Coastal lawmakers: Secretary of State’s tidelands leases shouldn’t apply to family piers

Coastal lawmakers: Secretary of State’s tidelands leases shouldn’t apply to family piers

Lease payments that Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann collects from waterfront property owners may generally amount to not more than $10,000.

Still, many lawmakers say that the practice unfairly forces people who already pay property taxes pay again.

Earlier this month, the state House and Senate gave final passage to a bill that would block Hosemann from charging the annual fees, which apply to residential piers of a certain size that border state waters.

Gulf Live
4/15/12