get to where it is. When you see the metadata on the file you can see the changes made on each edit session. The document is vastly different from the original draft with whole provisions added, deleted and changed. We...
  13. WCTA

    Interim-Director Agreement for TDC

    The WCTA has confirmed that the attached document was presented to Ms. Maliterno for her consideration. The attached agreement was originally authored by Karen Sheehan and was last edited by Lynn Miamoto. According to the metadata associated with the Microsoft Word is has been through 24...
  14. WCTA

    Online Petition On Public/Private TDC Agreement

    I apologize for the request for donations from the iPetitions website. That was not done when i setup the petition but after contacting the company it was disclosed in the terms of use. We are working to have the donation request removed. Rather than their "free" petition service we have...
  15. WCTA

    Online Petition On Public/Private TDC Agreement

    Andy, where did you see a request for a donation ? I will kill the link if that is being done in any way. When I go to the site it has advertising on the right hand side as many free sites have. No credit cards donation requests are there when we click the link.
  16. WCTA

    Online Petition On Public/Private TDC Agreement

    We do not ask for a donation on the ipetition site nor do we ask for a donation. These are the fields that appear: Sign petition Fields marked with * are required * Name * Email...
  17. WCTA

    Online Petition On Public/Private TDC Agreement

    At the April 13, 2010 meeting of the Walton County Board of Commissioners meeting a motion was made by Commissioner Cecilia Jones to transfer the control of the TDC to the Walton Area Chamber of Commerce. This item quickly passed by a 4-1 vote without an opportunity for public input. The WCTA...
  18. WCTA

    Should the Walton Area Chamber of Commerce Manage The TDC?

    Do your believe the tourism industry would be best served by the BCC creating a Public/Private partnership relationship for the Walton Area Chmber of Commerce to manage the TDC ?
  19. WCTA

    DeFuniak Herald Editorial about TDC Director

    Another Editorial Opinion
  20. WCTA

    DeFuniak Herald Editorial about TDC Director

    Never said that was a condition for approval of the article. Said that he would have best served his readers when he researched the issue. He could have made a public records request and reviewed them on his own, or he could have just shot from the hip as he did. Yes I give him the right for...
  21. WCTA

    DeFuniak Herald Editorial about TDC Director

    Ken "I am going to do my best to put the county’s “best foot forward.” In my opinion that statement is factual. Another way of saying that is I will spin the story to my employers advantage not necessarily in the best interest of the public. THE WCTA has been active in Walton County...
  22. WCTA

    DeFuniak Herald Editorial about TDC Director

    Dear Abby Just could not help that, please understand. The dinner may have been business in your eyes. Were you aware that me Pickel previously worked for the TDC, left and was hired as a consultant? They are friends as well as business associates. Our issue is not with a dinner for two, but...
  23. WCTA

    TDC and EDC Incorporated into the Chamber of Commerce?

    Maybe it wasn't a witch hunt. You might find these tax liens interesting. Owner - none other than the then Treasurer of the TDC. If I remember correctly MS Brown was promoting an increase in the bed tax, but fell just a little behind in forwarding those taxes collected by her firm to...
  24. WCTA

    TDC and EDC Incorporated into the Chamber of Commerce?

    Walton counties czar ! If you were there you heard the discussion about an agreement that was distributed to at least some of the TDC Board last week. After making multiple public record requests and being told that no such document existed - a kind soul provide a copy that they received on...
  25. WCTA

    TDC and EDC Incorporated into the Chamber of Commerce?

    At the BCC meeting last evening a motion was made by Commissioner C Jones to enter into a contract with the Chamber to manage the TDC operations. We were there and read a resolution from our Executive Committee that opposed any move to place the operations in any type of public/private...
  26. WCTA

    DeFuniak Herald Editorial about TDC Director

    I read carefully Bruce Colliers, Editor of the DeFuniak Herald, Editorial in the April 15 edition. I wonder after reading the article whether he is the author or whether the Walton County PIO is the true author. The article clearly states that it is based on discussion with Mr. Little and his...
  27. WCTA

    Walton woman honored in D.C.

    Robert is correct that is exactly how we handle costs associated with WCTA public records requests. Four people are authorized but we discuss the request prior to making the request. The most interesting part of the event you mentioned concerning a statement that our request had to be in...
  28. WCTA

    Garbage contracts in audit, interesting findings.

    It is our understanding that no one has ever verified the billings. The audit firm has recommended certain procedures that are to be followed in the processing of addresses, billing and verification of invoices submitted. It is commonly referred to as a "lack of internal controls" in the...
  29. WCTA

    Walton woman honored in D.C.

    There is no "unreasonable" exemption within the Florida statute on Public records. Produce the documents and charge the requester for the the allowable costs. Simple and doesn't cost the taxpayer anything much less $280,000 in legal fees. The WC BCC legal cost on the Driftwood estates make...
  30. WCTA

    Garbage contracts in audit, interesting findings.

