BRADENTON BEACH – One year to the day that Anna Maria Island reopened for business after Hurricanes Helene and Milton, Drift-In AMI will be celebrating its 100-year anniversary on Saturday, Oct. 11.
“What a year it’s been. Despite the devastation and challenges we came together to make Anna Maria Island and Bradenton Beach a better place. Better, not because we disrespected the past. Better, because we embraced the future, the opportunity to rebuild and create new traditions,” according to the Drift-In Facebook page.
As part of the centennial celebration, Drift-In – which was owned in the late 1930s by legendary professional baseball player George Herman “Babe” Ruth – will display a new statute of Ruth.
Legend has it that Ruth frequented the local watering hole and went from patron to owner.
“On a sultry summer night Babe and friends danced the night away only to leave without paying the “tab.” The following day Ole’ Babe showed back up to clear things up only to be confronted by the owner of the Drift. After a few cheers, an agreement was made and the keys were handed over. Babe owned the bar for a few years as an homage to his father, George Sr., a bar owner himself,” according to the Drift-In AMI website.
The Drift-In will celebrate 100 years on Oct. 11. – Leslie Lake | Sun
At the Thursday, Oct. 16 city commission meeting, Mayor John Chappie and the commissioners will be making a special proclamation for the Drift-In centennial.
I’m always surprised when I talk to people who have owned a home for maybe decades but have no clue what their tax responsibility will be if they sell that property. No one wants to think about giving money to the federal government so they don’t, but not preparing for the day you sell your home could be one of the biggest mistakes of your financial life.
Let’s start with what exactly a capital gain is. Capital gains is a tax on the profit you make from an asset such as stocks, real estate or other investments. For the purpose of this column, we’re going to talk about capital gains on real estate. Since not all real estate is created equal, it’s important to define your real estate holding, with the most standard ones being a primary home, secondary home or investment property.
Secondary homes and investment properties are best discussed with tax preparers who specialize in this area. However, most of us own a home that we live in, called our primary residence, and the federal government has tax exclusions available to homeowners when they sell their primary home. This doesn’t mean you should not seek out professional advice.
Since 1997, homeowners can reduce taxes on the sale of their primary property that you have owned for two out of the five years leading up to the sale. The IRS allows single taxpayers to exclude $250,000 of gain and married taxpayers filing jointly to exclude $500,000. According to LendingTree, American households are sitting on $34.5 trillion in home equity in the first quarter of 2025. A good portion of these funds will be faced with tax bills upon sale of the property, so it’s vital that homeowners understand their potential tax liability.
There is a way to further reduce the capital gains on your primary home by adjusting the basis of your home. Your home’s basis is generally calculated by adding the cost of capital improvements to the price you paid when you acquired your home. For instance, if you replaced your roof or remodeled your kitchen, those costs are considered capital improvements, and should be added to the price you paid for your house, thus reducing your capital gains liability.
There are two other ways to reduce your capitals gains liability but they will only appeal to a small percentage of homeowners. If you can afford to finance the sale of your home, that will save you capital gains. Or converting your property to a business property will give you the ability to dispose of the property via a 1031 like-kind exchange at a future date.
There is an act introduced by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene identified as “No Tax on Home Sales Act” (HR 4327). The bill aims to eliminate federal capital gains taxes on the sale of primary residences. Keep in mind if you reside in a state that has state capital gains requirements, you would still be responsible for paying capital gains based on your state’s requirement. States like Florida without a state tax will pay no capital gains on the sale of a primary home. President Donald Trump has taken an interest in this bill, which his administration considered in July.
Study up on capital gains if you’re within a few years of selling your primary home. Hopefully, you kept all of the receipts that would be considered a capital improvement, and start thinking about the capital gains you may be heading for.
HOLMES BEACH – City commissioners unanimously approved a special exception and site plan request that allows Marquis Management Construction owner Davyd Miller to use the former car wash property at 5804 Marina Drive as a construction office.
Located across the street from city hall in a C-3/Mixed Use Overlay district, the property is owned by the Ugly Grouper restaurant owner, Florida Land UG LLC. Florida Land Car Wash LLC owns the former car wash property; Scott Rolen is listed as manager for both.
The commission approval was granted on Sept. 25. According to the staff report prepared by Development Services Director Chad Minor, the property has existed in its current configuration since the late 1960s and was originally developed as a car wash and vehicle maintenance facility.
“Except for providing additional off-site parking for the Ugly Grouper restaurant and bar, the site has been primarily vacant/underutilized for several years,” the staff report says.
