June 5, 2009 Update

On May 28, 2009, our attorneys filed Plaintiffs’ Motion to Consolidate for each of the five pending cases (2004 – 2008) that have been filed challenging the assessment and levying of local taxes on leasehold improvements on Pensacola Beach. The attorneys representing Defendants (Chris Jones and Janet Holley) did not have any objection to the consolidation of cases. Florida law requires that a complaint be filed for each tax year. As stated in the document sent to Judge Michael Jones “The factual and legal issues in all five of these cases arise out of essentially the same facts (just different years), and judicial economy - - the avoidance of unnecessary costs or delay - - would be served by having all of the cases consolidated in one division. Consolidation would also avoid the risk of inconsistent rulings in these separated cases.”

Making this motion has given our legal counsel an opportunity to bring our case back to the attention of Judge Jones. As stated in the cover letter sent with the motion “The Court still has under consideration cross motions for summary judgment in the 2004 case, which were argued before you in May 2008. If consolidation is granted, and if summary judgment is granted to either side, that ruling will be equally applicable to the other years’ cases.”

We have waited over a year for a ruling. We have heard from many plaintiffs who have been forced to pay property taxes because of refinancing or have had their mortgage companies pay the taxes on their behalf. These people are being charged 18 percent interest because there has not been a court order that mandated the payment of property taxes at the legally established rate of 12 percent. The liaison committee has instructed our attorneys to research the interest rate and advise us of what action can be taken. That has yet to be completed.