    In 2008 the WCTA began questioning the billings for Garbage pickup when a comparison of households to billings did not seem reasonable and accurate. Calls for an audit of the billings went unheeded until late last year when the Office of OMB received permission to conduct an internal review by...
  31. WCTA

    Thank you WCTA

    Gladly This is a link to the ad. The Ad will appear in the Sun this weekend as well. CLICK FOR SUN AD MINI - Version
  32. WCTA

    Walton County Taxpayers' Association Annual Meeting 3/4/10

    WCTA Annual Meeting March 4th - Coastal Branch Library 7:00pm Guest Speaker - Patrick Pilcher - Walton County Property Appraiser "Your 2010 Property Taxes & Values - Up or Down?" " Public Invited "
  33. WCTA

    Walton Library Funding or Lack There of

    Library Budget Facts I have attached links to three documents that I believe to be germain to this thread. The first link is the budget request presented to the BCC by Dan Owens-Library Director. This request was "scrubbed" thru the budget process in July. The pages at the end of the request...
  34. WCTA

    Walton Library Funding or Lack There of

    FF2 SWFD receives about $690,000 per year from the BCC budget for providing EMS service in the South - I believe it was about three years ago that the county stopped giving them $40,000 per year for Fire Services in the South as they are an independent taxing authority. As far as the MSBU goes...
  35. WCTA

    Walton Library Funding or Lack There of

    Look at your tax bill FF2 - if you live in the SWFD taxing district you do pay twice. The BCC portion of you bill includes the budget for fire protection in Areas outside the area covered by SWFD. If you live in the area covered by SWFD you will find an amount to fund the SWFD. A person in...
  36. WCTA

    More Job Cuts by Walton County

    First let me say that I am an ordinary citizen. I know how to file a public records request, I regularly attend BCC meeting, and many BCC employee's know how to provide information to me as well as "regular citizens" through the WCTA Hotline. These studies are shared with the employee's when...
  37. WCTA

    More Job Cuts by Walton County

    THe Process For those that are unaware - an assessment of each Department within the BCC controlled structure is being methodically made. We receive copies of each departments results and a careful read of the attached link might help some understand the process and how decisions for...
  38. WCTA

    Walton County Raises Milage Rate

    For those that are not current on revenue sources: Only 42% of the BCC budget is funded by property taxes. They also receive sales tax and gasoline sales taxes, fee for permits and from grants The Tax collectors office receives no revenues from property taxes - they are fee based and their...
  39. WCTA

    Walton County Raises Milage Rate

    If it's in the paper it has to be correct ? Your County Commission did not vote to raise the millage rate at the last moment. State law allows for an administrative adjustment to be made when the final valuations from the Property Appraiser are lower than the estimates used during the public...
  40. WCTA

    Library Hours

    The WCTA conducted a non-scientific survey in 2007 concerning the priorities for funding of county programs and agency's. Although this survey is now 2 years old we believe that the study still has merit as we are faced with funding priorities. Over 1300 people participated in this survey in...
  41. WCTA

    If you get elected to County Commission, what power does that give your spouse?

    NOTE TO READERS: THESE ARE MY PERSONAL VIEWS AND ARE NOT NECESSARILY THE VIEWS OF THE WCTA - Bob Hudson I can make that assurance for you on my behalf. Yes I ran for office, but I lost and have stated more than once that I would not run for County Commissioner again. I do believe that...
  42. WCTA

    If you get elected to County Commission, what power does that give your spouse?

    Robert is free to express his viewpoint whenever he chooses as long as he does not invoke the name of the WCTA. He posts as an individual not as a member of the WCTA. The WCTA posts as an organization with its official viewpoint on issues when the board has taken a position or agreed on a...
  43. WCTA

    Home Values are dropping, so why did my Taxes go up?

    Let me ask a couple of questions: #1 - Did you make any improvements to your home? (added a pool, room, etc) #2 - Did the property appraisers office make an official inspection on your property during the past year that would have shown any improvements? Basically your assessed value should...
  44. WCTA

    Home Values are dropping, so why did my Taxes go up?

    Maybe this will help ! Recapture has been there since 1995 ! FLORIDA STATUTES: Section 193.155 - Homestead assessments.-- Homestead property shall be assessed at just value as of January 1, 1994. Property receiving the homestead exemption after January 1, 1994, shall be assessed at just value...
  45. WCTA

    Home Values are dropping, so why did my Taxes go up?

    Trim Notices were received by many Walton County taxpayers yesterday. Our hotline has been very busy since then with one question. Why did my taxes go up while my market value dropped ? We have developed the following to try and answer your questions. Florida law sets January 1 as the...
  46. WCTA

    2010 Trim Notice Millage Rates

    Well done ForestBay Gal!
  47. WCTA

    2010 Trim Notice Millage Rates

    In October, the Property Appraiser's Office provides the Tax Collector's Office with a Certified Tax Roll. The Tax Roll is then used to generate property tax bills. Bills are mailed to Walton County residents before November 1st of each year. Once bills are printed, any changes in the assessed...
  48. WCTA

    2010 Trim Notice Millage Rates

    You are correct in that once the TA sets and notifies you of their proposed maximum millage rate they are unable to raise that maximum, but can lower it during the Public Hearing process. Section 200.065(3), Florida Statutes - Method of fixing millage BH
  49. WCTA

    2010 Trim Notice Millage Rates

    Not sure exactly what disclosure you mean because WCTA is not one person. We use that user name when our members post on this site on studies, polls and items of interest to the citizens of Walton County, but I am the primary poster. When our members post under the WCTA userid the organization...
  50. WCTA

    2010 Trim Notice Millage Rates

    We have parcel data on all properties for the past two years. We looked at the data by area (Freeport, DeFuniak Springs, South Walton, and County other). We know which parcels have homesteads, how long the homestead has been in place. We then compared parcels against the average...
New posts


Sign Up for SoWal Newsletter