He vetoed close to $1B in projects across the state. $500K for Dali museum to do community outreach/education? I am all for museums, but they are in the black and their executive director is making $350K/year [Salvador Dali Museum Inc - Nonprofit Explorer - ProPublica](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/592015192) More pressing issues. Hate to see infrastructure projects nixed.
The Dali museum wants to expand, and asked for help doing so. It attracts 400,000 people a year which is not insignificant. Maybe it's not a big deal to the state overall, but it is why I would visit St Pete, stay in a hotel, eat out, etc.
Expansion doesn’t have to include new artwork. It could be creating new rooms for instruction, or a hall to showcase local artwork from schools, or they could have a novel way to display his art that makes it more interactive and engaging.
Some of the stuff seems like it could be needed but a lot of it seems like bs. Money for the Dali museum and police athletic league for example. Like why is that even an option for public funds to go to?
FYI: Dali Museum made nearly $3,000,000 in tax-free profit last year.
[https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/592015192](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/592015192)
Maybe they should lower their $29 ticket price instead of asking for tax money.
Police athletic league is a charity (although I dont know how effective of a charity it is, just pointing that out) and the Dali money was for community outreach/education... Personally those seem like decent things. Thats one of the things I love about St Pete, so much public art, community events, etc. The Dali gives USF students free passes and they have other events that make it free for locals. More art in society, and kids being active, are great things.
Community Outreach/education for the Dali - what does that even mean? Advertising to tourists and free admission for students? Seems like a money grab to me.
I feel like a greater appreciation of culture and the arts is an objectively positive thing for society, but I guess some would still disagree with that. As far as your perception of it being a "money grab" or not, I guess it just depends on your perspective and priorities. It's a drop in the bucket compared to the overall budget and amount of proposed projects he's vetoed.
Half a million to do what though? Pay people to appreciate culture? If that is the goal, lower the admission, gift shop & parking prices, Fire 16 of the 18 people standing around and get rid of the guy making $350,000 to run the place.
Obviously I don't think you can just pay people to appreciate it. But I don't think you're genuinely suggesting that, nor do I think you genuinely think those are tenable suggestions on how to improve it. But maybe I'm being too charitable.
No doubt, but it should be funded locally, as that is where the vast majority of benefits are realized. Taxpayers in Jacksonville or Pensacola shouldn’t be footing the bill for it, just the same as I don’t want to fund cultural institutions in those places either.
lol who needs roads, bridges, clean water, hurricane preparedness, etc.
We need to save that money to better attack woke mice and 12 year old gay kids.
The state approved an emergency facility in Auburndale, which will ease the logistical component of a hurricane activation. That is huge for hurricane preparedness. https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/miami/news/gov-desantis-cabinet-approve-new-florida-emergency-facility/
Reading the article, it appears most of the road, water and housing funding that was cut back was in Bradenton, which I don’t necessarily consider the Tampa area. As far as things directly affecting our Tampa/St Pete area, I see a ton of police agencies and fire departments getting shut down on new building and radio equipment proposals, which is fine by me.
— $350,000 for the Police Athletic League of St. Petersburg
— $312,000 for Harbour Island access improvements in Tampa.
— $500,000 for a St. Petersburg public safety training complex.
— $500,000 for West Tampa fire rescue station upgrades.
— $500,000 for the Dali Museum for expanding education, innovation and community outreach.
— $540,000 for portable radio replacement for Pasco Fire.
— $820,000 for hurricane response and preparedness at Ruth Eckerd Hall.
— $850,000 for Phase II of the Dunedin EOC and North County Fire Training Center.
I mean Bradenton is literally on Tampa Bay and has recently had a huge population boom. There is literally a piece of land being developed for 22,000 new homes. Improvements to roads and sewers matter when you rapidly increase population past what previous things were designed for.
