SHARE:
Tuesday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
Citrus numbers unchanged as disease fight continues
Florida’s struggling citrus industry opened the new year without seeing changes in production estimates for this growing season, as state lawmakers begin to decide how much money to pump into agriculture issues. While the industry is expected to top production from the 2022-2023 season, which was hampered by a hurricane and a winter freeze, the new numbers continue to reflect what a top lawmaker and citrus grower described as being “crushed” during the past two decades by the disease citrus greening. [Source: News Service of Florida]
Moving to Florida might not be the tax play it's cracked up to be - unless you're loaded
Income taxes, or the lack of them, are just one component of the state- and local-tax toll, a new report observes Florida, Texas and Tennessee have become hot real-estate markets in recent years, in part because they offer the allure of low taxes and cheap living costs. But a new analysis of how much state and local taxes cost rich and poor residents in those states throws cold water on the assumption that moving to such states is a tax-smart move. More from Morningstar and Marketwatch.
Fertilizer bans, growth controls: Key environmental bills as Florida Legislature meets
From Key West to Pensacola, Florida’s environment is facing a surge of threats. Like last year, there’s no shortage of environmental issues Florida’s elected officials could address with their proposals, some of which seek to wrest control of environmental regulation from local governments. More from the Tampa Bay Times and the Miami Herald.
Lawsuits against Florida’s top property insurers decline. Is it a sign reforms are beginning to work?
Lawsuits against top Florida property insurers declined overall between 2022 and 2023 and insurers say they would have declined even more if Hurricane Ian had not struck the state in September 2022. Insurers say it’s a clear sign that the legislative reforms enacted in 2022 are starting to work even if premiums have not yet followed suit. The South Florida Sun Sentinel analyzed data from a state website that records lawsuits served to insurance companies, including those that sell property and casualty, auto and health coverage. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Florida could ask Congress to force beach nourishment issue
At the prompting of two Pinellas County lawmakers, Florida could formally urge Congress to tell the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to change the policy positions that have delayed the nourishment of Pinellas’ severely eroded beaches. Rep. Lindsay Cross, D-St. Petersburg, and Rep. Kim Berfield, R-Clearwater, filed the House memorial on shore protection last week. The state has little power in the beach nourishment dispute, which has mostly played out between the county and the Corps, a federal agency. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Sarasota County School Board set to join national lawsuit against social media companies
Sarasota County Schools could join more than 20 other Florida school districts in a lawsuit against social media companies, according to an item posted on the district's next meeting agenda. The Sarasota County School Board convenes Tuesday evening, and if the item is approved the district would join a class-action lawsuit against the parent companies of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and Youtube.
› Air taxis are coming. But is South Florida ready?
Once the stuff of science fiction, flying taxis are now close to being a reality. But cities aren’t ready for them. At least, not yet. A growing number of companies plan to introduce electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft to South Florida in the next three years. Experts say the region’s intense traffic congestion, suburban sprawl and poor public transportation options make it a prime market for the vehicles, which take off vertically like a helicopter and then fly like a regular plane.
› Mote named top revenue generating cultural nonprofit in Tampa Bay region
Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium and CEO Dr. Michael Crosby were each recently recognized by two area publications for significant contributions. Mote was named the top revenue-generating cultural nonprofit for the Tampa Bay region by the “Tampa Bay Business Journal.” Crosby was named a 2023 Living Legend by “Florida Trend” magazine when it released its Florida 500 list of influential business leaders in the state.
› Orlando Museum of Art faces financial crisis in wake of Basquiat scandal
Rocked by the Basquiat scandal, the Orlando Museum of Art is facing a financial shortfall of hundreds of thousands of dollars, seeking help from government and private individuals to keep it afloat and facing public calls for leadership changes from a former volunteer, interim director and trustees. According to a person who attended a meeting with executive director Cathryn Mattson last month, Mattson said the museum was in dire financial straits, having exhausted reserve funds and lines of credit; had arranged a payment plan with its attorneys because of mounting legal bills; and was looking at a budget shortfall for the coming year that could reach up to $1 million.
Go to page 2 for more stories ...
In case you missed it:
