Welcome to Santa Rosa County Judicial Center.org.. This web site is for the citizens of Santa Rosa County, Florida to learn about their courthouse and help determine the future of a Santa Rosa County Judicial Center.   As a fifty year plus resident of Santa Rosa County and a thirty year user of our courthouse professionally, I believe it is important to provide information to the taxpayers who have been asked in the past to help chart the future for a Santa Rosa County Judicial Center.  The future today includes determining the need, location and payment method and amount for a Santa Rosa County Judicial Center.  The future in the past included asking the voters to approve a one percent tax to fund a specifically proposed courthouse in downtown Milton for many millions of dollars. Many of you will remember that I was the only attorney who ran radio advertisements opposing that amount at that location proposed.  You will recall that I never questioned the need but the plan. My primary concern was the future growth of our County and the need to plan for that growth to meet the need for our citizens and taxpayers most efficiently for the longest period of time for our future.  As I recall, well over sixty per cent of voters agreed, including  the voters in Milton. Our County has grown substantially since that time.   Despite the harsh economic times we are still holding our on.  We now have funding for substantial dollars fee generated from other than our county taxpayers to four lane substantial portions of Avalon Boulevard.   Numerous consumer retail outlets have located in our county.    More and more persons from adjoining counties are traveling to Santa Rosa County to spend here.  While Whiting Field remains with its substantial tax raising impact on Santa Rosa County, its continuance is not guaranteed.  Other changes include the cost of land going down substantially as well as the cost of construction.  One thing that has not changed is the need for us to plan for our Santa Rosa County Judicial Center. This year a one penny sales tax would generate over 12 million dollars in income.   I do not know how many dollars it takes to build a Courthouse but it seems to me in the time we have been discussing it we could have already raised the money without having to borrow any.  But timing is everything. This web site is to allow us to determine if now is that time for us to act and build in an area centrally accessible to the greatest number of us?  In other words, is now the best time for the taxpayers to get the best bang for their buck so that buck spent today saves them from having to spend a lot more of those bucks later?   Would doing something now also save us from higher property taxes to fund one later?  Is it more efficient for our own pocket books to let all those who shop in our County help pay for our Judicial Center instead of just us through property taxes? If we do not do something now will we be to late to save us money as property and construction prices begin to rise? We suggest for purposes of discussion that the taxpayers decide a certain time or a certain amount which we would agree to be taxed. That time and amount would be limited. We suggest for purposes of discussion that the site be somewhere along Avalon Boulevard which is centrally located. For example, one question is what would be the impact of the courthouse  on the use of the toll bridge and helping pay that off over time quicker by building it on Avalon? Another question is the number of acres needed to plan over time and the availability of that land. We are attempting to gather as much information as possible to help us answer those questions.   We have asked Mary Johnson, our Clerk of Courts for the figures of the filings history over time.  We have asked Sheriff Wendall Hall for the history of the actual numbers use of the courthouse.  He has also agreed to furnish us with his history of arrest in our County over time. We hope to obtain similar information from the State Attorney’s office.  We hope to have a photographic history of the courthouse over time compared with our population growth to see how it has needed to expand over time. We have current photographs showing maintinance  both inside and outside of the courthouse.  We also hope to have some use photos to show you the actual operation of the courthouse to see the numbers of folks who have to be managed with all the security issues today.    We hope to have tax growth history records specifically as it relates to sales tax dollars.  We have borrowed from information prepared by the Haas Center at UWF for Team Santa Rosa to show the tax impact of the military to suggest its impact if a sales tax is implemented today and later if that impact is lost.  In short we hope to provide as much information as we can from as many sources as possible to help us determine the future of a judicial center for us. If you have any of that information please just call the receptionist in my office at 994-4887.  But most importantly we have a section of this site for us to talk to each other. As a former opponent of an earlier plan I appreciate and encourage everyone to provide information so that we can all discuss and plan.  Opinions are also encouraged but an opinion is a conclusion. Please help us plan by providing the factual basis for your opinion so that we can all evaluate and discuss it.    Please remember that this site and blog has been put together in my office by folks who are learning how to do this as we go. There will be glitches but we will provide as much information as soon as possible.  Let’s learn and plan together. I look forward to hearing from you and thank each of you in advance for your participation.   Dan Stewart