Strickland's Landing closes for business [killed by death tax]

Gainesville Sun ^ | Tuesday, May 21, 2002 | GARY KIRKLAND

[xlib]

"Before the cloud of grief had even lifted, they learned that Uncle Sam would be expecting a check for estate taxes by January, a check so large that the only way to pay it was to sell the estate their father had spent a lifetime building."

But--but-- I thought the estate tax only affected the rich!

[pabianice]

Way to go, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry. Hey; you avoided taxes by inheriting/marrying great wealth. The "little people" can just go screw themselves. Besides, small business owners vote Republican anyway...

[xlib]

I'm sure this story is repeated every day across the country. Good, valued, community-strengthening businesses destroyed by the greed of the government. Now this property will probably give way to a couple dozen half-million-dollar lake homes. Nothing wrong with that, but the average guy & gal will have one less place to take their family, and they'll have the democrats to thank for it.

[ExpatGator]

What a damn shame. I grew up on the Southside of Jax and made many a foray to "The Landing." My Gator cap is off to these fine folks and to their admirable father. May he rest in peace.

[xlib]

As Frow Strickland ran it, fun was the rule, but there were limits - no alcohol, no skimpy bathing suits, in fact there used to be a "no G-strings" sign by the front gate. "He didn't put up with any messin' around, so to speak," Valinski said. And, Thornton said, that was part of the appeal. "He had a very strict set of rules, and he didn't relax them regardless," Thornton said. "It didn't change, and that's what people liked about it." And with the guests held to such high standards, employees and family members had to serve as examples. At Frow Strickland's memorial service that was held at the landing's boat ramp, Valinski recalled one story told of a young lifeguard who arrived for his first day at work, walking through the gate five minutes late, wearing only a bathing suit. Her father promptly gave him an about face order, and told him to not come back until the next day, on time, with a shirt, shoes, sunscreen and a fresh haircut to go with the bathing suit.

They don't make 'em like that anymore.

[Black Agnes]

Lakefront property? Mandatory selling? Wonder if the Nature Conservancy or some organization of similar ilk bought it...

[who_would_fardels_bear]

I don't agree with death taxes, but isn't there a really easy way around them?

If these folks had turned this into a corporation and all become officers in the company, then when one of the officers dies, there is no death tax to pay.

Am I right or am I wrong?

[xlib]

Don't know that it's sold, yet.

[Fish out of Water]

*Index Bump

[knarf]

"Am I right or am I wrong?"

Hope you get an answer .... I'd like to know, also.

[jackbill]

Hey, according to little Dickie Gephardt, the guy won life's lottery. Why should we be concerned?

(/sarcasm)

Actually, there are a thousand stories like this across the nation. And the liberals - Gephardt, Daschle, Kennedy, et al would much rather trash this family's business to give the money to the layabouts, welfare moms and the everlastingly inefficient and bumbling government bureaucrats. Only in America.

[jackbill]

I don't agree with death taxes, but isn't there a really easy way around them?

Yes, there are a lot of ways around them, if you want to hire a bunch of lawyers and estate planners. These appear to be just simple folks who had no idea that the government was out to screw them. I've seen it repeated time after time.

[xlib]

Hard to imagine it's that simple to evade the death tax. I would think that creating the corporation, and giving shares to the heirs, would itself be a taxable event (possibly at a lower rate.) But I'm no expert--is anyone reading this who is?

[summer]

xlib, JD86 is an expert.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

I was just recently screwed by the gubmint. I spent over $1600 to reseed my lawn. Then a couple of weeks later out of nowhere the city implements an emergency water restriction plan. Now I can only water my lawn for 10 minutes twice a week!

And they aren't making any exceptions.

The kicker is that I have been planning on going to City Council meetings for quite some time. If I had been going, I would have seen this coming and done something else instead.

These poor folks had plenty of time to create a limited S-Corp or some such thing. It would probably only have put them back a couple of thousand. If they couldn't afford that, then they could have sold a small sliver of the land to pay the lawyer bills; rather than now having to sell off the whole property.

If we don't keep ourselves informed about the big bad wolf of government, then he will come knocking on our door at very inopportune moments and we will be screwed.

[knarf]

re-route your grey water to go out onto the lawn.

Use one of those perferated hoses to spread it. Having a down hill slope helps.

If the city gives you a hard time, you at can at least say you're doing your algore best to conserve and wisely use the water they deem so precious.

Charge THEM for the double duty you're doing with THEIR one-time allotment.

[knarf]

'Phone's ringin'

[Ranxerox]

I'm no expert, but this is essentially true. The family could have formed a Limited Liability Partnership, with the patriarch as the majority holder and the kids with a minority share and no controlling interest. Then when the patriarch died, the kids would assume the controlling interest, with no estate tax to pay.

[alliworldusa]

My name is Alison, I grew up spending lots of time at the lake. I got married and moved away and just moved back. I am so very sad to hear about the landing closing. I wanted to take my children there for a snow cone, cotton candy, and of course a game of air hockey in the game room. My heart goes out to the family, my thoughts are with you. Please know that your family has spent a lifetime of making thousands of family’s a lifetime of memories. I just want to cry! If any person out there is looking for a great investment this is the place. It’s a place where family, and spending time together was most important on their list.I just don’t get it why doesn’t the government help places like this to stay in business. Because family values are no longer an issue amongst our lovely top officials.