- June 9, 2026
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The Longboat Key Town Commission has taken the first step toward introducing a new tax and fees to pay for canal dredging, and some property owners are against the funding method.
On Thursday, Dan Dexter delivered a letter to Longboat Key Town Hall to appeal the assessment on his and his neighbors’ properties.
“For the record, I am formerly appealing any assessment related to the above subject,” Dexter wrote in the letter. “A mobile home on Longboat Key is an oddity, and does not benefit from canal dredging costs as other properties on the island.”
Dexter, who has lived in the Gulf Shore mobile home community since 2020, said property taxes without the canal assessment included are already a strain on those in the 55+ community.
“The condo fees are very, very low and the value of the units are low because they’re so small that it’s affordable living for people,” Dexter said. “The trailer parks are an anomaly.”
For Dexter’s home, the town’s waterway assessment website shows there would be a $124 annual fee to pay for canal dredging.
“I can pay the $124,” he said. “It’s just the principle of the thing.”
Even though the mobile home community has water access, with boat slips fronting Buttonwood Harbor to the rear of the community, property owners are not required to pay the full $620 flat fee that a canal-facing single-family home would be assessed. Public Works Director Charlie Mopps said multifamily communities like Gulf Shore have the fee calculated by the number of homes to boat dock ratio. Because there are several units per boat dock, the fee is discounted.
Comparing pie slicesHomes in the Gulf Shore mobile home community have taxable values that range from about $100,000 to $300,000. The canal tax and flat fee proposed for each property in the communities would be similar to the percentage that many single-family homes or condos with canal access on the island with higher tax bills pay. | |||
| Tax Bill | Canal Tax and Fee | % of Tax Bill | |
| $116,000 Gulf Shore home | $1,900 | $131 | 7% |
| $288,000 Gulf Shore home | $3,224 | $138 | 4% |
| $465,000 single family, canal-facing home | $6,000 | $650 | 11% |
| $563,000 canal-facing condo | $8,643 | $785 | 9% |
| $950,000 single family, canal-facing home | $11,750 | $676 | 6% |
Dexter’s appeal letter is merely a request to the town. He said he doesn’t plan to take the issue to court, but he hopes the town considers making an exception for those in the Gulf Shore and Twin Shores communities.
“I know what their logic is, that everybody on Longboat benefits from the canals. I can hop in my kayak and paddle down to a canal,” Dexter said. “But because it’s a mobile home park with smaller units, make an exception and make it 5% of EBU instead of 20 or something. They should make some accommodation.”
