State Panel Rejects Tax-Cap Proposal

A powerful citizens panel couldn't muster the votes Monday for a constitutional amendment to cap all government revenue, but quickly gave the go-ahead for an amendment to make it easier to collect sales taxes on Internet and catalog sales. The Taxation and Budget Reform Commission rejected the tax cap after supporters spent much of the day-long meeting trying to get support for last-minute amendments to win the 17 votes needed from the 25-member panel. When it became obvious the tax cap was four votes short, supporters scrambled to push a replacement amendment that would make it harder for state and local governments to pass taxes and fees by requiring a two-thirds vote of the governing board. That failed too.

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Projects Await Court Decision

Redevelopment projects like University Corners have been on hold across the state, awaiting a Florida Supreme Court ruling that will have major implications on the ability of cities to revitalize their urban cores. The court's ruling in an Escambia County case last summer and a subsequent revised opinion cast doubt on whether schools, local governments and community redevelopment agencies can pledge funds for multiyear projects without a referendum to let the voting public decide. The case in question involved an effort to fund an Escambia County redevelopment project with a bond that would be repaid through property taxes. The state constitution requires a referendum to use property taxes for multiyear projects.

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Agency That Controls Florida Growth Could Lose Popular Grant Program

Secretary Tom Pelham's agency has to be the "police force of growth," he says. The Department of Communities Affairs (DCA) is tasked with making sure cities and counties stick to their long-term growth plans, which sometimes means killing or stalling building projects. The agency mostly works with a big stick. But, for nearly 20 years, it's also had a carrot. It's called the Florida Communities Trust, a nationally recognized feel-good program that doles out grants to cities and counties to buy parks, especially if it helps the municipality meet its growth-management plans. Now the Florida Legislature wants to take DCA's carrot away.

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Crist Wants To Slash State's Gas Tax

Echoing the calls for a national gas-tax holiday by Republican presidential candidate John McCain, Gov. Charlie Crist on Wednesday urged state legislators to eliminate the state gas tax temporarily this summer to give families a reprieve during tough economic times. ''I know the frustration of people paying for gas at the pump,'' Crist said. ``It's outrageous how expensive this is -- and our dependence on foreign oil is ridiculous. Any way we can relieve some of that economic pressure for our fellow Floridians, we should do it.''

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Home Builders See an Uptick Despite Cloudy Economy

A number of home builders in the Orlando area are beginning to report an uptick in sales as a result of lower interest rates and a leveling of new-home prices, coupled with ongoing promotional deals. Taylor Morrison, created last summer through the merger of Morrison Homes and Taylor Woodrow, sold 168 new homes in 12 Orlando-area neighborhoods during the first quarter. Kyle Marik, marketing manager for Taylor Morrison in the Orlando region, said the home builder saw steadily rising sales early this year, with 50 new homes sold in January, 53 in February and 65 in March.

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FHBA Hosts Successful Spring Conference

Home builders flooded Tallahassee last week for the Florida Home Builders Association's (FHBA) 2008 Spring Legislative Conference where they received a personal update on housing-related legislation being debated this Legislative Session. FHBA's Spring Legislative Conference takes place at the midpoint of Florida's Legislative Session each year and focuses on governmental affairs and legislative issues. Conference attendees were briefed on the association's member-identified priority issues, as well as other important construction industry issues. To emphasize that FHBA's issues are of concern in the legislature, several lawmakers addressed conference attendees during the association's Legal Action, Governmental Affairs and Board of Directors meetings.

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Florida House Panel Advances Proposal to Cut Property Taxes

A divided House panel picked up the mantle of a citizen tax revolt on Tuesday, agreeing to ask voters in November to cut property taxes by at least $5.9 billion. Known as a flat-tax proposal, the measure is strongly supported by House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-West Miami, and the citizen group, Cut Property Taxes Now. "I believe this is going to be on the ballot in 2010, said the sponsor, Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, a Miami Republican. "It is incumbent on us to give them that choice earlier." Rubio pledged to fight in the Legislature after the group failed in January to collect the more than 600,000 signatures it needed for the November ballot.

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Tallahassee Home Construction Rebounds Despite 'Recession By Fear'

Local home builders are calling it "recession by fear," saying it's a great time to buy or build a home in this area. But national focus on the mortgage crisis and poor sales elsewhere have been keeping buyers away. "Prices are low and interest rates are low. Why wouldn't you buy now?" said Jim Bennett of Advanced Builders and Remodelers Inc. of Tallahassee. "I can't explain it," said Brian Will of New South Homes and president of the Tallahassee Builders Association. "It's a psychological reluctance." Will said two factors fuel the area's downturn in residential building: there is a "bit of an oversupply" of new homes, and the market is still adjusting from investor purchases in 2005 and 2006. Investors have turned their attention elsewhere, leaving residential units on the market, Will said.

