• You may find search is unavailable for a little while. Trying to fix a problem.

Big bill for the JREF :(

zooterkin

Nitpicking dilettante, Administrator
Staff member
zooterkin
Joined
Mar 21, 2007
Messages
59,951
Location
Berkshire, mostly
Ouch! Isn't it someone's job to monitor this sort of thing?
The Broward Property Appraiser's Office is yanking huge property tax exemptions from some non-profit organizations.

"All we want is each property owner in Broward County to pay his or her fair share," said Broward Property Appraiser Lori Parrish.
...
The property appraiser’s office recently removed the tax exempt classification from the James Randi Educational Foundation.

For years, the foundation's former offices at 201 SE 12th Street in Fort Lauderdale were tax exempt, but the property appraiser office says the building has been vacant for more than two years.

The Randi Foundation owes $23,115.00 after losing its exemption classification
Click to expand...
 
I would have thought JREF would have sold the former HQ. I know the property market is not very good but I would have thought it would have fetched some money?

I wonder if JREF will pay? And when?

Edit. Non profits can make big mistakes. There may be no one whose job it is to look at the big picture.
 
Last edited:
If I understand this correctly, these are property taxes that will be owed in 2014 now that the property has lost its tax-exempt status--is that right? Not a bill for previously owed (and unpaid) taxes.

The article says "Cacciatore said the property appraiser's office cannot back tax the non-profit organizations."
 
If we all give just a couple of bucks each, we can bribe those officials back into silence.
 
" For years, the foundation's former offices at 201 SE 12th Street in Fort Lauderdale were tax exempt, but the property appraiser office says the building has been vacant for more than two years."

So what was the plan, then? I may not know from property ownership, but even I understand that if my property isn't working for me, it's working against me.
 
theprestige said:
So what was the plan, then?
Click to expand...


Probably waiting for real estate prices to increase? If you're not paying property taxes on it, you might see it as a relatively safe investment.

I'd put it on the market ASAP now.
 
theprestige said:
" For years, the foundation's former offices at 201 SE 12th Street in Fort Lauderdale were tax exempt, but the property appraiser office says the building has been vacant for more than two years."

So what was the plan, then? I may not know from property ownership, but even I understand that if my property isn't working for me, it's working against me.
Click to expand...

Just following the spirit of "not for profit," aka: "loss."
 
jhunter1163 said:
I'm sure they'll pay it; the depressing thing is that's $23,000 that could have gone to other things, like TAM scholarships or presenters.
Click to expand...

How sure of that can you be? Did you watch the news video attached to the OP?
 
That is my point. At least the news reporter knows how to access public records.

It seems strange that only part of the bill would have been paid. Was there a 10% discount for immediate payment? If I were at my regular computer I would look this up. But it will have to wait unless somebody else picks it up.

I also suspect that JREF has made the choice to hold the property and let the market improve instead of dumping it in the current market. It's too bad that the foundation can't keep the office open until they find a buyer.
 
IIRC, the building went on the market soon after DJ took over and moved the JREF office to California.
 
JoeTheJuggler said:
Sounds like the tax status change will simply make JREF a more "motivated seller".
Click to expand...

Yup. It's a really nice little building; it would be great for a lawyer, accountant, doctor, whatever. If they haven't been able to sell, either the economy in FLL is in worse shape than everywhere else or they're asking too much.
 
Cleon said:
IIRC, the building went on the market soon after DJ took over and moved the JREF office to California.
Click to expand...

I had no idea that JREF moved to California. Interesting. Did Randi move also?

As to the property tax situation: In California this is what would happen: If there was a mortgage on the property the mortgage holder has the right and I expect most mortgage holders were exercise this right to either force payment of the property tax or to force a payoff of the mortgage. If there was no mortgage then a lien would be put on the property for the unpaid property taxes and I think the state can force the sale of the property to pay off the lien.

ETA: On Florida property evaluations: I am under the impression based on anecdotal information that Florida is one of the states where property values have not recovered since the peak of the recession. I've wondered why that is, maybe global warning pictures showing big patches of ocean where Florida is might be a contributing factor? Or maybe a rash of devastating hurricanes?
 
Last edited:
davefoc said:
I had no idea that JREF moved to California. Interesting. Did Randi move also?
Click to expand...