In 2022, city commissioners approved a site plan for the property and building to be repurposed as the 23-seat AMI Pizza Garage restaurant but those business activities never materialized.
The property is still subject to previous approvals and conditions that require the Ugly Grouper to provide 16 off-site restaurant parking spaces on the former car wash property.
The proposed use as a construction office complies with the city’s comprehensive plan and the future land use designation, and staff recommended city commission approval with the following conditions:
The doors and screening proposed for the existing car wash bays shall remain closed at all times, except when being temporarily opened for the ingress or egress of vehicles, materials or equipment;
The property must maintain 16 parking spaces designated for Ugly Grouper patrons only;
Outdoor storage of any kind shall be strictly prohibited on the premises; and
No cleaning, maintenance or repair of vehicles or equipment shall occur on the premises.
Minor said some of Miller’s previous activities on the property created code compliance concerns that required the attention of Code Compliance Chief James Thomas. Minor said the commission’s approval of the special exception and site plan would bring the property into compliance.
Marquis Management Construction owner Davyd Miller addressed the mayor and city commissioners. – Joe Hendricks |Sun
When addressing the commission, Miller said he and 13 employees came to Holmes Beach after the 2024 hurricanes to repair his future brother-in-law’s home on 58th Street and he got permission from Ugly Grouper management to park their construction vehicles on the former car wash property. Marquis Management Construction then picked up more than a dozen additional local clients and reached an agreement to rent the Ugly Grouper-owned building and property.
Miller said he took a risk and has already invested nearly $200,000 to repair and renovate the building and property.
Regarding the mayor and commissioners’ concerns about the outdoor storage, Miller said the construction equipment and materials would be stored inside. He said there will be times when semi-trucks deliver building materials to the construction office but those materials will be divided up, loaded onto smaller vehicles and taken to the local construction sites.
Miller said no fuel will be stored on the property; and with no diesel fuel available on the Island, the construction equipment will be fueled off-Island.
Commissioner Terry Schaefer said he’s driven by some of the Marquis construction sites and they were clean and well-kept.
“We do good work. We want to be part of the community and not a burden,” Miller said.
Commissioner Carol Soustek disclosed that Marquis Management Construction helped repair her hurricane-damaged home. City Attorney Erica Augello said that didn’t pose a conflict of interest that would prevent Soustek from voting on special exception and site plan approvals.
ANNA MARIA – Former Anna Maria building official David Gilson is again serving as the city’s contracted building official.
Gilson’s contracted services are being provided through the city’s recently extended and revised building department services agreement with Joe Payne Inc.
Gilson replaces contracted building official Craig Greene, whose services were also provided by JPI. Greene was recently relieved of his Anna Maria duties after Mayor Mark Short and the city commission received multiple complaints from Anna Maria builders, property owners and a construction industry consultant who often disagreed with Greene’s interpretation of city code and found it challenging to interact with him.
On Sept. 25, the Anna Maria City Commission approved the multi-item consent agenda that included the extension and revision of the agreement that the city and JPI entered into earlier this year. During the Sept. 25 meeting, Mayor Mark Short confirmed Gilson is again serving as the city’s building official.
The JPI agreement approved that day includes a revised compensation formula that no longer provides JPI with 50% of the building permit fees generated in Anna Maria. The building official, floodplain management, inspector, permit tech and other services provided by JPI are now provided at an hourly rate.
According to the new agreement, the hourly rate for the building official services provided by JPI is $135 per hour. The hourly rate for floodplain management services is $125. The hourly rate for inspector service is $90. The hourly rate for permit tech services is $75.
The newly-extended agreement with JPI states the firm will provide the city with a certified building official who, on average, spends two days per week at city hall and works remotely for the remainder of his time. The agreement states the provided building official will return permit-related calls within one business day. The agreement notes someone serving as a deputy building official may cover the building official’s duties in the event of “occasional absence.”
As an additional precautionary measure, the cities of Anna Maria and Holmes Beach have entered into an interlocal agreement that establishes the parameters and compensation if one city’s building official or building department needs assistance from the other city while their building official or inspector is on vacation, out sick or otherwise unavailable.
Gilson began serving as Anna Maria’s contracted building official in September 2021. He vacated that position in January 2022 after accepting a similar position with the city of New Port Richey, which alleviated the 90-minute daily commute Gilson was making to Anna Maria.
When announcing Gilson’s departure, then-mayor Dan Murphy said Gilson had done an outstanding job for the city.
In May 2022, he returned as the city’s full-time, city-employed building official and left for unknown reasons.
