I had the good fortune of spending a nice long weekend with my family at Clearwater Beach. One thing I noticed, in driving throughout Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, was how bad the roads were - potholes and construction galore. It's great that the "Triangle Area" wants to raise impact fees to pay for roads, but shouldn't they consider fixing existing roads first? Oh yeah, it is illegal to apply impact fees to existing infrastructure. While there, I picked up a copy of the Tampa Bay Business Journal. I was shocked to read the following statement: "Impact fees only affect those buying new homes." It seems our "esteemed" Commissioner Mike Byerly as bought into this. In his Talking Back commentary in Sunday's Gainesville Sun, he was trying to convince Joe Consumer that, "Growth costs the public more than it returns." Byerly goes on to try and win the public vote by saying that the commission made "political concenssions when it adopted impact fees two years ago to the development industry." At some point, the general public will be educated enough to realize that raising impact fees impacts the entire community, not just new growth. He fails to mention how these fees that the commission two years ago implemented have not been used or budgeted for use yet. He fails to mention that these raised fees will force many who dream of home ownership to keep renting and will raise the cost of services throughout the county tremendously. He fails to mention how two years ago they tried to sneak these fees through, and when called out on it, had to reduce the crazy numbers they were proposing.
We have covered the debates in Alachua and Marion counties about impact fees quite a bit, and have reported about the issue around the state. Also in the surrounding area, Columbia and Lake counties are considering the fee, all of this despite the fact that most studies are now showing that increasing the fees too much will have a negative effect on growth and government revenues. A group in Lake County, the Citizens for Better Government L.L.C., has published a fascinating and comprehensive report on what the imposition of impact fees there could mean. It is worth looking at. To see it, click here. (www.fbma.org/frmGetFile.aspx?id=252)
So as I have written here for the last few weeks, we must remain watchful about the actions of local government. We are looking at more than the effect their actions will have on the building industry. We are looking at the negative effect their actions will have on the communities in general. |
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www.BuildingEdgeMagazine.com
Our July issue featuring Kara Sutton & Sutton Family Homes, is now online. The print version was sent out this past week and should start arriving by the end of this week.
Our August issue is now in production. The cover story is on Ocala's Adams Homes. The National feature is Curb Appeal: Entry doors, brick and siding, roofing, lighting, landscaping, paving.
Sales are open on the September issue is a feature on The Palms, an exciting new downtown Gainesville condominium development being brought to you by Mitch Glaeser and Greg Trunnell. For more information, please contact us at (352) 372-3958 in Gainesville, or (352) 368-1707 in Ocala. The national feature is Interior Design. We are spotlighting in this issue Griffis Tile and Flooring.
Coming up in October is Tommy Waters Custom Homes, Inc.
Our Summer 2007 issue of Commercial Building Edge is now online, and will also be delivered in a few weeks. The cover feature is on Gray Construction Services. The National Feature is on Green Building. Sales will open this week on the Fall 2007 issue, which will include a cover feature on Ocala's Ausley Construction www.ausleyconstruction.com. The Winter issue will feature Trunnell Construction on the cover.
HOME™: Living in the Heart of Florida Resource Guide
Home: Living in the Heart of Florida, a new magazine from Advantage Publishing is open for sales. Our website will be up in about 10 days. While there is nothing to view now, I encourage you to bookmark the link, as we aim to make this the number one website for the North Central Florida Community. It is www.LivingInTheHeartOfFlorida.com . Part of this new publication will be our newcomer/relocation resource guide. It will include just about everything anyone looking to move to our area or relocate within the 12-county market will need. To be listed in the resource guide, please call us today to discuss. |
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14 Percent Increase in Alachua County Property Taxes Negated
The value of Alachua County property has jumped 14.2 percent, or a hefty $1.6 billion, which would ordinarily be great news for the county commission. But this year the increase is more of a tease of the extra money the commission could have had, but won't because of state-imposed budget cuts on counties and cities.
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Marion Budget Won't Lose Big Bite After All
No surprise after this summer's special session in Tallahassee, the county's proposed 2007-08 budget includes almost across-the-board cuts in property tax rates. But as county commissioners head into a week of workshop discussions on the budget, the percentage cut will not be as substantial as once thought.
