Word: florida
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
People have often said that Florida is the new California, but this week the Sunshine State hopes to really drive the point home - all the way into homeowners' pockets...
...Tuesday the legislature started a special session to reform Florida's dysfunctional property tax system, aiming to save residents the tens of billions of dollars that Californians reaped a generation ago. It's been almost 30 years since California approved Proposition 13, one of the most dramatic property tax reduction measures in U.S. history and a revolt that emboldened homeowners across the country. Now, with the middle class again feeling squeezed out of the American Dream, Florida's effort to smite spiraling property levies could influence a new generation of revenue rebels. "The hope is that Florida will come...
...Florida's problem is similar to what California faced in the 1970s: a deluge of new residents and feckless growth management have driven real estate values, and therefore property taxes, beyond the reach of more and more households. In expensive markets like South Florida, for example, homeowners who have yet to qualify for a state property-tax cap say they've seen better than 100% increases over the past few years. It's a large reason why, according to a new Zogby International poll, half of South Floridians and 37% of all Floridians say they're considering moving...
...world is grateful that time has bestowed sainthood on the former Vice President. We now have a patron saint of hyperbole. Andrew Stigaard, Tarpon Springs, Florida...
...costs, they're using hardier grasses like fescue in the Pacific Northwest and paspalum in Hawaii, Florida and Majorca. These drought- tolerant varieties don't require as much water for irrigation. And designers are working with what the land has to offer--the days of creating a pine forest out of a desert, à la Steven Wynn in Las Vegas, are numbered. "I take advantage of Mother Nature," says designer John Robinson. "At Blue Heron in Medina [Ohio], I had ravine after ravine, so I positioned the course to hit over those, like a steeplechase...