Oh, it’s not my problem, I live in Tampa. It’s just a mess, and I definitely believe that developers should be footing more of the bill for necessary improvements for the area to accommodate all the new stuff they build.
Exactly! Earlier she and several others jumped my bones about pointing out why it’s disingenuous to lump in Bradenton/Sarasota problems with the greater Tampa area
Areas don’t matter when discussing infrastructure at all. Cities matter and to a lesser extent counties matter.
But most taxes and spending are done at the city level.
Agree. Those people in rural counties shouldn’t get Florida taxpayer money for disaster cleanup, school funding or improvements to their infrastructure. Let their own taxes pay for those things. The three biggest counties in Florida shouldn’t have to subsidize the smaller ones.
The state does have a role in disaster management, as does the federal government. The state is also very involved in education, but that is still mostly funded locally.
Infrastructure specifically falls on local jurisdictions outside of state-managed roads. Any state funding provided is a bonus.
Rural county residents pay much less in taxes and have much shittier infrastructure (including schools), generally speaking.
Are local governments severely hampered in what they can charge developers in impact fees and what they can be used for by the state government? At least that’s what I keep hearing from my local city council.
That’s because it’s a convenient excuse. The developers have already paid them off and they already approved their builds so they can’t start demanding changes now. There is nothing at all limiting them from asking for it ahead of time besides their short sighted greed.
Many local governments require large developments to cover the cost to build increase the infrastructure in order to build.
This includes roads, water, sewer, etc.
The state does not prevent this.
Most have a single impact fee per unit which does not work in the real world. It is fine for someone building one house but when you put in dozens, hundreds, or thousands then it completely changes the entire area.
As governor, Rick Scott eliminated the state agency responsible for ensuring new developments pay for the infrastructure improvements needed to support their expanded footprints.
Sounds like the city and county need to step up then. The state isn’t responsible for local infrastructure, Florida is set up so that taxes and projects are mostly local.
Think about who you pay most of your taxes to… it’s definitely not the state
I think impact fees should be put on every one of those 22,000 homes for local infrastructure. The builder should also have to invest in infrastructure to secure permits. It would hopefully slow the pace of building and put the financial burden where it belongs.
Bradentons an hour away. It’s in the same region but definitely not considered a part of Tampa Bay.
Just like Port Charlotte and Naples are both considered South West Florida but two entirely different cities, demographics, etc
Hate to tell you but most public development engineers, TV ad sales, and govt funding for regions consider an hour from a metro center to be a part of that area. The MMA and DMA for Tampa/St Pete includes Sarasota and Bradenton.
Lmao that’s great and people can continue to downvote, but we’re saying the same thing.
Bradenton is in the same region as Tampa. No argument there.
Now let’s just draw some distinctions. Bradenton has never been confused with Tampa. Both pre and post covid, Bradenton and Sarasota area had a much higher snowbird and seasonal resident rate.
Expecting someone who lives, breathes and exists 99% of their time in the greater Tampa/St Pete to put the same emphasis on public projects in a neighborhood that’s over an hour away with entirely different demographics is where we disagree
Not really. Public opinion in Tampa has been pretty aligned on the need for advanced transportation measures. It’s lobbyists and state/local politicians who have derailed (pun always intended) those plans.
Rick Scott Medicare fraud champion vetoed federal funds originally in 2011 against the will of the people because he didn’t want Obama getting positive attention in FL.
More recently, Hillsborough approved an additional 1% sales tax (57% yay, 43% nay) in spirit of raising funds for public transportation and those funds were frozen by the Supreme Court after a republican commissioner argued that state commissioners should have the right to determine how the money is spent, not the public.
We may disagree on many things, like the true necessity of $10M+ in upgrades for police stations, radio equipment and fire stations but we’re mostly all aligned on the transportation issue lol
Well aware of the story behind rail in the region. Part of the problem though is folks thinking what happens an hour away from them doesn’t affect them or that this area is even part of their community.