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Gainesville Budget Reflects a New Reality
Gainesville will charge higher fees to make up for a forced reduction in its tax rate under a budget proposal that also calls for cuts in a wide range of programs, including homeless services and land conservation. The $95 million budget reflects a new reality in which the city "can no longer be all things to all people," City Manager Russ Blackburn said last week. The change was brought about by restrictions put in place by the Florida Legislature this year, which reduced the city's expected property tax revenue by about $2.6 million, Blackburn said.
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Ocala Electric Seeking New Power Sources
Now that investors, including Ocala Electric Utility, have doused plans to build a coal-fired power plant in North Florida, the utility is trying to figure out where it will obtain the power that the new plant would have provided. The problem for Ocala Electric is threefold: population growth, the rising demand for electricity and the utility's almost complete dependence on a single source of power.
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Impact Fees to be Addressed in Columbia County
Impact fees could become a reality in Columbia County before the end of the year. Columbia County commissioners last week, authorized County Manager Dale Williams to set up a meeting with Columbia County School board members to discuss impact fees. No meeting date has been set yet. Impact fees are fees on new real estate development to help defray costs of infrastructure improvements needed to support and serve new growth. Impact fees can be used for roads, schools, jails, libraries, government buildings, fire services, EMS services and water and sewage needs.
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Leesburg Group Slams Impact Fee Hikes
A group of business interests in Lake County released a study last week showing that proposed new impact fees could hurt the county's economy. The Business Council of 100 commissioned consultant Henry Fishkind, of Fishkind and Associates, to study the economic impacts of the fees. Fishkind's study indicates that businesses will lose revenue for every dollar the transportation impact fee is raised.
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Ocala Arborists Want Developers to Protect Trees
Local arborists believe education is a key component in preventing the city from becoming a concrete jungle. In August, the city will host "Building with Trees," a tree preservation seminar presented by the National Arbor Day Foundation. The goal is to encourage tree-saving efforts among developers and builders by providing education about the benefits of saving trees.
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MCBA Calendar of Events
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BANCF Calendar of Events
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Property Tax Plan Doomed?
Less than a month after lawmakers' celebration over a purported $32 billion tax cut, that number has dropped and the enthusiasm has evaporated. Half of the tax cut is already in law and taking effect as local governments freeze their budgets, cut next year's spending by up to nine percent and prepare for a cap on budget growth in the future. That bill, which promises about $16 billion in tax cuts over five years, passed almost unanimously. But the remaining cut is unlikely to be as much as promised and depends on 60 percent approval from voters on Jan. 29 to amend the state's constitution. Few seem optimistic about its prospects, including some Republicans who voted for the referendum.
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State Seeking Ways Around Packed Roads
Stephanie Kopelousos has seen the future of Florida's roads and she doesn't like it. She has three charts showing the growth of road congestion on the state highway system, beginning in 2005 and ending in 2025. The jammed roads are identified by red blotches. By 2025, the red blotches have overwhelmed many of the state's major highways, including I-4 between Tampa and Orlando, I-75 in Southwest Florida as well as between Wildwood and Gainesville. Most of the major highways in heavily populated Southeast Florida are red.
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Workers' Comp Rates to be Cut in Half Next Year
While Florida business owners may still be struggling with high property insurance costs, another major business expense will go down next year: workers' compensation assessment rates are set to be cut in half. Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink this week ordered a 50 percent cut in the Workers' Compensation Administration Trust Fund assessment rate. The assessment is paid by workers' comp insurers into a state fund. The rate will drop to 0.25 percent next year from 0.50 percent, and has dropped from 2.56 percent five years ago.
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Green Light for Building Conference
Green is so red-hot the annual Southeast Building Conference is "co-locating" this year with the Florida Green Building Coalition's Green Trends conference, to be held this week at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. Green building pioneer Charley Hannah, a former Super Bowl champ and now vice president of Hannah Baroletta Homes, will speak at a welcome reception July 12 for the green builders. You'll know the greens are present at SEBC, that's for sure: There will be more than 40 green exhibits on the trade show floor.
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U.S. Green Building Council Hits 10,000 Member Mark
The U.S. Green Building Council last week welcomed its 10,000th member company, a turning point in the building design and construction market. "This achievement is a significant milestone in the growth and development of the green building movement because it demonstrates a broad conviction that our built environment can improve the health of our planet, our economy and our communities," said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO and Founding Chair of the organization.
