An Escambia County property appraiser in Florida filed an appeal with the Florida First District Court of Appeals after the court ruled the county cannot levy ad valorem taxes on a Pensacola Beach property, an undeveloped 12-acre parcel, having a 99-year lease that is automatically renewable.
The appeals court’s March 21 decision reversed a lower court ruling, based on a decision from the Florida Supreme Court in 2014 involving Navarre Beach properties that appraiser Chris Jones had used as a basis of levying ad valorem taxes.
Jones filed a motion for rehearing from all 15 judges on the appellate court in the case of Island Resorts v. Jones. Jones, however, is not asking the same three judge panel to hear the case again – but asking for the entire court to hold a rehearing.
According to the Gulf Breeze News, Edward Fleming, attorney and partner in MacDonald, Fleming, Moorhead Attorneys-at-Law in Pensacola, said: “Chris Jones filed a motion or rehearing or certification to the Florida Supreme Court as a matter of great public importance, and a motion for rehearing by all 15 judges on the 1st District Court of Appeal. We will file memoranda opposing both motions, as neither is supported in law or fact. “
Fleming and partner Todd Harris had said that the case involving Navarre Beach leases involved properties with 99-year leases or more that were automatically renewable – something the Appeals Court said was not a “true lease.”