September 14, 2007 Update

Oral argument in the appeal of Judge Geeker’s decision in the 2004 case brought on behalf of commercial lessees on Pensacola Beach is scheduled at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time on October 17, 2007, in the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee. The Court has allotted 15 minutes per side. In the “Update from Attorneys – April 24, 2007” (which is also posted on this web site), there is an explanation of Shell, Fleming, Davis & Menge’s arguments to counter the 2005 decision of the District Court of Appeal in the Navarre Beach case of Ward v. Brown on which Judge Geeker relied.

There is no way to predict with any certainty when the Court might render its decision. Normally with only two of the three judges being required to agree on the decision, a ruling can be expected within three to four months. As soon as a decision is rendered in the commercial case, our attorneys will advise us of the implications of the ruling on the residential case and the next course of action.

Pensacola Beach residential leaseholders should have recently received a notice of proposed 2007 property taxes from the Property Appraiser. Each new tax year requires the filing of a separate lawsuit for that year. Plaintiffs from past years, whose leasehold interest in a specific parcel(s) named in the complaint has not changed and who are being assessed 2007 taxes on the improvements, will be named as parties to the 2007 complaint. This is true if you had a zero assessment in 2005 and/or 2006 and have now repaired or rebuilt and are being assessed on your improvements. As long as the name of the plaintiff remains the same, parties from prior complaints will appear as plaintiffs in the 2007 complaint. There are no new documents or additional fees required of these plaintiffs at this time. As soon as a certified copy of the tax roll is available (mid October), the list of 2007 plaintiffs will be compiled. To provide an opportunity to review the plaintiff list before the complaint is filed in early December, a list of the carry over plaintiffs from prior years will be posted to web site (www.pbeachtaxsuit.com).