County narrows down courthouse sites
BY FRANKLIN HAYES Gulf Breeze News franklin@gulfbreezenews.com

Goodin

County commissioners have begun to narrow down locations for their proposed courthouse. Out of 50 possible locations throughout the north and central portions of the county, on Feb. 22 commissioners narrowed down possible parcels to two geographic areas. Commissioners favored sites in East Milton due to their close proximity to the county jail. Locations in the vicinity of Avalon Boulevard are also favored because that area is known as "the crossroads of the county," according to Commissioner Gordon Goodin.

Although the list of sites was compiled by county staff, it consisted of property suggested by the City of Milton, private citizens and parcels the county already owns.

"I'm not going to go for any site we have to spend money on," Commissioner Goodin said. "I think we should maximize the tax payers' dollars and not buy property."

Commissioners said they might opt to trade land they own in order to obtain property for the proposed facility, but that county - owned property is going to be considered first.

"The donated property is going to be tops on my list," said Commissioner John Broxson.

Commissioner W.D. "Don" Salter chastised previous boards for not planning ahead. "If Highway 90 had been four-laned through downtown Milton, the jail site would be more attractive," he said. "Shame on us for doing nothing over the last 20 years. Here again is the cost of doing nothing."

In 2002, v o t e r s declined to pay for a $40 m i l l i o n replacement judicial facility with a onecent sales tax. Plans for the downtown replacement building were scrapped and efforts to build a new facility were revived after years of tremendous growth overburdened the antiquated facility in downtown Milton.

The state legislature is currently considering a bill that would eliminate property tax and replace that revenue with the nation's highest sales tax at 8.5 percent. Despite an uncertain financial future, the commissioners are determined to replace the dilapidated judicial

facility and are considering amortizing the cost over a number of years.

"It's possible we could lose $6 million to $11 million from this year's budget," said Commission Chairman Tom Stewart in reference to Governor Charlie Crist's promise to reduce property taxes. State government is planning to reduce ad valorem tax, a staple for local governments, in an effort to provide tax relief to Florida residents.

"The legislature could remove homesteaded property tax entirely and add 2 to 3 percent in sales tax," Goodin said. "We're going to get demagogued to death."

"The public wants to see what we're going to do," Stewart said. "We've been 'gonna do' this for a long time."