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Thomas: $1 Per Year Lease Over, New Life Asked To Vacate Old Century High
December 21, 2009
When their $1 per year lease is up next year, Escambia County School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas says New Life Baptist Church is expected to vacate their current location in the old Century High School.
“We sent them a notice that we expect them to leave in June,” Thomas said. New Life’s current lease expires in June 2010. “I will send them notices to remind them to vacate; we don’t deal with $1 per year leases anymore.”
Over the past five years, New Life has paid just $5 — at $1 per year — to lease the 30,327 square foot building under a lease executed by former Superintendent Jim Paul. Under the lease, the school district has provided maintenance on the building, and the BOE has maintained property insurance.
In May, Thomas sent a letter to New Life Pastor Irvin Stallworth offering to rent the building to New Life for $5 per square foot, far below the $10 to $15 per square foot he said similar buildings would cost in monthly rent. The reduced rate, his letter says, is because of the “location, age and configuration of the facility.” At $5 per square foot, the 30,327 square foot building would have cost the church $12,636.25 per month, or $151,635 per year of a five year lease.
“There are no negotiations going on,” Thomas said, adding that Stallworth “has chosen not to respond to our letters.”
Shawn Dennis, the school district’s assistant superintendent of operations, said the lease was non-renewed on the advice of the district’s legal counsel.
“The lease will not be renewed,” Dennis said. “The tenant will be asked to vacate.”
Leasing the district’s building to the church at $1 per year is not in the best interest of the taxpayers, Thomas said. “We always look at the best options for the community, the school and the taxpayers.”
Attempts to contact Stallworth for comment on this story were unsuccessful. In May, he said the church would explore all of its options in regards to the lease.
Even if New Life no longer occupies the old Century High School, the church will still owe monthly payments to the school district for back utility bills.
For the first four years New Life Baptist Church leased the old Century High School for $1 a year from the Escambia School District while taxpayers footed the bill for nearly $200,000 in utilities.
After NorthEscambia.com uncovered the story on August 7 of last year, the school district went to work to sort out about $73,000 in Gulf Power electric bills and $124,000 in gas, water and sewage bills paid to the Town of Century. In an exclusive interview with NorthEscambia.com shortly after the story broke, New Life Pastor Irvin Stallworth acknowledged that the church had never paid any utility bills since moving into the building.
The school district settled on $75,072,19 as the amount New Life Baptist church owed taxpayers. The rest of the approximately $200,000 in utility bills were either owned by the school district, a meter problem, or a billing problem.
At last report, New Life was current on a 10-year payment plan to pay back the $75,072.19. The church is paying the school district 119 interest-free payments of $625.60, with the final 120th payment due in 2019 for $625.79.
New utility meters serving the church’s leased portion of the old high school were been installed so that New Life be paying its fair share of the utilities on the building.
NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
9 Responses to “Thomas: $1 Per Year Lease Over, New Life Asked To Vacate Old Century High”
” I hear that the county wants the Century High School back to act as a temporary school while a new school is built between Century and Pensacola. ”
I assume you mean the school board.
I’m always impressed when I meet someone more cynical than I am.
Having a school building doesn’t automatically raise the value of property in the area.
There has been no talk about building a new high school although Tate IS a high school between Century and Pensacola.
If one were planned and somebody had a particular place in mind to get rich off of selling, it’s not hard to move over half a mile or a mile in any direction and the speculators are left out in the cold. These projects usually take years, so the conspirators would have to change in the mean time as different people came into play and others out of existence.
David favoring virtual high schools, lower land and maintenance costs
I know the Pastor personally. I think that he got a lease for his church for $1 per year because he was using the facility to not only service his church members, but to also start Child care services and job training for the citizens of Century. His plan was to bring economic stimulus to Century by building neighborhoods, and bringing new companies to Century to open manufacturing facilities there. He was attempting to bring people and businesses back to Century to build up a once-flourishing town.
The High School was an abandoned building that would have been regularly vandalized and used by homeless people and drug addicts. It is my opinion that since Century still has such a good-old-boy network going, that none of these goals came to fruition.
Remember there are always two sides to every story. I hear that the county wants the Century High School back to act as a temporary school while a new school is built between Century and Pensacola. Meanwhile, many Government Officials and their friends, who know about this, are buying up the farm land that will be used to build this new school. This way they can line their pockets once the county comes to buy that land. All of the property that will be used to build the new school, as well as the property around it for new neighborhoods, will certainly bring quite a nice price once the County comes a calling.
Could this article be a way to make sure that everyone finds fault with the $1 lease and doesn’t notice what is really going on here? Who is really profiting from all of this? Look deeper folks.
Exactly what Cynical said! Another wasting of taxpayers money……
I doubt there are very many standing in line to rent a large building in Century. The School Board PROBABLY thought it was a good idea to have someone use the building. A building used responsibly does not deterioate as quickly as one not in use..
“What an outrageous example of duplicity in governmental use of taxpayer money and resources!”
You’ll get used to it in time. Most government spending is done with a mind to voter support in the next election under the theory that they can’t fix the problems they caused unless they are re-elected.
Setting aside the utilities and upkeep question, an old building built for a specific purpose is not really as valuable to anyone else who wants it for another purpose. That is why there are abandoned school buildings all over the county, in fact all over the country.
What an outrageous example of duplicity in governmental use of taxpayer money and resources!
If people want to meet as a church let em meet in their homes.
If they need a bigger space rent out the gym for a reasonable amount each meeting.
If people want something of their own, do what we all do, save money, get a loan and buy or build property.
What is the reason a group is given more and expected less from than the rest of us?
As “cynical” pointed out, this is govenment supporting a church group.
Unfortunately our tax dollars were used in this caper.
It is criminal.
Let me get this strait, the people we (taxpayers) employ to represent our wishes and safeguard our interests have done the following concerning the former school:
1. The building is worth a minimum of $10/square (the government’s estimate) foot but leased it for $.0000329/square foot.
– My opinion: this was not financially prudent.
2. The school district has provided free maintenance for the building.
– My opinion: this was not financially responsible.
3. The building was offered for lease at $5/square foot.
– My opinion: is not to lease the building for $.0000329/ square foot nor $5/square foot if it’s worth $10/square foot (government’s estimate).
4. In four years the utilities were not paid by the tenant, supposedly an amount of $200,000 or $75,072.19.
– My opinion: who is keeping track of the money? You couldn’t run a profitable business nor your home this way.
5. Ten year “interest free” repayment plan.
– My opinion: this whole deal is a huge waste of taxpayers money.
Who comes up with the idea to lease property for less than it costs to maintain, not collect utility payments, and offer a 10 year interest free loan. I will tell you the answer, THE GOVERNMENT!
*Please note my comments are not directed at the church, but rather the complete inefficiencies and lack of common sense demonstrated by the government.
Thank you and Merry Christmas!
if you give a better deal to a church than to an individual, yes, in a way
if you are solely looking at the good an organization may do and giving them a good deal based on that, rather than their religious beliefs, then no.
I doubt Jim Paul and Brother Stalworth were members of the same church so it is less likely to be co-mingling. More likely it was a political favor: you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. Politicians are always bending over backwards to support preachers who might speak a kindly word about them to voters.
and then there’s economic development, likely he thought the action would improve the education and economy of Century
Isn’t this a commingling of church and state?