Tallahassee Reports and the price of positive coverage for the city commission majority
If you only read the headlines, you’d think the great ethics scandal in Tallahassee was… an unpaid hospital board volunteer making a campaign contribution. […]
Author: redtape
Posts by redtape
Florida built a fast lane. Gulf County added a toll.
Imagine you play a round of golf at a private course instead of a city-owned golf facility. But when you’re done, the city still sends you a greens-fee bill … and then makes you swing by their municipal course clubhouse to fill out some paperwork before you can go home.[…]
Dunnellon’s Creosote Standoff Shows How Florida’s Permitting Culture Breeds Paralysis
A small item out of Dunnellon last week speaks volumes about how Florida’s permitting culture turns decisions into stalemates and pushes investment into quicksand. […]
Gulf County doubles down on its $500 toll — and doubles down on being wrong
Gulf County has now responded to Red Tape Florida’s reporting on its illegal $500 “planning review fee” for builders who use private inspectors. The response, signed by County Planner Doug Crane, is exactly what you’d expect from a government caught in the act: a lot of bluster, a little jargon, and not one sentence that makes the fee legal. […]
FAC falling for Gulf County’s schtick on the use of private provider inspections
Here we go again: county bureaucrats who don’t like a state law are circling the wagons, slow-walking compliance, and now trying to rewrite reality to make it sound like private providers are bad for residents and business. The Florida Association of Counties’ Community & Urban Affairs Committee is pushing an agenda item dressed up as “citizen protection,” but its own packet undercuts the scare story it’s selling. […]
Fees are taxes in sheep’s clothing
Property-tax scrutiny is pushing cities and counties toward a quieter revenue source: fees. In theory, fees are better than taxes because they connect what you pay to what you use. In practice, many of today’s “fees” are compulsory, appear on the property-tax bill, and climb steeply — functioning like taxes by another name.[…]
St. Petersburg permitting backlog is a Category 5 disaster for homeowners
A year after Hurricane Helene walloped Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg homeowners are still telling the same story: roofs tarped, repairs stalled, and permits stuck. In March, Mayor Ken Welch said the post-disaster permitting backlog would be cleared by the end of that month. But as recently as this week, residents told reporters they’re still waiting — and the city still hasn’t said how many permits remain in limbo. […]
Permitting pivots: amnesty, capacity, and org charts — will they actually speed the queue?
Florida’s plan-review machinery is shifting in three places. If execution matches the headlines, applicants should see fewer re-review loops and faster close-outs. The question isn’t whether the moves sound good; it’s whether they move the metrics. […]
The Opportunity Still Exists — If We Want It
It’s easy to feel discouraged when examining what hasn’t materialized around the MagLab. There are no recognized clusters of private-sector R&D, no noticeable proliferation of startups, and no regional plan in place to activate this scientific powerhouse as an economic engine for North Florida. […]
Bay County’s Surplus Fee Shuffle
Bay County Commissioners are headed to the Florida Association of Counties conference with a little problem in their carry-on: millions in so-called “surplus” building fees that, by law, they’re supposed to refund. Instead, they’re trying to wish the whole thing away. […]