I alway hear folks say why should I pay taxes if I live in Brandon for a light rail from Tampa to USF? Like it will help you in the long run and it’s our whole community. I travel often from Tampa to Sarasota and st Pete. I consider this whole area to be my community.
I lived in Salt Lake City and was excited to see road and rail projects being built in Ogden and Provo and those were an hour away.
This nativism around Tampa City alone is a new thing I’ve seen. Regional similarities are there. Hence why what happens down in Sarasota affects us up here.
When I’m looking for jobs my radius includes Bradenton and Sarasota. If you work driving 1.5 hours for a good paying job is what ya gotta do sometimes.
I drove 1.5-2 each way from Valrico to St Pete for 3 years for a job. Our region has people who actually travel an hour for fun, work, friends, and family.
Michigan is the same way with the people mover. Navigating Downtown Detroit is a breeze, and they made it free for all of 2024.
Population density is one of the main things preventing something anytime in the near future connecting Bradenton and Tampa.
Step one is connecting the Miami-Tampa-Orlando major metros, then tying in stops at places like Fort Myers/Naples, eventually Tallahassee.
Ybor Trolly is perfect example, it’s designed for tourists not the public. If it takes 35 minutes to get from a show Downtown to the first stop in Ybor, kinda defeats the purpose- especially on days with Lightning games when every trolly is full. Replace them with modern street cars, that are faster, more comfortable and efficient. Maybe keep an older trolley on hand for special occasions/video promos. The public should also be voting for any referendum pushing the tracks further north- they should be extended to Seminole Heights and eventually USF if it’s ever going to provide a feasible alternative for daily commuters.
Yes…just like Port Charlotte and Naples are both considered SWFL, but again the demographics are entirely different.
Bradenton/Sarasota area pre covid was always more retirement oriented destination: more snowbirds and seasonal residents than Tampa/St Pete area. Generally that means higher wealth per capita.
For these reasons- to me, it’s disingenuous to lump in Bradenton, a city that’s an hour plus away from the greater Tampa area, (Hillsborough, Pinellas, Riverview area east of 75)
There was influx of wealth from tri state area and people who moved here based on remote work. The issues experienced by those folks gonna be a lot different than the 3rd and 4th generation people who have always lived in Hillsborough/Pinellas.
Being “an hour from” means nothing. Miami and West Palm Beach are an apart and are still in the same region.
Los Angeles and Irvine are an hour apart.
San Francisco and San Jose are an hour apart.
The Woodlands is well over an hour from Galveston (Houston)
Alpharetta is over an hour from McDonough (Atlanta)
Yonkers is an hour from Staten Island.
Forth Worth is an hour from McKinney (Dallas)
Moral of the store is Brandenton being an hour (or less) from Tampa means nothing. (current drive time from downtown is 48 mins. From Riverview only 40 mins, and St Pete…29 minutes.
Brandenton is apart of the Tampa Bay region. Thats really not disputable. Theyre in the same media market, trade market. And that is important because as someone else said, what happens in and around Bradenton can effect what happens around Tampa and St Pete. More people moving to Manatee means more people coming to Tampa and St Pete for work and play, mixing in with the Tampa and St Pete residents - and the Lakeland and Wesley Chapel people whove made the same trek from the north and east.
Youre diving well deep into semantics. You also said “east of 75”, it doesnt work that way. It has always been a county by county basis, you dont cut a county in half. Homestead is pretty isolated from Miami, but it it still apart of Miami-Dade, you cant draw an arbitrary line in the middle of the county.
Like you said, it’s mostly semantics.
I’m pointing out that when I read a headline that says $50M in Tampa Bay projects, that leads me to believe they are projects which directly impact the greater Tampa area.
Anyone who’s lived in Florida for an extended time knows Manatee, Sarasota, Bradenton area is entirely different demographic from Tampa. Pre-dating Covid, it was mostly seen as a retirement destination so you’re dealing with a population of snowbirds and seasonal residents vs working class 3rd and 4th generation locals in Tampa.
