IRS Audit Results In Changes For Escambia Volunteer Firefighters; Some Forced To Resign
January 16, 2015
Due to an IRS audit, change is coming to the ranks of volunteer firefighters in Escambia County, including a policy that will force some volunteers to resign by the end of January.
Volunteer firefighters in Escambia County currently receive stipend pay for answering 25 percent of their station’s calls during the month, ranging from $300 for a Firefighter I to $550 for a district chief.
The audit was prompted after the IRS discovered that several Escambia County employees were receiving both a W-2, showing taxes withheld from their “day” job with county, and a 1099, showing no taxes withheld as a volunteer firefighter. The IRS found Escambia County should have been withholding taxes on a stipend pay for all volunteers and the county owes over $78,000.
“We starting treating them more and more like regular employees,” County Administrator Jack Brown said, mentioning various requirements and items such as uniforms provided to volunteers. “We’ve started getting further away from being a volunteer…in the minds of the IRS.”
Click here to download the IRS audit results (4.3 MB pdf).
Under a solution discussed Thursday morning by the Escambia County Commission, volunteer firefighters will still receive a stipend check, but taxes will be withheld. The policy will also require any volunteer to resign if they are employed by the Escambia County BOCC to avoid any potential tax or overtime issues. Volunteer firefighters that work for county entities that do not fall under the Board of County Commissioners, such as the Sheriff’s Office or School Board, will not be required to resign.
Preliminary numbers show about a dozen county employees that will be forced to give up their volunteer firefighter positions.
A provision existed in the stipend program under which a volunteer could man a “duty crew” — spending a period of time at the station awaiting an emergency call — in lieu of making the 25 percent call requirement. Due to potential minimum wage issues, that policy will be eliminated or reworked.
County officials said the stipend and employment changes are due to the IRS and other agencies outside the county; they said the stipend changes are out of the control of Escambia County.
Commissioners also discussed the potential need to staff all county fire stations south of Nine Mile Road with paid career firefighters rather than volunteers, while remaining with a primarily volunteer force in North Escambia where fire stations typically receive fewer calls for service.
“I think you can count on volunteers in the north end of the county,” Commissioner Wilson Robertson said while expressing his support for all paid firefighters south of Nine Mile Road where the volunteers “can’t be found”. Robertson said he was referring to the inability to recruit an adequate number of volunteers in the southern end of the county, not the performance of current volunteers.
Escambia County Public Safety Director Mike Weaver, who began his emergency services career as an Escambia County volunteer firefighter, agreed. He also expressed a need for more fire station locations in the southern part of the county based upon call data.
“I think there’s a northern solution and a southern solution,” Commissioner Doug Underhill said, calling for the “right mix” of volunteer and career firefighters in the county.
While the tax withholding and employment relationships have been enacted by the county clerk’s office, which oversees payroll, any other changes to fire services in Escambia County discussed during Thursday morning’s Committee of the Whole meeting would need formal approval in a regular commission meeting.
Pictured: Escambia County volunteer firefighter battle a fully involved house fire on Highway 97 in Davisville on November 11, 2014. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Escambia Doctor Convicted Of Soliciting A Minor
January 16, 2015
An Escambia County doctor, Brian Mitchell Lee, has been convicted of traveling to meet a minor to engage in sexual contact, unlawful use of a two-way communication device to facilitate the commission of a felony and using a computer to solicit the sexual conduct of a child.
On December 22, 2013, an undercover law enforcement officer responded to Lee’s Craigslist ad seeking sex from “younger fit men.” Between December 22, 2013, and January 2, 2014, Lee engaged in sexually-explicit email conversations with who he believed to be a 14-year-old boy. On January 2, 2014, Lee traveled to a local bowling alley for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct with the teenage boy. Law
enforcement arrested Lee upon his arrival.
After the verdict was rendered, Circuit Judge Terry Terrell ordered a pre-sentence investigation and set sentencing for February 23. At that time, the court will be required to designate Lee as a sexual offender.
Relief At The Pumps: Finally Below Two Bucks
January 16, 2015
Gas prices in the North Escambia area have finally dropped below $2 at several stations.
The price of a gallon of regular unleaded dropped to as low as $1.95 in the North Escambia area Thursday at the Speed Mart at Highway 29 and Tate School Road. A price of $1.97 per gallon was common as other stations in the Cantonment area, while the Tom Thumb in Molino was at $1.99.
In Century, gas was still above $2 — at $2.02 at the Century Food Mart and $2.09 at the BP. In Davisville, the BP was still at $2.09 late Thursday afternoon.
Across the state line in Alabama, gas was $1.99 per gallon in Atmore and as low as 1.88 in Brewton.
The national average of $2.13 per gallon is lowest in nearly six years.
Pictured top: Gas at $1.97 per gallon Thursday in Cantonment. Pictured inset: Gas prices in Atmore were at $1.99. Reader submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Leaders Hear Local Wishes During Legislative Luncheon
January 16, 2015
The annual Legislative Luncheon sponsored by the Greater Pensacola Chamber and other local organizations was held Thursday in Pensacola. Members of the local legislative delegation heard from the business and professional community about local issues as they discussed priorities and issues for the upcoming session. The 60-day regular legislative session begins March 3.
