GULF BREEZE, Fla. – The city of Gulf Breeze has gone to the Florida Supreme Court in a dispute about whether a city-owned golf course should be subject to property taxes.
Attorneys for the city filed a notice that is a first step in asking the Supreme Court to take up the dispute with Santa Rosa County Property Appraiser Greg Brown, according to a copy of the notice posted Monday on the Supreme Court website.
A divided panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal in March sided with Brown and said the course should not have received a tax exemption because of a contract between the city and a private management company.
The ruling, which stemmed from taxes in 2016 and 2017, said the contract with IGC-Tiger Point Golf Club, LLC entitled the company to retain any profits, along with bearing the risks of financial losses.
The panel in May rejected a request from the city for a hearing before the full Tallahassee-based appeals court.
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But the panel called for the Supreme Court to take up the case, a move known as certifying a question of “great public importance” to the Supreme Court. As is common, the notice does not detail arguments the city will make at the Supreme Court.
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