Homeowners across Florida are being punished for doing something the Florida Legislature actually wants them to do: hire licensed private-sector inspection and plans review professionals to keep construction moving. […]
If there’s one truth that emerged from our four-part interview with housing expert Dr. Sam Staley, it’s this: Florida doesn’t have a housing demand problem — it has a housing supply problem. And the reason we’re not building enough homes isn’t economics or interest rates or evil developers. It’s the result of deliberate choices made by local governments — and by the residents who pressure them.[…]
State Representative Jason Shoaf is weighing in on Gulf County’s controversial $500 “administrative fee” on private building inspectors — and he’s not mincing words. In an exclusive statement to Red Tape Florida, Shoaf said the practice “isn’t good government” and urged every local government in Florida to “start following state law.” […]
Why aren’t Tallahassee-Leon leaders demanding better performance from a $5-million-a-year organization that hasn’t landed a new business in 2025?[…]
For months, Red Tape Florida has heard the same complaint from people who deal with Tallahassee’s permitting system: the City goes silent on email whenever things get sensitive. […]
There is a running joke among Florida builders that you can erect a 300-unit apartment complex faster than you can get a permit to fix a shed. It’s funny until it isn’t. […]
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. […]
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.[…]
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 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. […]