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Home Resales Rebound In Pasco Past Two Months

The door seems to be opening again on resales of existing Pasco County homes, the president of West Pasco Board of Realtors, Greg Armstrong, believes. The past two months have rebounded with hefty increases in the number of resales, Armstrong said. The local Realtors group tracks sales west of the Suncoast Parkway. That's the first time in 21 months that sales notched back-to-back monthly increases, he emphasized. The number of re-sales in March totaled 280, up nearly 27 percent over February's 221. January's sales figure had come in at 180.

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Palm Beach County Rejects Hiking Fees on New Homeowners

Wary of increasing the cost of housing at a time when homes sales are sluggish, Palm Beach County commissioners Tuesday rejected calls to increase impact fees paid by new homebuyers. County staff had recommended a 9.3 percent increase, or $963 hike, on the typical new home under 2,000 square feet. It would have ramped up the total impact fee paid by the buyer of a home between 1,400 and 1,999 square feet to nearly $11,000. "I think it's a symbolic effort," Commissioner Mary McCarty said of the gesture to the housing industry to time. The building industry is having a hard time. (Delaying a vote for additional impact fees) sends a message that we do know what's going on."

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Port St. Lucie May Nearly Double Fees for Home Permits

The cost of a single-family building permit would almost double for houses greater than 2,000 square feet under a new lineup of fees city employees hope to impose by June 1. Interim Building Official Joel Dramis said he looked into why the building department doesn't have enough money to pay salaries and expenses and discovered the department loses money every time a new house is built in Port St. Lucie. Although the number and complexity of building inspections required for each new home has risen with the adoption of new building codes, the city has not raised its single-family permit fees for 16 years, Dramis said.

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Indian River County Backs Off Impact Fee Increases for Now

County commissioners don't know enough about calculating impact fees to impose any increases, they decided Tuesday. "You need a lot of understanding to explain this in simple terms, and I don't think a lot of us up here can do that," Chairwoman Sandra Bowden said. Impact fees are one-time charges assessed against builders by local government - and passed onto buyers. The fees are meant to help pay for the expansion of specific services, such as roads or schools, which new residents or new business customers will demand.

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State Ethanol Industry Ready to Go Without Corn, Experts Say

Ethanol production in Florida is nonexistent now, but its day is coming soon, two experts told business leaders Monday. And the state's supply of the alternative fuel won't be corn but biomass, meaning inedible waste materials such as agricultural residues, tree trimmings and yard clippings. "It does minimize the food-versus-fuel debate," said Gustavo Cepero, vice president of West Palm Beach-based Florida Crystals Corp. Cepero and George Philippidis, associate director of the Applied Research Center at Florida International University, spoke to a luncheon hosted by the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County at the Airport Hilton.

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Senate OKs Sweeping Property Insurance Changes

The Florida Senate approved a sweeping property insurance bill Wednesday touted as a "homeowners' bill of rights." If legislators last year were focused on lowering homeowner's insurance rates, this year they're set on drafting an array of laws to hold insurers accountable and equip the state to be a tougher watchdog. Insurance industry representatives said insurers who weren't scared away from Florida last year will be this year - if this bill becomes law. And that is far from certain since House leaders have reservations about much of it.

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Builders Group Sues Orange Schools

Orange County's public school system is "misappropriating" $825 million in voter-approved sales-tax money because officials aren't using it to build new schools, a lawsuit filed Thursday contends. The Home Builders Association of Metro Orlando, which represents area developers, is asking a judge to force the school district to spend the sales-tax money on new schools. The trade group also is asking the court to lower the fees developers pay school districts to offset the cost of building new schools.

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Green Gets the Gold

With just one house built, Darren Brinkley stands as the first green giant of Florida home construction. His is the first "gold"-rated house in the state, so certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. The 2,000-square-foot contemporary at 216 84th Ave. N.E., near Riviera Bay, uses 55 percent less power and 30 percent less water than a traditional house. Recycled bathwater flushes the toilet. Wood scraps left over from the floors helped build the bathroom vanities. He raised it on stilts above the flood level, so it requires no flood insurance, and he built it over the property's existing house, which was turned into a garage - avoiding the waste of demolition. Brinkley's tactics meant construction had a minimal impact on the environment: less trash to the landfill, fewer difficult-to-renew resources used. They also ensure the house will be as kind as possible to its surroundings over the course of its lifetime.For that it got its LEED-certified gold medal; the acronym stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a voluntary program developed by the green council to improve buildings' impacts on the environment, people's health and the economy. Florida's second gold house was certified in Miami in March.

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