Did you watch the video in the link in the OP? Near the end it says they interviewed Randi in LA.

BTW: The entire tax bill had already been paid as of November 21. The $21,000 was paid as the video suggests on the day they interviewed JR. The remainder had already been paid on November 5th. No taxes are due.
 
Last edited:
Dan O. said:
Did you watch the video in the link in the OP? Near the end it says they interviewed Randi in LA.

BTW: The entire tax bill had already been paid as of November 21. The $21,000 was paid as the video suggests on the day they interviewed JR. The remainder had already been paid on November 5th. No taxes are due.
Click to expand...

I hadn't noticed the video link before you mentioned it. I just watched the video. I enjoy watching Randi, even in a trumped up local story.

Has Randi himself moved to California and where are the new headquarters? I realize I might risk embarrassing myself again because this was mentioned some place and I missed it.
 
I'd tell you to look it up but this one was still in my clipboard:

7095 Hollywood Boulevard, #1170, Los Angeles, CA 90028.​


(Check it out though, It's listed on a page asking for donations so it could be a fake or just a PO box)
 
Dan O. said:
Did you watch the video in the link in the OP? Near the end it says they interviewed Randi in LA.
Click to expand...


Nope, watch it again. It says no such thing.

P.S. I guess you don't know who's the president of the JREF.
 
AdMan, do you recognize that person in the center in Dave's avatar?
 
Dan O. said:
AdMan, do you recognize that person in the center in Dave's avatar?
Click to expand...


:rolleyes: Watch the video again and listen carefully.

And, yes, of course I recognize him since I last saw him a few months ago, at this year's TAM. And I last saw the JREF's president in September at DragonCon, which Randi did not attend. I believe he was back home in Florida taking it easy after medical treatment.

Have you watched the video again?
 
Last edited:
At 03:25 in the video:
As for James Randi, the president of his foundation in Los Angeles[,] said Broward county was wrong and they would challenge their new tax bill.
Click to expand...


I was caught by the imprecise language used by the announcer. The key that the segment was in fact shot in Florida is the "10" logo on the reporters mike. (though this could have been added in post production)

Randi still owns his home in Florida and it isn't listed for sale.

ETA: The facade in the interview also matches the Florida home.
 
Last edited:
I've been looking around for a press release on the move or any official comment about it and haven't found it. Is there any information that somebody could link to? Does anybody have any inside dope on what the reason for the move was?
 
AdMan said:
Yes, you were. You also failed to listen carefully and thought you knew more than the posters here.
Click to expand...


What is your problem? I transcribed that audio segment showing how the placement of a simple comma (where there is in fact a pause in the speech can change the meaning of the statement. I provided the new California mailing address (which does appear to be just a post box). And I did the research to verify that the news clip of Randi was in fact shot in front of Randi's Florida home.

You seem to be posting here just to attack me personally. Why do you do that?
 
Dan O. said:
What is your problem? I transcribed that audio segment showing how the placement of a simple comma (where there is in fact a pause in the speech can change the meaning of the statement. I provided the new California mailing address (which does appear to be just a post box). And I did the research to verify that the news clip of Randi was in fact shot in front of Randi's Florida home.

You seem to be posting here just to attack me personally. Why do you do that?
Click to expand...


I am not attacking you.

I have found that a number of your posts in other threads look to be intended to rile other posters up, without providing any kind of serious argument.

Some people call this trolling. Maybe it is; maybe not. In any case, it is tiresome, though you may get a kick out of it, for all I know. That's irrelevant here, though.

In this thread, you made a mistake and then insinuated, in a snarky way, that I didn't know what I was talking about, which I actually did, so I corrected you--it was not an attack.
 
Last edited:
Ok they made a mistake, they let the property go unused.
The best thing would be to very publicly pay the taxes and urge the other npo's to do so.
 
I wouldn't call it a mistake. They made a choice to move and put the old digs up for sale. The library moved to the plantation site around May 2011 and the new HQ was opened in LA in mid 2012.

It would probably cost more to keep the old office staffed than they have to pay in taxes.
 
I'm glad to hear they had no problem paying the tax. The JREF financial statements suggest they wouldn't, since they are able to pay 2 people a combined salary (I think) of over $330,000 and have a couple hundred thousand in the bank (2012). They could always have siphoned off more from there if necessary.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom