Florida's wealth boom yields a windfall for the state's charities
Ken Griffin is no stranger to giving out big gifts in the big cities where he lives and does business.n Chicago, the financial magnate donated $125 million in 2019 to help modernize the Museum of Science and Industry. In New York, he threw in $40 million for a new wing at the Museum of Natural History. Article content Now the billionaire founder of the Citadel financial empire is using his fortune to make a mark in FloridaFrom Tampa to Miami and Sarasota to Boca Raton, affluent young people and families rooted in Wall Street careers have helped drive a boom in giving. More from the Financial Post and Bloomberg.
Florida Trend Exclusive
Rising executives: Leaps and bounds
Hong Potomski is named after Hong Kong, the place where she was born while her parents were living in a refugee camp. They had to flee Vietnam as Communists were taking over at the end of the Vietnam War. Their next stop was Chicago, which was way too cold. So they migrated to Pensacola where her father, a fisherman, could earn a living on the water. “Just imagine coming over here, not being able to speak English, with no money, with nothing,” she says. “The community opened up their arms and took our family in. That’s why I find it very important to give back.” [Source: Florida Trend]
Florida the only state to turn down millions to lessen emissions, feds say
Congress in 2021 provided $6.4 billion to states to curb tailpipe emissions and reduce the effects of climate change. Florida was set to receive $320 million, the third most of any state. The state Department of Transportation began drafting a plan to add trucker parking at rest stops, which staff said could fix the statewide shortage that kept drivers on the road longer, polluting more, as they searched for a place to stop. But last month, the department secretary, Jared Perdue, sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation declining participation in the federal program. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]
Disney World is suing over its property taxes, arguing they are ‘excessive’
Last month, Disney reminded the public it paid $3.1 billion in state and local taxes, according to a company-commissioned economic impact study highlighting how valuable the Mouse is to Florida. This month, Disney is suing over its local property taxes and calling them “excessive.” Walt Disney Parks and Resorts filed about a dozen lawsuits this week against the Property Appraiser as it contests the 2023 tax assessments for its four theme parks, several hotels and other properties in Central Florida. [Source: Florida Politics]
30 Florida counties sue, saying consumers at risk in expansion of a home loan program
As Florida’s insurance crisis makes hurricane hardening more important than ever, consumer advocates have pressed to reign in a popular — but controversial — loan program that allows homeowners to pay for new roofs or impact windows through their property tax bills. Some counties and tax collectors across the state have pushed for clearer disclosures for a program that has generated hundreds of complaints from people who say they were misled on costs or didn’t understand that the loan amounts to a long-term tax lien on their home. [Source: Miami Herald]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Long-awaited Bobby Jones Golf Club tees off in opening ceremony
Almost the entirety of Sarasota’s City Hall swung by 1000 Circus Blvd. on Friday for a tee time seven years in the making. An opening ceremony on Friday marked the complete renovation of the Bobby Jones Golf Club and Nature Park and the grounds are now open to the public. The event drew officials from the city, Sarasota County and the state legislature to deliver remarks while around 200 members of the public took in the new course and nature park.
› Orlando nonprofit IDignity plans $10M campus south of downtown
IDignity, an Orlando nonprofit that helps citizens obtain proof of identity, will soon be more identifiable to the community it serves. Michael Dippy, its executive director, said the nonprofit organization is near the end of a $10 million capital campaign that will establish a permanent home for its operations after bouncing around throughout Orlando for roughly 15 years.
› GRU Authority votes to search for new general manager despite vote not to fire existing GM
Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority members voted Thursday night to search for a general manager, despite a motion to fire current GM Tony Cunningham that failed last week. Chair Craig Carter told authority members that he believes the bill that established the authority, HB-1645, requires them to negotiate a contract with a permanent general manager or CEO while Cunningham holds the role in the interim.
› Explaining the antitrust investigation of FSU football’s playoff snub
The fallout from Florida State’s exclusion from the College Football Playoff ramped up this week when Attorney General Ashley Moody made the first step in an antitrust investigation into the playoff. It’s a complicated case, even by the standards of the handful of antitrust experts we consulted. Attorney Hal K. Litchford called it a “fairly advanced antitrust issue.”
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› Sarasota wants to be the home of future Florida Black History Museum
State officials are looking at locations for a future Florida Museum of Black History, and Sarasota County is gunning for the spot. Sarasota was among a handful of areas around Florida, including St. Petersburg and St Johns County, pitching their location to the Florida Museum of Black History Task Force.
› NASA selects three Brevard companies for ground support equipment fabrication at Kennedy Space Center
NASA has selected three Brevard County companies for a multiple award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to fabricate ground support equipment at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The work will support Artemis, including missions to land humans on the Moon. The contractors will provide management, labor, facilities, materials, equipment, and other incidental support to fabricate, mark, package, deliver, clean, assemble, and test ground support equipment, ground systems, and other hardware.
› Pasco mosquito board tries to swat away critics by capping tax rate
Stinging from ongoing criticism over a plan to build a new up to $37 million facility, the Pasco County Mosquito Control District board this week voted unanimously to cap future property tax increases to demonstrate their fiscal conservatism. But the move is largely symbolic since the district’s current tax rate is a small fraction of the new limit and the cap can be lifted at any time.
› Disney Treasure hull comes together in cruise ship construction milestone
Disney Cruise Line’s next new ship actually looks like a ship as the final block of the Disney Treasure hull has been put into place. “This means that the ship is now structurally complete and outfitting work can begin,” according to a post on the Disney Parks blog. The ship that had its keel laying ceremony in March continues construction at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, ahead of its completion in late 2024.