Florida’s new voting map will cost taxpayers, add work for elections supervisors
County elections officials across Florida are scrambling to notify voters that their congressional district has changed. It’s an effort that will cost taxpayers statewide millions. In Florida, 67 county elections supervisors administer elections and register voters. Those supervisors must provide updated voter information cards to residents whose congressional districts and local voting areas, called precincts, have changed. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]
Florida Trend Exclusive
Attracting talent
Employee recruitment can be a challenge no matter the location or sector. Finding quality staffers for Jacksonville banking jobs is no exception. The Jacksonville region has 99 unique banking businesses, according to the JAXUSA Partnership, including larger offices for Ally and Bank of America and fintech operations such as Intercontinental Exchange and Deutsche Bank. [Source: Florida Trend]
Duke Energy Florida customers will get break on summer electric bills
Duke Energy Florida customers will get a temporary $90.5 million refund this summer because the utility collected too much in hurricane restoration costs. The state Public Service Commission approved the refund Tuesday, May 5 after Duke found it had collected more than $1 billion in storm-related costs. The actual costs were about $915.3 million, the PSC said in a news release. [Source: Florida Today]
New research reveals repeated flooding is altering a key Florida natural resource
Heavy rains causing repeated river flood intrusions into Florida's freshwater springs are changing the function of the clear natural resource. Recently published findings from University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) researchers Paul Donsky and Matt Cohen reveal that these intrusions can cause flow reversal worsening already present problems. [Source: UF News]
U.S. is in dire need of home health aides. Florida ranks dead last in availability
With America’s population aging, it makes sense that the industry expected to see the most growth in the next decade is the home health care industry. The U.S. Census predicts that by 2034, older adults will outnumber people under the age of 18 for the first time in the country’s history. But right now, finding a home health aide, or a personal care aide, is a struggle across the country, and especially in Florida. [Source: Click Orlando]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Osceola finalizes $470M deal with South Korean tech firm for NeoCity HQ
Osceola Commissioners on Monday unanimously approved a development agreement with South Korean firm, ELSPES, to build its global headquarters and U.S. manufacturing facility in NeoCity. “This is the largest economic development project in the history of our community,” Chairman Brandon Arrington said. “This is just a showing of the vision we’ve laid out and continue to have the backbone to hold tight to.”
› Spirit Airlines reports more than 4,000 jobs lost in Florida after shutdown
Defunct Spirit Airlines has reported the impact to Florida’s aviation labor market after its weekend shutdown. In a filing with the State of Florida, the financially troubled company said it eliminated more than 4,000 jobs in South and Central Florida, with the job losses concentrated at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, the company’s headquarters in Dania Beach, Miami International Airport, and two sites at Orlando International Airport.
› Tallahassee Chamber wants to 'quarterback' recruiting companies, landing jobs
The Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce says it needs to play a bigger role in recruiting potential companies. Aside from Amazon’s massive robotic fulfillment center, which opened in 2023, Tallahassee has failed to land any large scale corporate relocations or major job‑creating investments in recent years.
› $300M new WPB convention center hotel could be exempt from property taxes
Palm Beach County Administrator Joe Abruzzo said May 4 he has reached a tentative agreement with Related Ross to build a second convention center hotel in West Palm Beach — a deal that would make the proposed $300‑million-plus project exempt from property taxes. Despite the tax exemption, Abruzzo said the agreement would generate more than $1 billion for Palm Beach County over a 99‑year lease, calling it a net win for taxpayers.
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› Publix's executive chairman to step down
Publix Super Markets Executive Chairman and former CEO Todd Jones is retiring from the company after 46 years but will stay on as chairman of the board. The Lakeland grocer announced Monday that Jones’ final day in his current role is May 31. Jones, according to an official bio, started at Publix in 1980 as a bag boy at a store in New Smyrna Beach. Over the years he worked a variety of jobs before becoming a store manager in 1988.
› Does Downtown Jacksonville need more office space? Some are betting yes.
In Downtown Jacksonville, the office building was once the driver of real estate investment. But a decade of residential city policy and a global pandemic turned that on its head. Downtown Vision Inc.’s annual State of Downtown Report shows a vacancy rate for offices in the urban core sitting at 27.4% — highest among major metros in Florida and nearly nine points above the national average of 18.5%. Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one. The real surge Downtown, according to the report, is in residential investment.
› West Palm Beach's MorseLife, community leaders sued by ousted ex-CEO
Keith Myers, the embattled former president of MorseLife Health System, has filed a blistering lawsuit against his former employer for firing him in January, claiming he is owed severance pay because he was wrongly terminated from the West Palm Beach facility. The lawsuit follows a Palm Beach Post investigation that revealed Myers and another executive received $36 million in compensation over four years.
› Brevard County considers extending its ban on sewage sludge
Brevard's temporary ban on spreading sewage sludge is seeping into its seventh year. But how long the legacy of 'forever' chemicals, microplastics and other contaminants from so-called biosolids last in the soil and raw water supply remains unknown. Biosolids contain contaminants like phosphorus, PFAS, and metals, which pose pollution risks to the St. Johns River and the Indian River Lagoon.