Pictured top: (L-R) Rep. Doug Broxson, Rep. Mike Hill, Greater Pensacola Chamber Board of Directors Chair Carol Carlan, Rep. Clay Ingram, Sen. Greg Evers and Pensacola Chamber board member Justin Beck. Pictured below: the 2015 Legislative Luncheon. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Teen Pleads Not Guilty To December ‘Brutal’ Murder Near Munson
January 16, 2015
An 18-year old accused of the December murder of her stepfather near Munson made a video appearance in court Thursday. Taylor Lynn Crongeyer pleaded not guilty to the homicide charge against her.
Prosecutors said she shot 40-year Aubrey Dewayne Cooley who was found dead December 26 with a gunshot wound to his head at his Dale Hall Road home. He was tied to the trailer hitch of a pickup truck with a rope around his ankles.
When they arrived on scene, Crongeyer exited the residence with a large amount of blood on her clothing, according to an arrest report. When deputies walked through the residence, they found blood spots on the floor, a bedroom mattress and outside on the front and back porch areas. They also found a rifle on the floor at the foot of a bed in the master bedroom.
A spokesman for the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office called incident a “brutal homicide”, arresting Crongeyer just hours after the shooting.
She remains in the Santa Rosa County Jail without bond.
Pictured top: Taylor Lynn Crongeyer appeared in court via video Thursday, pleading not guilty to the charges against her. Video capture courtesy WEAR 3 for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Draft Florida Pot Rule Spells Out Requirements For Growers
January 16, 2015
A panel comprised of the director of the state Office of Compassionate Use, an accountant and a member of the Drug Policy Advisory Council would pick five nurseries to grow, process and dispense medical marijuana under a revamped rule released Thursday by the Florida Department of Health.
The selection committee would take the place of a lottery system initially proposed by the agency but nixed by an administrative law judge last year and is one of a number of changes included in the 10-page draft rule.
The agency is floating the proposal in advance of a Feb. 4 “negotiated rulemaking” meeting — the fourth public session on the new law — where a committee hand-picked by health officials will attempt to hammer out everything from who can grow the pot to how it can be distributed to patients.
State officials have used the rare negotiating process in the past to try to reach consensus on other controversial issues that, like the pot rule, have wound up in court. Most recently, the Department of Health used public negotiations to come up with a rule after a long legal battle about the approval of new hospital trauma centers.
“The department has provided a first draft of rule language that will be followed by sequential drafts as revisions are made leading up to the negotiated rulemaking session on February 4 and 5,” .department spokeswoman Tiffany Cowie said in an e-mail.
Under a marijuana law passed last spring, nurseries that have been in business for at least 30 continuous years in Florida and cultivate at least 400,000 plants are eligible to be one of five “vertically-integrated” entities that will grow, process and distribute strains of cannabis that are low in euphoria-inducing tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and high in cannabadiol, or CBD, for patients who suffer from severe spasms or cancer.
Doctors were supposed to begin ordering the substance, usually delivered in paste or oil form, for patients on Jan. 1. But after a legal challenge from a group of nurseries and other businesses, an administrative law judge in November struck down the health department’s first proposal for a regulatory structure. That has prompted the department to make another stab at crafting a rule.
The draft proposal released Thursday includes more detail about eligibility for the five licenses than in previous iterations of the rule. For example, applicants would have to address their experience cultivating cannabis, plants not native to Florida and plants for human consumption. They would also have to include experience with tissue culturing or plant genetics and detailed knowledge of cannabis cultivation.
Thursday’s rule includes “robust quality-control” measures and is “consistent with the objectives” laid out by the Legislature in passing the law, said Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Fort Walton Beach Republican who helped craft the legislation and who has expressed frustration over delays in making the low-THC product available for sick patients.
“In the last rule, there was not as much meat on the bone as it related to the qualitative elements. Those have been more fully fleshed out in this version of the rule,” Gaetz said.
Despite repeated complaints from patient advocates and growers who asked the department to consider allowing dispensing organizations to have additional retail locations, health officials in the latest version of the rule stuck to a requirement that the product be dispensed from a building adjacent to the property on which the marijuana is grown.
Thursday’s proposal also would require applicants to address how accessible their facilities are, “e.g., centrally located to several populated areas, located on a main roadway, not in a high crime area, et cetera,” and “proximity of dispensing facilities to patient population.”
Lawmakers leery about the proliferation of pot dispensaries opted to have the nurseries be responsible for all of the elements in the pot industry.
“To many who want to walk cautiously toward a more modern cannabis policy, there was attraction to a fully vertically-integrated model. We have seen the way retail locations spread throughout an area have been corrosive to communities in which they’re located in other states. I’m not saying we won’t ever get to a platform that allows for easier patient access. But I think this is an excellent start,” Gaetz said.
The department, which enlisted former Florida Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Bell to act as a mediator for the trauma discussions, has not identified who will be asked to serve in that capacity for the pot negotiations.
