Loggerhead Club & Marina in Hollywood: 9% property value increase

Loggerhead Club & Marina occupies two acres in Broward. The property's value increased 9% last year, from $5.6 million in 2005 to $6.1 million. It also owns a one-acre marina in Palm Beach. There, the assessed value shot up 228% last year, from $4 million to $13.1 million. Why the big differences in increased values?

Broward County Property Appraiser Lori Parrish assesses properties based on current use, keeping in mind the businesses' revenue. She then assesses the marina in its current use as a marina. Palm Beach County Appraiser Gary Nikolits, however, assesses a property's value based on its maximum revenue-generating potential, what's known as "highest-and-best use." He assesses the marina as a high-rise condo.

Loggerhead Club & Marina in Palm Beach Gardens: 228% property value increase

Both appraisers insist they are following Florida statutes. "Market value is the mandated standard, ? and highest-and-best use is the foundation of market value," Nikolits insists.

Parrish doesn't debate the foundation but argues the practice of reassessing a property's current use to reflect its highest-and-best use is not legally permissible. "There's nothing unique or clever about what I'm doing," she insists. "It's simply what the law says."

The debate is causing bad blood between the appraisers in neighboring counties, and the issue has drawn Tallahassee's attention. Legislators are considering statute changes that could result in business-friendlier rules. But Nikolits predicts a "current use" bill wouldn't pass. "It would create tremendous inequities," he says, "rewarding poor management with lower assessments and penalizing good management with high assessments."