Article Author:
Associated Press
Kurt Anderson
Money from the sale of the beachfront property in Florida where the collapsed condominium tower once stood was used to pay property taxes on the destroyed unit. used to pay, the judge ordered Monday.
Judge Michael Handsman of the Miami-Dade Circuit Court said that Champlain Towers in Surfside, Fla., had previously been allocated to compensate the owner of 136 units in South of Florida where he had 9,600. A brief ruling that from $10,000 he should not deduct 2022 taxes. The building he collapsed on June 24, 2021, killing 98 people.
Instead, Handsman said the owner should not pay taxes. Instead, according to county officials, taxes totaling just under $800,000 should be paid out of surplus funds raised from the $120 million sale of the land once occupied by the 12-story building.
The matter was addressed by the court-appointed trustee in the case, Attorney Michael Goldberg, in a letter to the apartment owners as if the condo had been sold. The judge's order came shortly after the Miami Herald published an article on unresolved tax issues on Monday.
The 2021 Champlain Tower property tax was waived last year by the State Legislature and Governor Ron DeSantis. But until Handsman's ruling, there were no efforts to allow the 2022 tax bill.
The judge said Goldberg "actually owned the property through 2022" as the trustee, not the owner of the unit. The tax amount depends on the size and location of the unit.
In June, a judge approved a $1 billion fund for those who lost their families in the collapse or suffered physical or mental injuries. $96 million is property loss, including the condo itself.
The funding came from 37 different sources, including insurance companies, engineering firms, and recently constructed luxury condominiums next door. Neither party has admitted wrongdoing.
A billionaire developer from Dubai buys his 1.8-acre (1-hectare) Beachside site for his $120 million, contributing to the settlement.
Handsman has held a series of hearings on individual claims by victims of the collapse regarding the amount of compensation for the death of his family members.
"This is a brutal process," said the judge. ``I don't want to stress my family any more.''
Champlain Towers South has long had maintenance problems, raising questions about the quality of its original construction and inspections in the early 1980s. In addition, damage from sea level rise and saltwater intrusion due to climate change is also possible.
A final conclusion as to the cause of this will probably be years away. The National Institute of Standards and Technology is overseeing the research.