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Green Building Techniques from U.S. Get Test in China
It is easy to overlook the small community of houses rising northwest of this sprawling capital.
But these aren't just any suburban homes. They will be some of the cleanest and most energy-efficient structures in China - or almost anywhere else in the world - when they are completed this year. Wind turbines and solar panels will power the 10 houses, which will also use innovative techniques to save water. The project uses "green" technology from the United States, Europe and elsewhere in an effort to showcase building methods that could be used more widely in China.
In a country with 1.3 billion people and massive migration from the countryside to the cities, the stakes are high. Over the next 20 years, as many as 400 million more Chinese are expected to move to urban areas.
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Economic Snapshot Reveals a Healthy Recovery
Employers added 132,000 jobs, paychecks grew solidly and the unemployment rate stayed at a low 4.5 percent in June, fresh evidence that the once listless economy is regaining energy.
The new snapshot of the national economy, released by the Labor Department on Friday, showed that companies have a respectable -- albeit not ravenous -- appetite to hire and that there are opportunities for job seekers willing to pursue the hunt. The modest pace of hiring is consistent with business activity that is picking up speed -- but not too much -- and suggests consumers will have the financial wherewithal to withstand the sting of high gasoline prices. All that bodes well for the country's economic health.
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NAHB Creates National Green Building Program
The board of directors of the National Association of Home Builders has approved the creation of a national green building program that the trade group hopes will provide a template for voluntary, market-driven environmentally sustainable building all over the country. The vote came during a recent NAHB board of directors meeting in Washington, D.C. The new program will be based on the National Green Building Standard, a model for residential construction and renovation written by builders, architects, environmentalists and product experts that will be released in early 2008, said NAHB President Brian Catalde of El Segundo, Calif.
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30-year Mortgage Rates Drop to Lowest Level Since Early June
Rates on 30-year mortgages sank this week to a one-month low, while rates on most other mortgages also fell, good news to prospective home buyers. Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported last week that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.63 percent. That was down from last week's 6.67 percent rate and was the lowest since early June, when rates stood at 6.53 percent.
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Mortgage Demand Steady, Might Get a Kick from Falling Rates
Rising demand last week for loans to buy homes offset a drop in applications to refinance existing mortgages, leaving mortgage applications little changed from the prior week, an industry group said last week. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its mortgage applications index rose 0.1% to a seasonally adjusted 619.4 in the week ended June 29, nearing its lowest level since mid-February. The MBA's purchase index rose 2.0 percent to 437.3. But the refinancing applications gauge dropped 2.6 percent to this year's low of 1,687.2 on a seasonally adjusted basis.
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Registration for the 2008 International Builders' Show is Now Open
Online registration and housing are now open for The 2008 International Builders' Show® (IBS), being held February 13-16, 2008 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. Produced by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the show is expected to draw more than 100,000 attendees representing all facets of the building industry. Attendee registration and hotel information can be found online at www.BuildersShow.com. More than 1,900 exhibitors will showcase their latest products and services at The 2008 IBS, the largest annual light construction show in the world, covering more than 1,000,000 net square feet. The Show will also feature nearly 300 education sessions, taught by nationally recognized speakers and designed to help attendees stay current on industry trends and issues.
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Betting On a Building Boom
The building boom that has boosted publicly traded heavy construction companies shows no signs of quieting. Spending on new skyscrapers, oil and gas plants, public transportation infrastructure, and other big projects worldwide is expected to remain strong, analysts say. Unlike the U.S. housing market, nonresidential construction is in an up cycle. The heavy construction industry is benefiting from the fact that many subsectors are doing well at the same time, such as hotels and casinos, oil and gas production, road construction and commercial buildings.
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One week after the U.S. Senate revived the Senate immigration reform bill (S. 1639), Senate leaders fell 14 votes short of the 60 votes needed to limit debate on the bill and move toward final passage. The failed cloture motion delivers a final blow to the legislation, which many considered dead earlier this month after a partisan dispute caused the measure to collapse.
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AGC of Greater Florida Calendar of Events
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| Current Issues |
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Residential July 2007
Commercial Summer 2007
HOME: Living in the Heart of Florida
Fall 2007
For more information,
Please contact
Scott Costello |
If you are interested in joining the BANCF and taking advantage of these great opportunities,
Please visit
www.bancf.com |
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