Daily Record Financial News &
Thursday, May 5, 2016
Vol. 103, No. 124 • Twelve Sections
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Finding $1.9M in illegal claims
Photo by Wes Lester / City of Jacksonville
Office focusing on bad homestead exemptions
A walk to honor colleagues lost in line of duty The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office remembered fallen comrades during Police Memorial Day on Wednesday. Above, Detective Eric Jones escorts a family member of a fallen officer through a line of members of the department. The agency has lost 61 officers in the line of duty since 1840. See more photos on Page A-4.
Harveys format driven by research
Southeastern Grocers LLC closed its Winn-Dixie store on Edgewood Avenue North at 4 p.m. Tuesday and re-opened Wednesday morning with a new name, a new focus and a new format that might be rolled out further. “We’re trying a format for customers shopping on a budget,” said Southeastern Grocers LLC President and CEO Ian McLeod. Along with in-store changes made overnight by the Southeastern Grocers team, large green banners went up on the front of the Northwest Jacksonville building announcing the first Harveys Supermarket in the city. The city approved a permanent sign Wednesday. If the format is successful, McLeod said the company might roll out the initiative throughout the Harveys chain or possibly to Winn-Dixie stores. Before 9:30 a.m., customers were lined up for the 10 a.m. grand opening. The first
500 qualified to receive a free 12-pack of Chek soda, a longtime Winn-Dixie brand that Harveys will carry. It was the customer base that convinced McLeod it was a good idea to transition from the Winn-Dixie banner to Harveys, which is aimed at a demographic that is strongly price-conscious. McLeod said store management heard from customers about what they wanted. Researchers talked with shoppers and “listening groups” were formed. The two main areas of feedback: The vegetable and greens selection and the
pricing. An example of the store’s response: A large bin of collard greens at twofor-$3, sourced from Northeast Florida, was being continually replenished within an hour of the store opening. Many shopping carts were McLeod brimming with the leafy bunches. Inventory, displays and aisles are arranged to focus on value, such as the Big Pack Value foods, the “Pick any 5 for $19.95” meal items, the “$1 Zone” and the overall “Low and Staying Low” price pledges. McLeod said during a store tour that Mathis continued on Page A-2
By David Chapman Staff Writer In a time when there’s a crying need for more city revenue, Property Appraiser Jerry Holland has found about $1.9 million during his first nine months on the job. His office discovered fraud in homestead exemptions — the perk homeowners enjoy by taking a deduction of up to $50,000 off their property’s assessed value. It’s a nice break, but one that means extra ad valorem revenue doesn’t flow into city coffers. In all, Duval County has 189,000 such exemptions, but not everyone deserves the tax break. Sometimes homes are actually rental properties, other times no one lives in them at all. Holland heard about the issue when Holland he took office in July and beefed up his compliance department. The results have been noticeable. His team has issued 485 property liens to owners who have wrongly been receiving a homestead exemption. The total amount of those liens is $1.9 million. That far exceeds what was found in the nine months prior to Holland’s arrival, when just 87 were issued for $577,000. Fraud
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2015 Delinquent Real Estate Tax List SEE TODAY’S SUPPLEMENT A-K ENCLOSED OR VIEW THE LIST AT JAXDAILYRECORD.COM
Short move for Downtown ad agency to new home
The building at 10 S. Newnan St. in Downtown sold last week for $840,000.
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legal notices begin on page
Photo by Max Marbut
By Max Marbut, Staff Writer
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When the 5canons advertising agency moved last week from leased office space to a building purchased by its president, it wasn’t a long trek. Adam Schaffer moved his company from the Law Exchange Building at 24 N. Market St. to 10 S. Newnan St., about three blocks away. The two-story, 106-year-old structure was listed for $1.3 million. Schaffer purchased it for $840,000, according to documents filed last week with the Duval County Clerk of Court. The seller, a corporation comprising partners with the law firm Coker, Schickel, Sorenson, Posgay, Camerlengo & Iracki, bought the building in
1992 for $1.27 million, according to the Duval County Property Appraiser. Jake Schickel said the firm’s office was at 10 S. Newnan St. after they bought the building, but they moved next door to 136 E. Bay St. several years ago and rented their former space to tenants. The time was right to get out of the landlord business. “We had an opportunity to sell it, and we did,” said Schickel. Schaffer said he looked at several properties before selecting his new business address. The building appealed to him for its location at the corner of Independent Drive and Newnan Street, near the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront
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and one block from The Elbow entertainment district. “It’s kind of tucked away, but we’re in the heart of all of it,” said Schaffer. “We’re very much committed to Downtown.” He plans to replace the roof, make improvements to the deck above part of the building and install fiber Internet service. “It needs a little love,” Schaffer said, and estimated he’ll spend about $100,000 for the improvements. The work is scheduled to be complete in about 90 days. mmarbut@jaxdailyrecord.com @DRMaxDowntown (904) 356-2466
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