Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment Summary this week, and several Florida metro areas are ranking high in jobs lost:

The Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice market recorded the fourth highest percentage drop in total employment nationwide for the past year.

Total employment dropped 3.7 percent in the 12 months ended in May.

Included within the top five were other areas on the west coast of Florida still feeling the hangover from the real estate and construction boom of the past five years: Cape Coral-Fort Myers at No. 2 with a 5.3 percent decline and Naples-Marco Island at No. 3 with a 4.6 percent decline in employment.

Topping the list is Flint, Mich., with a 6 percent decline — hit hard by layoffs in the automotive industry. Behind Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice was Saginaw-Saginaw Township North, Mich., with a 3.3 percent.

Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater and Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach were fourth and fifth on a list of areas losing the most jobs. The markets lost 20,300 and 16,500 jobs, respectively.

The State of Florida, the City of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County have approved $34.4 million in tax incentives to convince Jabil Circuit stays in the area.

…The city would contribute $12.7-million and the county about $1.7-million through grants, tax refunds and new road and utility improvements benefiting Jabil.

… In return, Jabil must hire 858 new workers at an average annual salary of $42,685 a year, or 115 percent of the area’s average wage. Jabil must also build a new $49-million campus, generating about $300,000 annually in new tax revenue to the city.

The county and city estimate the deal would produce an annual economic impact in Pinellas of $68-million.

But we are not supposed to know this.

In two separate meetings, the County Commission approved the deal without mentioning which company would benefit. County Administrator Fred Marquis confirmed it was Jabil.

The city, however, took the secrecy further by quietly adding the incentive package to its council agenda just hours before a June 19 meeting. The council approved the incentives without any discussion or mention of what they were voting on.

It was buried with dozens of routine matters that were voted on as a group, making it nearly impossible for the public to know that the city was committing millions in public dollars to a private company.

That’s not “Government in the Sunshine.”

The City Council’s actions violated the spirit though not the letter of Florida’s Government-in-the-Sunshine Law, said Adria Harper, director of Florida’s First Amendment Foundation.

“The whole point of the Sunshine Law is to give citizens a window into the government process,” Harper said.

Florida’s “sunshine” law exempts economic development deals, so there was nothing illegal here. Still, I’d like more details. Is there a target date for hiring the 858? Is there a minimum amount of time they must commit to keeping them employed? Is there a deadline for building the new campus? Are they required to pay back the money if they fail?

I’m all for economic incentives to bring more jobs to the area. But good grief, let’s make sure all the t’s are crossed and they i’s dotted, and don’t leave taxpayers on the hook.

Like the city of Largo, all local government officials need to learn from what is happeneing at Neilsen of Olsdmar, where they continue to lay off workers, and outsource jobs.

Your afternoon daily news:

Tribune Front: 

• Remember nearly a year ago when there was concern about the C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir having cracks?  TBO’s Mike Salinero and Steve Andrews follow up and finds that some of the cement walls are only 3 inches thick when they should be a foot.  The worst part?  Tampa Bay Water knew about this in November, and are just now getting around to telling folks - 6 months later.  TBW Executive Director Gerald Seeber says everything is fine, and there is nothing to worry about.  I wonder if Gerry lives next door to the thing.

Times Front:

• Red Sox fans in Tampa Bay are starting to root for the Rays.
• Like the airlines, local restaurants are beginning to nickel and dime their customers, adding fees for lettuce, extra sauce, and other stuff.  Some have created new lower-priced menus.

Tribune Metro:

• The 93 year old elevator at Tampa City Hall is getting electricity.
• Pinellas County commissioners approved an agreement with a development group that plans to build a massive town center-type project on the 240-acre former Toytown landfill in northeast St. Petersburg.  Might they work with the Rays on a new stadium?  They might.

Times Local:

• Former Miss Georgia Jennifer Holloway is leaving Bay News 9 to focus on promoting the exercise machine she invented, the Workout 180.

Despite a decade of education reform, tens of thousands of Florida’s high school students don’t read well enough to survive in the work force. Just take a look at these stats:

• This year’s Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test results revealed just 38 percent of 10th graders are proficient in reading.
• About one fourth of Hillsborough County high school students - 12,088 - were placed in remedial reading classes in 2007-08.
• Nearly 35 percent of students who entered Florida’s community colleges in 2006 were required to take remedial reading.

Hey - I resent this. As a product of the Hillsborough County School System, I demand to know the meaning of the word proficient.

