Thursday, Santa Rosa County Commissioner Jayer Williamson lived up to his word by voting against renewing the lease to the Longleaf Alliance (LLA) for the house it uses as a headquarters at 8831 Whiting Field Circle. Williamson said he would do so Monday and would vote against any nonprofit receiving a piece of surplus property until the board looks at a policy creating an “open process” as he put it. Williamson raised the only objection Thursday, so the motion still passed to renew the LLA lease for three years with a one year renewal option. As Williamson and county staff look into the matter, the following includes how neighboring counties to the west and east, Escambia and Okaloosa Counties, handle their surplus property.
Between commission meetings, Williamson spoke with the Press Gazette about his decision. Commissioner Bob Cole Monday referred to the plan as “more government,” to which Williamson said, “(That) plays good in the paper and on stump speeches, but I look at this as the best return on investments for taxpayers.” He said the county does follow the state statute, but he said he would like to see the organization asking for property to come before the board during a Monday meeting, present the group and nature of the need, and vote Thursday to open a 10 day to two week RFP open to any nonprofit in the county doing similar work as the initial requesting nonprofit organization.
During recent meetings on the subject, board comments suggested return on investment shouldn’t rely solely on how much money a group can pay the county. Williamson agreed and said one group may offer $100 for a lease while another only $10, but the second may “give back $10 million to the county for services.” Williamson said he didn’t want a property to go to a group because it asked first.
As to the LLA, Williamson said, “Do I think they do a good job? Absolutely. Do I know if they’re the best? No, I don’t because there was never an open process. I don’t know if other nonprofits do the same…because there’s no policy in place.”
Javon Lloyd, Interim Community and Media Relations Officer with the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners said Escambia County prefers to sell property rather than lease, but reviewed the process including leasing. He said a nonprofit has to make a formal request to the board, “then the board has to decide if it benefits the county and welfare of the community. Once they figure that out and feel leasing does those things, the board has to produce a resolution and draft the lease.”
Lloyd also provided Code of Ordinances Chapter 46, Division 5, Sec. 46-137. Part (b) specifies “If the (BOCC) is satisfied that the use of the property is in the best interest of the county and the property is not needed for county purposes, the (BOCC) may authorize entry into a lease for rent, whether nominal or otherwise, as the (BOCC) may fix, regardless of the actual value of the lease. Part (c) requires a resolution setting forth the fact of the application, the purpose for which the property is to be used, and the rent and terms of the lease.
According to Zan Fedorak, Okaloosa County Purchasing Manager, the BOCC there handles surplus property two ways. The first method lays out how the county may donate property and the second is the auction method.
Okaloosa County’s Tangible Personal Property Inventory & Accountability Manual, Section 7, Part 2, paragraph I says donation of surplus county property “may be considered upon approval of the County Administrator and notification to the Board. All donatiosn willb e coordinated through the County Fixed Asset Coordinator as adopted by the Board on February 21, 2006.”
Fedorak said, “Our current method of disposing of surplus property is through an on-line auction. We have a contract with Global Auction Services who takes care of posting our surplus items to their website for public auction. This is an avenue for the public, or non-profits, to acquire our surplus if they desire to participate in the auctions. This process is a revenue source for the County and has run efficiently.” Note by the publishing of this article, it has yet to be determined if Okaloosa County auctions surplus buildings as it does other types of property.
Santa Rosa County seems to lack any similar policies of its own in handling surplus property beyond the state statute unlike Escambia and Okaloosa Counties. Keep up with the Santa Rosa Press Gazette to see how the SRC BOCC moves forward on this issue.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Online exclusive: Neighboring counties differ in managing surplus property