What if Perdido
were a town?
Local citizens join together to explore the idea.
What's the Current Status of the Town of Perdido?
As the community of Perdido witnessed in the fall of 2024, allowing residents to vote on this type of issue is more complex than it would seem. We learned that for a variety of reasons, the Florida Legislature has not considered any new municipal incorporation initiatives in the state since 2017. With important groundwork laid, any such future initiative would yet require a State House Representative to champion the effort and carry it through the legislative process, as well as support from other parts of the Florida House of Representatives. At this time, there is no active incorporation initiative, and this website remains as a reference.
But as we discovered along the way, there are immediate needs in our community to which we can turn our attention. Perhaps citizens can address some of these through our county and local organizations as our community continues to thoughtfully consider the possibility of local home rule sometime in the future.
The all-important work of protecting Perdido’s natural beauty and balancing progress with local values as become the mission of the newly-reformed Envision Perdido organization. Learn more about it at EnvisionPerdido.org and help make a lasting impact in Perdido.
What happened?
On October 26, 2023, Senator Broxson, Representative Andrade, and Representative Salzman, held an open forum at the Escambia County Delegation Meeting. During a structured debate format, the delegates listened to local citizens on both sides of the proposal for approximately forty minute, after which they discussed taking the Special Act to Tallahassee. The local delegation ultimately voted, unanimously, to proceed with the process, all stating that they trusted the voters and they trust the process. The next step in that process would have been a continued review of the feasibility report in local subcommittee, an update of all budget projections using FY 2024 data, followed by more committees prior to arriving on the House floor for a vote in the January/February 2024 legislative session. However, in December 2023, Representative Andrade decided it was no longer his legislative priority to continue with the local bill, and the process was curtailed.
Why form a town?
As stated in the feasibility report, local citizens identified these five primary reasons for forming the Town of Perdido:
- "Home Rule" which would allow area residents to control the future destiny of their community.
- Preservation of the present quality of life.
- Return a greater share of their Escambia County tax dollars to the community.
- Build a community-centered plan to meet the future needs of the area’s residents. (Localized land use code and zoning/planning for more appropriate development decisions that benefit the Perdido community.)
- Ensure the “Western Gate to the Sunshine State” puts forth the best possible image for visitors to the state, and at the same time address ongoing impacts this tourism has on the local community
What's Up?
Aug 27
Report Published
BJM Consulting’s full report is published. You can find it here on our site. We Are Perdido plans to submitted this to the state for review on September 1st, along with other required materials and supporting info.
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Watch our First Meeting.
We Are Perdido
Local citizens are joining together to explore the idea of becoming a town.
By incorporating our area as a municipality, we can directly address the local issues we face, make decisions ourselves, and return a more significant share of tax dollars to our local community. We can reduce the overall burden on our county by taking control of our own destiny. Citizens can have a local voice in their own city government. Together, we can improve the quality of life for us and our neighbors in the surrounding unincorporated county.
How do you form a town?
It all starts right here, with our citizens, community workgroups and local support. Florida's Home Rule powers allow local Florida communities to unite and form municipalities (cities, towns, and villages).
Learn
Together we explore how a new municipality is formed. And we discover the benefits for our community.
Plan
Working with a research firm, we develop a Feasiblity Study and proposed 5-Year Budget to show how it can work.
Educate
Through community workgroups and advocacy, we can teach those around us the process and its benefits.
Lead
We lead to empower our community, giving our own citizens the opportunity to vote on municipal incorporation.
Perdido is thriving
As a citizen of the Perdido area, you are part of a strong, thriving community. Representing just 7% of our county’s population, our area holds 16% of the taxable real estate value. Over the last 10 years, we’ve contributed nearly HALF A BILLION dollars to our county.