Bidding Now Open On County Tax Certificate Sale
May 27, 2017
The tax certificate sale for 2016 delinquent real estate taxes in Escambia County will be held June 1 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. CDT at BidEscambia.com.
Property taxes unpaid as of 4:30 p.m. on May 31 will be eligible for purchase. To prevent a certificate from being sold, property owners with delinquent taxes must make their payment by 4:30 p.m. May 31 either through the website, here, or in person at any of our four convenient tax collector offices. All late payments will be returned for additional fees.
Registration for the sale is open at BidEscambia.com and will continue until the sale ends June 1. The sale is a reverse auction, with interest rates on individual certificates starting at 18 percent. Bidders compete for the lowest rate, and certificates are awarded to those with the lowest bid. All unsold certificates will be issued to Escambia County at 18 percent annual interest.
The tax certificate sale is an annual online auction where bidders can purchase a delinquent taxpayer’s debt in exchange for an annual interest rate, ensuring the majority of unpaid taxes are collected and distributed to taxing authorities. Last year, more than 6,900 certificates were sold for a total of over $8.4 million, recovering 97 percent of delinquent taxes. Delinquent real estate accounts are published online at BidEscambia.com.
Two Injured When ATV Slams Into Swimming Pool
May 27, 2017
Two people were injured when their ATV crashed into a swimming pool Friday night near Allentown in northern Santa Rosa County.
Jack Jernigan, 62,was driving the ATV across a yard in the 5500 block of Allentown Road with passenger Sissy Jernigan, 8, sitting in front of him. Sissy Jernigan grabbed the throttle, causing the ATV to accelerate. Jack Jernigan tried to veer around an above-ground pool, but he struck the pool, causing the ATV to overturn. The occupants fell off the ATV, and ATV landed on top of them.
Jack Jernigan was airlifted by helicopter to Baptist Hospital, while Sissy Jernigan was transported by LifeGuard EMS ambulance to Baptist.
The accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol.
Motorcyclist Injured In Cantonment Crash
May 27, 2017
A motorcyclist was seriously injured in a Cantonment crash late Friday afternoon.
The collision between the Harley Davidson motorcycle and a car happened about 5:40 at Pine Forest and East Kingsfield Road.
Further detail have not been released by the Florida Highway Patrol.
Photos by Sean Bullington for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge
Florida Taxwatch: Fewer Turkeys, Less Transparency
May 27, 2017
Reforms to the way the Legislature puts its budget together lowered the number of “turkeys” wedged into the spending plan, but there are still some items Gov. Rick Scott should consider vetoing, a Tallahassee-based think tank said Friday.
Florida TaxWatch included $177.8 million worth of spending in its annual “Turkey Watch” report — aimed at identifying projects that were added to the $82.4 billion spending plan under processes the business-backed organization objects to on the grounds of transparency or accountability.
Overall, lawmakers approved several pieces of legislation that would spend $83.1 billion on state government over the year that begins July 1, but some of that spending was outside of the actual budget plan.
TaxWatch flagged 111 budget items as turkeys, though the organization stresses that it isn’t making a value judgment on the projects, generally shepherded through the process by individual House and Senate members.
Instead, the concerns the group raises are about process, such as whether the line item overrode projects given a priority by state agencies, whether it was added in House-Senate negotiations over the budget, or whether it tripped a few other procedural questions.
Kurt Wenner, the organization’s vice president for research, said budget reforms spearheaded by House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, helped hold down the number of projects that appeared in the spending plan during the negotiations despite not being in either the House or Senate’s initial draft.
Corcoran insisted that any projects be filed as individual bills to be considered for the House budget, and the Senate required requests to be formally put on paper as well.
That limited the number of things that ended up in the budget during the “conference” process where differences between the House and Senate are hammered out, Wenner said.
“Even though they didn’t meet the goal of ‘no conference adds,’ they came fairly close,” Wenner said. “That’s a significant improvement because of the numbers that they usually put in there.”
Among the largest turkeys identified are a $15 million interchange for I-75 in Pasco County, where Corcoran lives; nearly $11.9 million for bridge and tunnel construction in Miami Gardens; and $10 million for Citrus Grove Road in Lake County. Almost $141.1 million of the turkeys this year were transportation projects.
At the same time that there was some progress, TaxWatch said, there were also issues with the way state spending was negotiated.
For example, Wenner said the organization had qualms about how much of the discussion between House and Senate leaders wasn’t public, and he indicated the group was also uneasy with the process that produced a massive education bill (HB 7069) that includes almost $419 million in spending outside the budget.
“Although member projects were more transparent and accountable, I think it’s certainly hard to say that the budget process as a whole was more transparent and accountable than it had been,” Wenner said.
For their part, lawmakers have insisted the process was transparent. Corcoran in particular was fond of touting the project improvements as a sign of the openness.
“Every single thing that you’re seeing in the budget — for the first time since the ‘68 (state) constitution, we now see it all,” he told reporters late in the session. “There was nothing that came in late, nothing that came in on the back of a napkin.”
Neither Corcoran nor Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, responded through spokespeople to requests for comment on the TaxWatch list.
But large swaths of the budget were still negotiated behind closed doors. Several education groups have called on Scott to veto the education bill both because of some of the policy inside the measure and because of the process used to put it together.
And while the process for projects led to fewer turkeys this year, TaxWatch said the overall number of those projects — about 700 of them, valued at more than $600 million — was unusual.
“For member projects, I would say that there are at least as many as there have been in any year lately, and probably more so than in the last couple,” Wenner said.
