November 16, 2006 Issue

If I ever had a course in economics, I don't remember it. When Harbor Docks opened in 1979 my mother told me I needed to hire an accountant. I wasn't sure what an accountant was. I knew nothing about taxes or real estate. The only thing I knew about business school in college was that I didn't want to be in it.

Things haven't changed much. One thing that I have learned in the last 30 years is that in Northwest Florida not too many other people are experts on these subjects either. Having qualified my background on these issues, I have a much different view of the future of our area than local real estate brokers, government officials, developers and chamber of commerce boosters.

There was a recent letter to the Daily News that mentioned that local Republican leaders were well positioned to assume a new leadership role in this county. Say what? Republicans in this county have not only had a leadership position for the last two decades, they have had a monopoly on control.

Many of them did not even have opponents when they were elected. It is interesting to see how they have fared regarding their most cherished principles since they have been in power. How have they governed, with no opposition, concerning the most fundamental of all Republican issues— taxes?

In Okaloosa County taxes have gone through the roof. If ad valorem taxes weren't enough, they have invented new taxes and new taxing districts.

Bed taxes, having been raised to 4 percent, generate tens of millions of dollars. They have been brilliantly spent by our Tourist Development Council on advertising and on that albatross on Okaloosa Island. I think it is called the Okaloosa Convention Center. The role of the convention center escapes me. It does have a large parking lot. The TDC spends more than half of its budget on advertising. It lets readers of Southern Living know that we have beaches and golf and fishing here on the Gulf Coast. Now that's a unique message.

We live in an area where non-residents own 80 percent of the real estate. Second homeowners and investors pay the majority of our property taxes. They don't even live here. They don't have children burdening our school systems. They place few demands on our criminal justice system. They rarely utilize our county recreational facilities. The only people who put a real strain on our infrastructure are the tourists. And tourism happens to be the only industry we have. They pay their way through the bed tax.

Our new superintendent of schools has warned of belt tightening and a coming crisis in educational funding. How can this be possible? We already have to raise money for almost all of our children's extra-curricular activities.School bands and cheerleaders and cross-country teams are constantly holding car washesto pay for uniforms and transportation. Businesses are asked to sponsor classes and fund the purchase of newspapers so our children can learn to navigate the complex Daily News.

The county should have enough money for our kids to ride to school in limousines. Our kids should have new band uniforms every year. They should never again have to raise money to pay for a bus ride to a sporting event. Somewhere in this rich county there should be a pool so that our children could compete against kids across the state in the exotic sport of swimming.

In Destin, the quality of our children's education won't be the focus of our attention for much longer. We will have more pressing issues. Like, how do we survive the perfect storm that we face brought by on by taxes and property insurance. The chamber of commerce and the real estate industry want you to believe that our local economy will turn around any day now. They come from the school of thought that says, "Business is great and getting better every day."

When I first moved to Destin, John Cox was the real estate agent. The only real estate agent. Now, there are 1500 real estate salespeople here. Many people associated with the real estate market in Destin (practically everyone), grew comfortable with selling, and flipping, and closing on several properties a year. The outlandish prices and the corresponding commissions made for amazing profits. With those profits came luxury housing, monies for entertainment, and the seemingly requisite Hummer. Those days are gone and they won't return. Unfortunately, all that will be left from the past decade of condominium flipping is maxed out credit cards.

The near future of Destin is bleak. It is a frightening landscape with stormy days ahead for local residents and businesspeople. My friends who have the most experiencewith the stormy days we face are fishermen. And they've just about been put out of business for other reasons.

Our county has had 20 years of Republican leadership. They certainly have the experience factor on their side. Unless they do something drastically out of character, the landscape of Destin will change so much that a huge number of local people and local businesses won't be here in another 20 years.

We've been so busy dodging hurricanes and the storms that nature throws at us that we haven't been focusing on the real threat to our area. Taxes and property insurance will be the storms of the next generation. They will make hurricanes seem like summer squalls.

Many of us won't survive the storms that our own leaders have created.

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