Huckabee now calls Florida her home

WASHINGTON — There’s plenty of golf, miles of biking trails and long stretches of “sugar white” sand beaches - and no state income tax - in the Florida panhandle Janet Huckabee now calls home.

Huckabee, the wife of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a media personality who made an unsuccessful bid for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, has obtained a Florida driver’s license and says she is a “bona fide resident of the state of Florida.”

While the couple still own their house in North Little Rock, Janet Huckabee in March signed a “Declaration of Domicile” in Florida indicating that her residence in Florida “constitutes my predominant and permanent home.”

The rental house, located in Miramar Beach,is a three-bedroom, 4,582-square-foot home owned by Debbi Bailey of Canton, Ga., according to the Walton County property appraiser’s office.

Surrounded by four championship golf courses and miles of bike trails, the home is just inland from the Gulf of Mexico on a peninsula of land that juts out into the Choctawhatchee Bay.

In May 2005, Bailey and her husband Keith Bailey bought the house for $1,055,000. Last August, Debbi assumed sole ownership for the reduced price of $374,300.

In an e-mail, Huckabee’s daughter, Sarah Huckabee, said that her parents divide their time between Arkansas, Miramar Beach and New York City, where the ex governor tapes a weekly FOX News show. She said they are “choosing to spend more time where it is most conducive to their schedule.”

Sarah Huckabee declined an interview request and did not provide a response when asked whether Mike Huckabee plans to switch his domicile, too.

The Huckabees purchased a five-bedroom house in the Shady Valley subdivision of North Little Rock for $525,000 in 2006. They plan to keep the Arkansas residence, Sarah Huckabee said.

Under Arkansas and Florida law, a husband and wife can have a domicile in separate states.

Sarah Huckabee referred questions to a Fox News representative. Loren Hynes, a Fox News spokesman, referred questions to David John, deputy director of Huck PAC, Huckabee’s political action committee, who referred the inquiries to his boss, Hogan Gidley.

Gidley declined to comment, saying that the Huckabees are “private citizens.”

“We don’t comment on Gov. Huckabee’s personal dealings,” he said.

Brad Smith, a local real estate agent, said Miramar Beach and the neighboring town of Destin have attracted a lot of celebrities. Musician Sheryl Crow has a home there, as does Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, and Sean Payton, the coach of the New Orleans Saints football team.

Smith said the Huckabees have been spending a lot of time in Miramar Beach.

“They love it because everybody’s pretty casual,” Smith said. “Everybody pretty much leaves them alone.”

In addition to the bright white beaches, restaurants and an international airport due to open next month, Smith said the area is a draw because it is more “Southern” than the rest of Florida. “A lot of Florida is more East Coast,” he said. “Miramar isn’t stuffy. You don’t have to wear a jacket to go out to dinner.”

Steve Riggs, an accountant in Destin, agreed. Much farther east on the panhandle and “it turns into Cuba or NewYork,” he said.

Perhaps the biggest draw, Riggs said, is financial.

“This is a low-tax state,” he said.

Florida doesn’t have a state income tax. And its 6 percent sales tax doesn’t apply to groceries, medicine or professional services.

Arkansas has a graduated income tax that quickly rises to 7 percent.

In 2007, Florida abolished its Intangible Personal Property Tax, which put a tax on stocks, bonds, mutual funds and money market funds.

Arkansas doesn’t tax such investment assets, unless they are sold, in which case gains in value are taxed.

“If you want to move to Florida, and bring your money with you, there’s no tax on that,” Riggs said.