Council votes to hire Morgan and Morgan firm to seek money
The Century Town Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to engage Morgan and Morgan law firm to seek possible litigation against the Capital Trust Agency (CTA), which partnered with another town in 2022, cutting the town of Century out after it negotiated a higher fee.
The CTA was a partnership established in 1999 between the town of Century and the city of Gulf Breeze that issued bonds for projects all over Florida to build, purchase and renovate facilities like schools, apartments, and other facilities that serve a public purpose to revitalize disadvantaged communities
Century used to receive as much as $100,000 per year in fees from its contract with CTA, according to Town CPA Robert Hudson. Prior to the negotiations in 2022, Attorney Matt Dannheisser pointed out that the rate established in 1999 was $350 per million dollar of bonds issued, with a minimum fee of $2,500. He noted that although it was expected that the rate would be periodically adjusted, it never was. It was addressed in 2019 when former mayor Henry Hawkins requested the rate be adjusted to reflect the passage of time. The adjustment was $400 per million issued up to $50 million and $325 for each additional million.
“The amount that Gulf Breeze gets is far in excess of what Century gets,” Dannheisser said. “Over the years, it has been far, far more than Century has gotten.”
In August 2019, former mayor Ben Boutwell re-initiated the discussions for a revised rate structure. A meeting was held to discuss a proposed rate of $775 per million, which became effective. The town began seeing more money over the next two years from CTA, following that approval. Between October 2020 and September 2021, the town received more than $158,000. Between October 2021 and March 2022, the town received more than $264,000.
“We felt like we were getting the short end of the stick,” said Councilwoman Alicia Johnson. “So we asked for an increase in what we made off of the deal and Capital Trust basically went and formed another Capital Trust Agency and just left us out of it.”
“There has been a long history of this between the town of Century and the city of Gulf Breeze that was part of the CTA,” said Century Interim Town Manager Howard Brown. “The town just feels that it just wasn’t treated properly and equitably in the matter, so the town hired Morgan and Morgan on a contingency fee-based contract to look at a possible lawsuit.”
The discussion of possibly engaging legal representation has been going on since July 11, 2024. The approval from the town’s council will officially begin the process of filing a lawsuit against CTA.
In a motion made by Councilwoman Johnson and seconded by Councilman Henry Cunningham, the motion carried.
In other business, the council:
-Approved to transfer $36,998 from Local Option Sales Tax (L.O.S.T.) funds to reimburse the general fund (paid to Florida Department of Transportation to relocate water and gas lines, paid out of general fund).
-Approved to transfer $8,498.83 from L.O.S.T. to pay its State Revolving Fund loan payment.
-Approved the lower of two quotes of $3,500 from Hawkins, Inc. for a new USF1000 Open Channel flowmeter for the town’s waste water treatment plant, needed immediately.
-Heard from Century Mayor Luis Gomez that the town will submit an informal Request For Qualifications for janitorial services after the council determines the scope and frequency of services needed.
The next meeting will be at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 6, at town hall, due to the election taking place on the previous day.
