FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. – June 15, 2010 – Relatively little oil has made it to Northwest Florida, but the region’s fragile tourism-driven economy already is reeling from the blows being inflicted upon it by BP’s Deepwater Horizon spill.

Caught in a situation where the bad only can get worse, the last thing residents and businesses need are higher millage rates imposed to keep local taxing authorities afloat, area property appraisers say.

“We want BP on the hook” to prevent economic disaster, said Chris Jones, the property appraiser for Escambia County.

Jones was one of five local property appraisers who gathered Friday at the Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce at the invitation of state Sen. Don Gaetz and his son, state Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach.

The property appraisers had called earlier this week for a special session of the state Legislature.

They want to see lawmakers find ways to force BP PLC to reimburse the region for lost business and the tax revenue that tourism generates. They want to see lawmakers act quickly as well, because they know a lot of businesses and homeowners won’t survive until tax bills begin reflecting lower property values.

“It would be next year before the people getting killed by the drop in tourism can see any ad valorem tax benefits,” Okaloosa County Property Appraiser Pete Smith said. “We’re saying we see the train wreck coming, and it’s going to be ugly.”

They also worry BP will declare bankruptcy and wash its hands of any liability.

“We’re concerned BP is going to break and run,” Smith said. “When (legislators) can, they need to get a long-term commitment from BP to pay for all these losses.”

Don Gaetz said he favors taking the BP reimbursement issue to Tallahassee as a special session issue “so the special session is not just a template for the governor’s senate campaign.”

He said he believes the Legislature will convene in special session in July. “We can deal with real issues that are important to Northwest Florida,” he said.

The Gaetzes were adamant, however, that whatever legislation is proposed be tightly drawn and solid enough to pass muster with lawmakers from across the state. “In the absence of knowing what to do, the Legislature will do something,” Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, said. “And sometimes when you shoot in the dark, you don’t hit what you want.”

Whatever bill might be drafted cannot shift the burden of Northwest Florida’s coastal community onto taxpayers living north of the water or elsewhere in the state, Don Gaetz said.

Smith had expressed some concern that Friday’s meeting might be more political sideshow than brainstorming session. He said, afterward, however, he was pleasantly surprised by the discussion.

The Gaetzes invited not only the property appraisers from Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton and Bay counties but also had accountants, Realtors, condominium presidents and local elected officials.

No one had good news to report.

In addition to property tax issues, the appraisers noted that local governments will suffer from lost sales and bed tax revenue. Bruce Nunnally, with the accounting firm of Carr, Riggs and Ingram, said his business is working with clients who formerly made enough profit in June, July and August to tide them through the winter.

Now, he said, some of those business owners are struggling to survive June.

Mary Anne Windes, president of the Emerald Coast Association of Realtors, said the rental market had shown signs of improving until about two weeks after the Deepwater Horizon spill. Since that time, vacation rentals and home sales have taken drastic downturns, she said.

“The difference between a month ago and today is night and day,” she said.

Kabe Woods, president of KLW Properties, analyzes trends in housing and business. He said statistics indicate “a negative outlook” for commercial business, condominium sales and rentals, and local governments.

“This is impacting tourist revenue at all levels,” he said. “I see some big hits on revenue.”

Suzanne Harris, president of her Miramar Beach condominium association, reported, “the condominium market is being devastated.” She based her assessment partly on advance rentals, which she said had shown monthly increases from 16 to 30 percent until June, when the rentals dropped 70 percent.

Harris also told the legislators a local resort rental business had suffered 400 cancellations in a single week.

She said it is possible 50 percent of the owners at her condominium could have packed up and left by next year.

“I think you’re going to have a nightmare on the Emerald Coast,” Harris said.

Copyright © 2010 Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach, Tom McLaughlin. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.