Century cut out of CTA's partnership

Mayor Boutwell not informed of decision

Capital Trust Agency (CTA), a partnership established in 1999 between the town of Century and the city of Gulf Breeze that issued bonds for projects all over Florida to build, purchase and renovate facilities like schools, apartments, and other facilities that serve a public purpose to revitalize disadvantaged communities, recently partnered with the town of Quincy, Fla., cutting Century out of the deal after Century negotiated a higher fee rate last October.

Century Attorney Matt Dannheisser and the Century Council met with CTA representative Denis McKinnon last October to discuss a higher rate for the town of Century, since the rate that had not changed or been updated from 1999 to 2019.

Dannheisser pointed out that the rate established in 1999 was $350 per million dollar of bonds issued, with a minimum fee of $2,500. He noted that although it was expected that the rate would be periodically adjusted, it never was. It was addressed in 2019 when Mayor Henry Hawkins requested the rate be adjusted to reflect the passage of time. The adjustment was $400 per million issued up to $50 million and $325 for each additional million.

Dannheiser said even then, the revised rate CTA proposed equated to 0.1 percent increase annually for Century, which council members were not happy to hear.

“The amount that Gulf Breeze gets is far in excess of what Century gets,” Dannheisser said. “Over the years, it has been far, far more than Century has gotten.”

In August 2019, Mayor Ben Boutwell re-initiated the discussions for a revised rate structure. A meeting was held to discuss a proposed rate of $775 per million, which became effective. The town began seeing more money over the next two years from CTA, following that approval. Between October 2020 and September 2021, the town received more than $158,000. Between October 2021 and March 2022, the town received more than $264,000.

Boutwell said the last email he received from CTA’s McKinnon was in the middle of December discussing bonds still issued. He said he found out CTA had moved on from out of the blue when he received a phone call from a member of the press who asked Boutwell if he was aware CTA had partnered with the town of Quincy.

“My attitude is, there wasn’t any communication after January of this year,” said Boutwell. “When I heard something, I had a reporter from Gulf Breeze asking if I’d heard anything about CTA and I said no. He said if he heard anything he would call me back and I never heard from him.”

Boutwell said he hasn’t heard from CTA and he is not too concerned about the whole ordeal.

“I’m not going to run to them and beg,” said Boutwell. “That’s not how the town of Century is. I’ve always looked at CTA money as a gift from God.”

Boutwell pointed out that Verizon and T-Mobile cell service companies are contracting to use the town’s cell tower, which will bring $30,000 a year. Boutwell pointed out that over the next five years, that’s $150,000 for the town. He said if the town continues with Diamond Towers for the next 40 years, that adds up to millions of dollars for the town.

Boutwell said he did wish CTA would have given the town a chance to renegotiate or at least have kept the lines of communication for a future partnership open.

“It would’ve been nice to have had some kind of communication,” he said. “Anything is negotiable. We had just signed a contract. Do we need the money? Maybe, it was nice to have $100,000 each year. We can move on without it. I’m thankful for the town’s having the opportunity for past 20 plus years.”

There are bonds still outstanding from previous contracts, Boutwell said, and he holds a positive outlook that there may be a discussion in the future.