Scott has not said what he will do with the budget, which has not been sent to him yet. Once the Legislature presents him with the bill, he will have 15 days to decide whether to sign it, veto it or strike individual items with his line-item veto.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Escambia County Fire Rescue Announces Staff Promotions
May 27, 2017
Escambia County Fire Rescue has announced several promotions.
Lieutenants Daniel Brask, Russell Adam Bobe Jr. and Norman Robinson II were promoted to battalion chief. Brask and Bobe along with Chief Adam Harrison will be assigned to lead the newly created Third Battalion, which covers the fire stations north of Brent Lane, including the North Escambia area.
Robinson was assigned as the fire headquarters chief of Logistics. Firefighters Joseph Martin, James Beagle and Ronson Cloer have been promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and their assignments have yet to be determined.
The promotions were effective Saturday, May 20.
Wahoos Get Past Mississippi
May 27, 2017
Pensacola Blue Wahoos left fielder Tyler Goeddel scored on right fielder Aristides Aquino’s soft ground out to shortstop to help the Blue Wahoos regain the lead, 6-5, in the seventh inning.
After four lead changes in Friday’s game at Trustmark Park, it was a lead that Pensacola would not relinquish. Blue Wahoos relievers Robert Stock, Geoff Broussard and Jimmy Herget combined to throw 3.2 scoreless innings, give up one hit and strike out two.
Pensacola evened its record to 9-9 in one-run games and improved to 27-21 and is in sole possession of first place in the Southern League South Division.
The seesaw game allowed Stock, who was called up from the High-A Daytona Tortugas, to get a win in his first appearance with the Blue Wahoos. He pitched 1.2 innings and struck out one. He retired all four batters he faced, which included a double-play to end the sixth inning.
Meanwhile, Herget earned his second save in a row for Pensacola and now has 13 on the season to lead the Southern League. The righty also struck out one and now has 36 Ks in 22 innings pitched this season.
Before Goeddel scored the winning run, Mississippi scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to tie Pensacola, 5-5. The Braves third baseman Travis Demeritte singled to center field to drive in center fielder Keith Curcio and right fielder Ronald Acuna.
Pensacola shortstop Blake Trahan had doubled in first baseman Eric Jagielo and second baseman Alex Blandino in the top of the sixth inning to put the Blue Wahoos ahead, 5-3.
Gabriel Guerrero had knocked in the tying run, 3-3, for Pensacola in the fifth inning when the center fielder’s single to shortstop scored pinch hitter Leon Landry.
Blandino smashed his second homer of the season to left field in the second inning that put the Blue Wahoos up, 2-0. Blandino was 1-3 with a walk and two runs scored in the game.
Guerrero also got back on track at the plate going 4-5 with a triple, scoring once and driving in a run. It was his first four-hit game this season with Pensacola and his 19th multi-hit game of the year. The 23-year-old Guerrero was 3-27 before going 6-12 against Mississippi in the first three games of the series.
Escambia Woman Killed After Running Red Light
May 26, 2017
An Escambia County woman was killed Friday morning after running a red light in West Pensacola.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, 76-year old Ruth Stewart was traveling west on West Fairfield Drive when she ran a red traffic signal at Patricia Drive. Her vehicle was struck by a 1997 Lexus driven by 33-year old Jeremiah Nelson of Pensacola.
Nelson received minor injuries.
Three Injured In Cantonment Rollover Crash
May 26, 2017
Three people were injured in two vehicle crash Friday morning near Cantonment.
The collision between an Infiniti and a GMC Arcadia happened shortly before 10 a.m. at the intersection of West Kingsfield Road and County Road 97. The driver of the Arcadia and two juvenile passengers were transported by ambulance to a local hospital. Their conditions were not available.
The accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. Further details have not been released.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Byrneville Elementary Building Committee Talks Multi-Million Project
May 26, 2017
An organizational building committee meeting was held Thursday afternoon at Byrneville Elementary School, with group mostly comprised of teachers offering their ideas for a new school building.
The charter school is considering the construction of a new multi-million dollar modern building containing some number of classrooms, likely a cafetorium and possibly even a small gym.
Participants discussed the need for a building with at least 8-10 classrooms with separate bathrooms for kindergarten students. The largest building on the current Byrneville campus was build in 1941 and contains five classrooms, plus offices and a cafeteria.
Teachers also expressed their desire to see a multipurpose room and perhaps a modern lunchroom, making way to move the charter school’s library from a portable into the current lunchroom.
“The is a great opportunity for us,” Principal Dee Wolfe-Sullivan said the possible building project. “Our enrollment is steady and the population growth in the county is coming this way.”
The school’s board of directors will meet at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 31 to continue discussion on a new building. The meeting is open to the public.
Cantonment Church Thrift Store Going Out Of Business
May 26, 2017
A thrift store in Cantonment that aimed to help others is going out of business.
Last October, St. Monica’s Episcopal Church officially opened Monica’s Attic Thrift Store in the old Winn Dixie shopping center at 470 Highway 29 South. The store will close for good at 5 p.m. this Saturday. There are currently liquidation prices across the store.
“Thank you Cantonment for this great mission opportunity,” Viven Welch of Saint Monica’s said.
Proceeds from the store have funded a beans and rice ministry and the church….providing beans and rice no questions asked to those in need in month.
With God’s help, the Beans and Rice ministry will continue through donations,” Welch said.
The next giveaway of free packages of dried beans and rice is this Saturday from 9 until 11:30 a.m. at St. Monica’s Episcopal Church, 699 S. Hwy. 95-A in Cantonment. call (850) 937-0001 for more information.
Pictured: Monica’s Attic Thrift Store in Cantonment. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