Because of money restraints, universities in the State of Florida are losing nationally known and respected professors such as Robin Murphy.

So how can the State of Florida afford to buy land from US Sugar for $1.75 billion?

Hey, I’m all for protecting the environment so our natural lands can be enjoyed by future generations.  But if those future generations are going to be too stupid to know what to do with them, what is the point?

This nonsense about drilling offshore infuriates me. It won’t do a thing to lower prices, it is sure to turn clean beaches into tarball traps, and it prevents people from discussing practical ways to cut consumption.

Case in point: How many times have you driven past a fast-food or Starbucks outlet with six to 12 cars in the drive-thru queue?

If I go to one of these places, I always park, go inside, get my stuff and go. Meanwhile, the losers are still in line, with their engines running. How many gallons of gas are wasted each day by idling vehicles in these lines? I don’t know. But it just makes sense to quit the practice.

No more drive-thrus!

From the FDLE: Amber Alert for TORREY HOBBS:

Torrey has 2 upper front chipped teeth and a scar on his chest. He was last seen wearing blue shorts, blue undershirt, and blue flip flops. He was last seen in the 19000 block NW 57th Ave in Miami. The child may be in the company of Rasha Honors, a black male, 27 years old, 5 feet 5 inches tall, with black hair and brown eyes and Rex Honors, a black male, 31 years old, 5 feet 9 inches tall, black hair, and brown eyes. They may be traveling in a 1996-1999 white Mitsubishi Montero Sport with light window tint.

TORREY HOBBS
ENDANGERED
Date Missing: 6/5/2008
Missing From: Miami,FL County: DADE
Birth Date: 1/17/1996 Age Disappeared: 12 yrs 4 months
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Height: 5′ 04″
Weight: 85 lbs
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown

REX CAMERON HONORS

Companion Adult
Date Missing: 6/5/2008
Missing From: Miami,FL County: DADE
Birth Date: 1/23/1977 Age Disappeared: 31 yrs 4 months
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Height: 5′ 09″
Weight: Unknown
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown

RASHA KADRON HONORS

Companion Adult
Date Missing: 6/5/2008
Missing From: Miami,FL County: DADE
Birth Date: 10/29/1981 Age Disappeared: 26 yrs 7 months
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Height: 5′ 05″
Weight: Unknown
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown

Property taxes are still a mess, and it’s because there is no “common” sense.

Taxpayers try to get around paying taxes, while governments try to squeeze every last nickel from taxpayers.

Why would governments want to use “highest and best use” as a valuation of property? Because sales price is just a number on a piece of paper.

You may have seen this in buying or selling a car. You gotta fill out the sales price on that title transfer, so the state can collect sales tax. Even though you bought the car for $5,000, you may have told the state you paid $50 (or a single dollar!) in order to rip off the state.

The same goes with property. You could sell a property worth $1,000,000 for a single dollar, but what kind of taxes would that bring government? Nil. So they came up with “highest and best use.” Makes sense.

But the pendulum swung too far.

The Times tells us that Juan Lopez paid $250,000 for a house in St. Pete in 2005. A new independent appraisal values the home at $237,000. However, the Pinellas County property appraiser’s office values the house at nearly $300,000. How did they come up with that number?

Lopez investigated. He was stunned to learn the county raised his 2007 property values by cherry-picking two lot sales during white-hot 2005. Most aggravating is a sale on 25th Avenue, 11 blocks away in Crescent Park Heights.

That lot sold for $200,000, but it turned out to be a speculative purchase by a builder who went bankrupt. He built a luxury home there. It’s in foreclosure. Yet this is what passes in Lopez’s case for a “comparable sale.”

This is not new information, and Pinellas isn’t the only county that has been doing it.

To relieve it a bit, the Florida Legislature passed HB 909:

Ad Valorem Taxation: Clarifies factors that property appraiser must consider in deriving just valuation; requires DOR to develop uniform policies & procedures manual for use in proceedings before value adjustment boards; requires certain persons in certain counties to attend special magistrate training under certain circumstances; revises information required to be provided on disclosure of tax impact form, etc.

All that mumbo jumbo means is that county appraisers may no longer simply go with the “highest and best use” in determining value. Of course, the “highest and best use” is still the starting point. We’ll find out next year if it helps - the law goes into effect this September.

But it’s the greed and lack of community that necessitates constant changes in the law. People (Buddy!) will find ways not to pay, and governments will still attempt to get every nickel.

It’s a tug of war that wastes a lot of time, costs a lot of money, and makes government bloated with rules (and staff).