By DOTTY NIST
Setting a July 9 public hearing to consider an ordinance imposing a fifth cent Tourist Development Tax and approving a contract for purchase of property behind the county offices in Freeport were among actions taken at the June 25 Walton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) meeting at the Walton County Courthouse.
This is the third time the officials have voted to hold a public hearing to consider a new fifth cent Tourist Development Tax known as the High Tourism Impact County Optional Tax. The previous public hearings were continued/cancelled because a review of the proposed county ordinance to impose the tax had still been underway by the state Department of Revenue (DOR).
“We do have confirmation from DOR that they’ve reviewed the ordinance and we’re good to go now,” Walton County Attorney Sidney Noyes told the officials at the June 25 meeting.
The fifth cent tax has been under discussion since fall 2018 or longer. While proceeds from the new tax would be available for any purpose allowable for bed tax revenues, the Walton County Tourist Development Council (TDC) and county officials have indicated that these additional funds would be used for infrastructure, and, in particular, property purchases for beach access and parking and related infrastructure improvements. If approved, the tax would take effect in October 2019.
The proposed ordinance may be viewed online at: https://tinyurl.com/y3t732xd.
The public hearing on the ordinance was scheduled in conjunction with the July 9 regular BCC meeting at the South Walton Annex, which is to begin at 4 p.m.
The property purchase contract was presented by Walton County Administrator Larry Jones. It provided for Walton County to acquire from seller Freeport Retail, L.L.C, 10.497 acres located behind the Freeport Business Park at a cost of $1.05 million. The business park is located on SR-20 East in Freeport.
The BCC had previously approved proceeding with the county property acquisition process to obtain this property for purposes of additional parking for the county offices in the business park. There had been discussion on the property over the past few months.
Jones explained that at one time the property had been under contract and had been offered to the county by the contract holder at “what we thought, and have since found out, a fairly extremely inflated price.” That party’s contract, he continued, had expired after the county did not pursue the purchase at that price, followed by the property owner asking if the county would still be interested in acquiring the property.
Jones said the contract price of $1.05 million was “more than supported” by two appraisals and also less than the average of those appraisals.
He suggested moving forward with the purchase—and designing the additional parking needed for the county offices in the business park on the western portion of the property. The property, according to Jones’ assessment, was more than ample to provide enough parking area for long-term growth of the county facilities. His other recommendation was to market the portion of the property fronting U.S. 331 in order to recoup a portion of the purchase price.
District 3 Commissioner Melanie Nipper moved for approval on the condition of having Walton County Public Works work together with the state Department of Transportation (DOT) to improve traffic safety in the area of the business park, including funneling traffic past the first (eastern) entrance to the business park toward the alternate entrance at Blue Ridge Parkway and SR-20.
The motion for approval was seconded by District 2 Commissioner Danny Glidewell, and the motion carried unanimously.