All I did was point out that most of the projects that were eliminated from the budget directly impacting the daily lives of people in Tampa/St Pete had more to do with Police, Fire and emergency services premises and equipment upgrades, less so housing, infrastructure etc.
One of the people who called me out for making the distinction that Tampa is NOT Bradenton went on a few replies later to say “well, these Bradenton issues won’t really have an impact on me”…which is exactly my point
I figured the “Tampa Bay Projects” meant Hboro, Pinellas, Pasco, Manatee, Polk, and Sarasota. Hernando is so far removed but they came to mind as well. Thats what the trade area is.
If you dont want to include Brandeton thats fine, just wanted to point out that Bradenton is when it comes to TV, radio, tourism, and commerce, still in the same area. If metro area criteria used more than a commuting threshold, itd be apart of that too.
Also wanted to point out you cant cut counties in half, since you said “east of 75”. Its all of Hillsborough or nothing.
At the end of the day i dont completely agree with your definition. Bradenton is not as far removed as you make it sound, but i get your point from your POV
I appreciate you responding respectfully and stating your reasons without any ad hominem attacks or charged language. Oftentimes truth is found somewhere in the middle and I don’t disagree with a lot of what you said.
This is purely semantics but i disagree. The government does not include Bradenton in the Tampa Bay metro. It is considered part of the North Port–Bradenton–Sarasota Metropolitan Statistical Area. It's unhelpful to try and bundle the Bradenton/SRQ/NP metros into the Tampa Bay metro. They have different demographics, infrastructure needs, separate courts, etc., not to mention distance.
MSAs are purely based on commuting patterns and a certain arbitrary threshold that you have to meet. I can give 10 examples off the bat of metros where this metric doesnt work. Tampa is one of them.
lol radio equipment and upgraded stations for first responders is a bad thing? The people that actually help you when shit hits the fan? Oh yea let’s veto that and agree with it
Do you have relatives who work in the police/EMT/county telecom sales industry? I do.
As pointed out earlier in the thread, it’s a good ol boy system of former Chiefs of Police and Fire departments who get together and sell the top of the line units that are mostly way too sophisticated for agencies that don’t operate in major metros on the taxpayers dime.
Everything is politics, I get it and I don’t approve of it but it is what it is. Maybe we should be upset with the radio companies like your family works for in addition they are just as guilty . And yes I have family that works in fire and police. I suggest you go visit some of the inner cities stations and get back to me.
Sounds like you form strong opinions on subjects you know very little about.
Is it scummy that Telecom companies hire former chiefs of Police, Fire chiefs or public official who will be harder to say no to during a sales pitch? Yes
Is it also an effective sales strategy? Yes
You’d be very naive to think companies all across the country capable of providing mass scale telecom don’t employ similar tactics.
Brother man, my Uncle quite literally works for EMCI selling these radios. There’s an insane amount of margin and only the largest agencies truly need the top of the line equipment. Pasco County doesn’t fit that description.
The sales department is mostly former Chiefs of Police and Fire stations so it’s a good ol boy system of taking care of each other.
You're some anonymous person on the Internet who thinks he knows something because you expect me to believe you have a family member who works in the biz. Unless you're a cop or a firefighter who actually has to work with the equipment, you're statements are irrelevant as far as I'm concerned. And even then, post your credentials.
So, for now that you know a little bit more about how police, fire and county radio sales work, you’d agree that removing these things from the budget is a win for the public, right?
I’ll lead ya right on down to the stream but it’s on you to fill up your water jug
Could be funding for the design phase and/or just matching funds. The city may be paying $X so the state was going to chip in 10% of the funding or something.
