I attended the November 16, 2023, Camden County Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m.
The first agenda item was Camden County Real Estate Transfer – Climax Springs Board of Education.
Camden County assumed ownership of several tracts of land when Climax Springs unincorporated. These included the lot that housed the old city hall and the location of the spring. This agenda item proposed to transfer the property to the Climax Springs Board of Education. There is a plan to form a non-profit that will maintain the spring and the park.
This real estate transfer was approved unanimously.
The second agenda item was Planning and Zoning Appointment – Kiheka Township – Cindi Bramlage.
Cindi Bramlage was appointed unanimously by the Commission to serve on the Planning and Zoning Commission.
And that was that.
This was a short meeting, but as part of my continuing effort to provide my readers with the most fascinating cocktail party conversation, I thought I would mention an interesting tax case that occurred on April 22, 2022.
The Camden County Board of Equalization found the true value of the Lodge of Four Seasons to be $11,198,375. The ownership of the Lodge disagreed with this assessment and argued that the value of the Lodge was actually $5,020,000. The attorney representing the Lodge faced off against the County Tax Assessor in front of the State Tax Commission. A summary of the case is at the link below and is worth a read.
Lodge of Four Seasons State Tax Commission Case
The short version is that the Lodge convinced the State Tax Commission that the 90.7 acre lakefront property with 285 guest rooms, an exhibit hall, restaurant, and pool has a valuation of just $5,020,000. I can only imagine the gnashing of teeth and wailing that occurred when the owners found out their hotel was worth so little.
In comparison, Buddy’s Harbor (a much smaller 20 room resort off of Susan Road) is currently listed for sale for $4,900,000.
The Regalia Hotel was recently up for auction and I heard that the bids were as high as $3.8 million before the auction ended. I was told there was a reserve for that auction and I’m not sure if the reserve was reached. The auction listing is no longer available online.
This all sounds perfectly reasonable. Camden County just never disappoints.
Among the Dogwoods 