“If he’s got the magic pixie dust, it might be helpful to give him a ring,” Gaetz said.
The agency also has not announced who will be asked to serve on the negotiating committee to hash out the new rule. According to a notice issued when the workshop was announced, health officials intend to appoint representatives from a nursery, a testing laboratory, the Department of Health, a patient or patient representative, an attorney experienced in administrative law, a person with experience in agricultural practices and regulation, a physician authorized to order certain types of medical marijuana for patients and a person experienced with regulation of cannabis products elsewhere.
The agency’s decision to use the negotiated rulemaking process has frustrated some growers and other people interested in the new industry because of uncertainty about who will end up on the committee and unanswered questions about what steps health officials will take after the February workshop. Office of Compassionate Use Director Patricia Nelson has said that the Legislature must sign off on the new rule, meaning that the earliest a rule could be passed would be sometime after March 3.
Negotiated rulemaking is a “rare and optional process” seldom used by state agencies but which can be beneficial, said Seann Frazier, a lawyer who worked on the trauma rule.
“You can get the same amount of input from a public hearing as you can from a negotiated rulemaking session. The only difference is the stakeholders are at the table and are required by a mediator to bargain. You can test folks’ assumptions and maybe get some compromises made that simply walking to the podium and taking your turn won’t let you accomplish,” he said.
But families of sick children who have epilepsy and who could benefit from the low-THC cannabis, believed to reduce or eliminate life-threatening seizures, are worried that the agency is dragging its feet.
“We all need to refocus on why this legislation was written in the first place. There are children dying waiting on this medication. There is a real sense of urgency here,” said Ryan Wiggins, a spokeswoman for Holley and Peyton Moseley, who pushed for the low-THC law on behalf of their daughter, RayAnn, who suffers from a rare form of epilepsy that can cause hundreds of seizures a week.
The money-making potential of a new marijuana industry has created a distraction, Wiggins said.
“There are a lot of people who have seen this and seen green,” she said. “But the number one goal here is to make sure that these children are able to get their medication and get it in a timely manner so they can stop suffering.”
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Jay’s Blackmon Signs To Play Softball At Jeff Davis
January 16, 2015
Jay High School senior Dana Blackmon signed Thursday to play softball for the Jefferson Davis Warhawks in Brewton. Blackmon was the Warhawks’ first signee from the 2015 class. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
One Injured In Car Versus Semi Crash On Ten Mile Road
January 15, 2015
At least one person was injured in a collision between a semi-truck and a car Thursday morning on 10 Mile Road at Highway 29. The person’s injuries were not considered life threatening. The accident forced the temporary closure of West 10 Mile Road from Highway 29 to Highway 95A. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Price, click to enlarge.
International Flying Farmers Touchdown To Learn About Local Agriculture
January 15, 2015
Of all private pilots, International Flying Farmers are perhaps the only ones who will tell you their Cessnas and Beechcrafts and Pipers are no different from their combines, tractors and pickup trucks. After all, airplanes are workhorses too, for hauling supplies,checking irrigation systems, and perhaps compressing the time between the farm and parts store.
Wednesday, the a group from the International Flying Farmers touched down at the West Florida Research and Education Center in Jay, and they visited several local points of agricultural interest in a quick farm tour.
The International Flying Farmers, or IFF for short, are based in Oklahoma where the group was formed over 70 years ago. Local farmers turned to airplanes as tools of the agricultural trade. Both in the past and today, planes were a vital part of a family farm life, used to deliver groceries and livestock feed, deliver the mail, round up cattle, check crops and fields, monitor irrigation systems and sometimes to just visit with friends and neighbors on remote farms.
Wednesday, a few of the groups nearly 1,000 members, checked out the Research Center, explored peanut production, learned about cotton production in Northwest Florida and more. The local farm tour was the finale to a three-day fly-in for an IFF workshop based in Navarre. The group enjoyed the beach on Monday, and spent Tuesday touring the National Naval Aviation Museum, NAS Pensacola and downtown Pensacola.
Pictured top: Honey producer and farmer Chester Capers addresses a group from the International Flying Farmers Wednesday. Pictured inset: Jerry Jones explains cotton production. Pictured below: Ken Barton from the Florida Peanut Producers Association shares information about the Florida peanut industry with members of the International Flying Farmers. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Some High School Report Cards May Be Incorrect
January 15, 2015
Some high school report cards issued in Escambia County may be incorrect. If a student takes a course with a state end of course exam, or an online course, or a course an at alternative school, their report card may have errors.
An automated phone call is scheduled for tonight to parents of students impacted. According to Superintendent Malcolm Thomas:
“Final grade calculations for courses with state EOC exams will not be considered accurate until those exam scores have been entered into calculations. Scores from those exams arrive on different dates and times, and will be processed as soon as possible.
Due to a technical problem, courses taken online or at an alternate site such as Community School, will not currently be on the report card. A message will be posted on the parent portal in Focus, and principals will do a call out to you when these issues are resolved. If you wish, you may request a new copy of your child’s report card at that time.”