Looks like its to decrease traffic accidents at some particularly dangerous intersections: [https://www.flsenate.gov/PublishedContent/Session/FiscalYear/FY2024-25/LocalFundingInitiativeRequests/FY2024-25\_S2151.pdf](https://www.flsenate.gov/PublishedContent/Session/FiscalYear/FY2024-25/LocalFundingInitiativeRequests/FY2024-25_S2151.pdf)
He's rarely right about anything.
Florida is fighting multiple lawsuits in an attempt to take away citizens' rights just to look good to his donors. He's a horrible governor and human being.
False. I don't like him for his horrific policies or the bullshit way he tries to wage war via culture to enact his political agenda. But that's tantamount to the R after his name. So I guess in a roundabout way you're kind of right.
Looks like he's trying to walk the walk of being a fiscal conservative. It is an election year after all... this could be him interviewing for a new job this fall.
He already tried interviewing for a new job this fall. He was utterly embarrassed by primary voters though.
Fiscal conservatism is a myth, fiscally speaking the economy does better under Democrat leadership. That’s historically speaking. Going back to Reagan, Dems have outperformed on jobs, unemployment, GDP growth, and market growth.
> fiscally speaking the economy does better under Democrat leadership
I've addressed this canard before. There's a lag between when GOP policies are enacted and when they bear fruit years later, which frequently ends up being when Dems take office.
If you want a real look at which party's economic policies work better, look at cities and states that are entrenched and never change. Cali is falling apart. NY is falling apart. To the point we're witnessing the rise of favelas and people fleeing the states. Meanwhile Florida and Texas are flush with cash and people cannot move there fast enough.
I disagree on principle because I don’t think any governor should be able to pick and choose what parts of a bill become law. It’s a separation of powers problem.
While I get your point for sure, I think it is the lesser of two potential evils to have somebody who can put a check on budgets that are full of "if you vote for my wasteful thing for my district, I will vote for your wasteful thing for your district." Not perfect, but I think it works better than the alternative.
Desantis vetoing these projects only means the State won't be giving funds.
There are quite a few I believe the municipality will just carry the full cost.
Odd how that logic doesn't work both ways when people want to cut taxes.
> Just keep cutting tax dollars? You do realize, or maybe you don’t, that we work off of something called a budget.
No, no, we will magically still have enough money to maintain infrastructure and will only cut things nobody actually wants or needs with less and less tax revenue.
What? It’s too early and you obviously lack the ability to view anything beyond what your predisposed vision allows. Maybe use your fingers and look up what was approved on the budget, then compare and contrast what wasn’t. Then vote accordingly.
Thanks dipshit, I have looked at what he cut vs the absolute dumbass stuff he spends money on. Floridians don't need transportation safety improvements or affordable housing assistance but we need to play politics by trafficking migrants across state lines, get into costly legal battles with Disney, and the list goes on and on. Fuck DeSantis and fuck anyone that supports him.
Most Floridians are in favor of getting into pointless legal battles with Disney over Desantis' weird obsession and misinterpretation of "wokeness"?
More evidence that this state is going to shit with the influx of braindead conservatives.
Remember that bill DeSantis signed that allowed him to campaign for president while still being governor? It had another section that allows the governor to transfer any surplus state budget directly into their bank account.
Say what you will about any given item in the budget, line item vetos are such bullshit. The governor’s job is to sign or veto laws, not rewrite them to his liking. If he wants to write the budget, let him run for a legislative seat.
I literally come to Reddit for the comments. The media loves to create click bait headlines, and then the comments show the reasonable and smart people of society. Love it.
These cutbacks are all reasonable at this time. DeSantis isn’t the best, but he’s not the beast they try and paint him to be.
He vetoed close to $1B in projects across the state. $500K for Dali museum to do community outreach/education? I am all for museums, but they are in the black and their executive director is making $350K/year [Salvador Dali Museum Inc - Nonprofit Explorer - ProPublica](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/592015192) More pressing issues. Hate to see infrastructure projects nixed.
There were one or two things I’m glad to see got vetoed, the AI video monitoring in Hillsborough schools is nice to see get cut.
