Bay County, Fla. officials say a Panama City Beach business is trying to avoid the law and state property taxes by calling itself a church while operating as a night club, hosting a wide range of parties that go on until 5 a.m. for anyone willing to pay the $20 "donation" required at the door.

The Life Center: A Spiritual Community in Panama City Beach now hosts a rotating lineup of parties every day during the college spring break season, branded as The Tabernacle through an entertainment company called Spring Break Amnesia. On Monday nights, The Tabernacle hosts "Anything But Clothes" paint parties, in which visitors are invited to "Bare as you dare to attend in anything but clothes."

Tuesdays bring the Mardi Gras parties, promoted online by asking "What will you do for your beads?" On Wednesdays the venue hosts "Wet and Wild" parties, then raves on Thursday night, "Project PCB" parties on Friday and "Pretty Nasty" parties on Saturday night.

Of course the church is open Sunday nights too, with "Slumber" pajama and lingerie parties, "hosted by the sexiest ladies on the beach." The Spring Break Amnesia web site makes no mention of any daytime or other religious activities taking place on the premises.

Bay County Property Appraiser Dan Sowell confirmed to AL.com that he rescinded the exemption that allowed The Life Center to avoid paying state property taxes on the building at 9721 Thomas Drive in Panama City Beach.

Sowell said the property had been operating as a church for years, but a field appraiser performing a routine inventory check in early January reported there was no activity taking place on the facility.

Then this week, multiple law enforcement officers, including Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen, and Panama City Beach Police Chief Drew Whitman, notified Sowell of large theme parties being hosted nightly at the facility, and the explicit merchandise being sold there.

"At the beginning of the year, there was no activity out there," Sowell said. "This debauchery that's taking place there now is certainly not conducive to church activities, so really it was a pretty easy decision to make."

Sowell said Florida statute exempts properties used predominantly for religious purposes from paying property taxes to the state. He said those conditions are no longer being met at The Life Center.

"The evidence given to me by these law enforcement personnel played a large role because they've been there and they've seen what goes on," Sowell said.

McKeithen in particular drew attention to the situation through a public Facebook posting questioning The Tabernacle's status as a church in light of the nature of events hosted there, sexually explicit t-shirts sold inside and the fact that a temporary ATM was installed outside the front doors to help spring breakers pay the $20 cover charge. McKeithen's Facebook page has nearly 10,000 followers.

"You turn around and you look at the walls on the church, and you see t-shirts with graphic explicit sexual pictures on them, and I'm scratching my head. How can this be a church, and this is going on," McKeithen told Panama City NBC affiliate WJHG.

McKeithen also said the business is skirting a Panama City Beach ordinance that forces night clubs and bars to close at 2 a.m.

"I've been in a lot of nightclubs and I've been in a lot of churches," Whitman told the Panama City News Herald newspaper. "That isn't a church."

The Spring Break Amnesia web site was taken down after McKeithen's Facebook post on Monday, and according to the News Herald report, some of the most explicit language was toned down when the site re-launched on Tuesday night.

The site currently hosts a banner at the top, which reads "The Tabernacle is a community that serves no alcohol and bans illegal drugs for the youth to go during spring break at night to interact with each other in a fun safe environment up to 5 a.m."