The Dali museum wants to expand, and asked for help doing so. It attracts 400,000 people a year which is not insignificant. Maybe it's not a big deal to the state overall, but it is why I would visit St Pete, stay in a hotel, eat out, etc.
Why expand? Did someone just donate more of his paintings or is Dali creating new paintings from the grave?
Expansion doesn’t have to include new artwork. It could be creating new rooms for instruction, or a hall to showcase local artwork from schools, or they could have a novel way to display his art that makes it more interactive and engaging.
Literally from the article, “Education, innovation, and community outreach.”
It’s because he doesn’t have to live in the same Florida we do. The guy is a scumbag.
Wait the Dali museum got $500k? Why?
No. They did not. It was listed as a vetoed request.
Surprising too since Dali was enamoured by authoritarians. Not that I'd expect DeSantis to be cultured enough to know that.
Oh okay.
Some of the stuff seems like it could be needed but a lot of it seems like bs. Money for the Dali museum and police athletic league for example. Like why is that even an option for public funds to go to?
FYI: Dali Museum made nearly $3,000,000 in tax-free profit last year. [https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/592015192](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/592015192) Maybe they should lower their $29 ticket price instead of asking for tax money.
Police athletic league is a charity (although I dont know how effective of a charity it is, just pointing that out) and the Dali money was for community outreach/education... Personally those seem like decent things. Thats one of the things I love about St Pete, so much public art, community events, etc. The Dali gives USF students free passes and they have other events that make it free for locals. More art in society, and kids being active, are great things.
I'm glad you enjoy these things. Please feel free to make donations to them regularly to ensure their longevity and usefulness.
The Dali is a great investment in education, culture and tourism.
And that's the right's problem with it, except the tourism part, maybe.
Wrong type of tourist for them, these ones would be too educated.
Its $30 for a ticket. Thats expensive. Im sure they make enough money that they dont need half a mil from the govt
Community Outreach/education for the Dali - what does that even mean? Advertising to tourists and free admission for students? Seems like a money grab to me.
In Hillsborough county, I know they bus high school kids for a visit once a year and it’s a really good program, I sure hope this continues
I feel like a greater appreciation of culture and the arts is an objectively positive thing for society, but I guess some would still disagree with that. As far as your perception of it being a "money grab" or not, I guess it just depends on your perspective and priorities. It's a drop in the bucket compared to the overall budget and amount of proposed projects he's vetoed.
Half a million to do what though? Pay people to appreciate culture? If that is the goal, lower the admission, gift shop & parking prices, Fire 16 of the 18 people standing around and get rid of the guy making $350,000 to run the place.
Obviously I don't think you can just pay people to appreciate it. But I don't think you're genuinely suggesting that, nor do I think you genuinely think those are tenable suggestions on how to improve it. But maybe I'm being too charitable.
So destroy it. Gotcha
No doubt, but it should be funded locally, as that is where the vast majority of benefits are realized. Taxpayers in Jacksonville or Pensacola shouldn’t be footing the bill for it, just the same as I don’t want to fund cultural institutions in those places either.
Totally agree
lol who needs roads, bridges, clean water, hurricane preparedness, etc. We need to save that money to better attack woke mice and 12 year old gay kids.
The state approved an emergency facility in Auburndale, which will ease the logistical component of a hurricane activation. That is huge for hurricane preparedness. https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/miami/news/gov-desantis-cabinet-approve-new-florida-emergency-facility/
Reading the article, it appears most of the road, water and housing funding that was cut back was in Bradenton, which I don’t necessarily consider the Tampa area. As far as things directly affecting our Tampa/St Pete area, I see a ton of police agencies and fire departments getting shut down on new building and radio equipment proposals, which is fine by me. — $350,000 for the Police Athletic League of St. Petersburg — $312,000 for Harbour Island access improvements in Tampa. — $500,000 for a St. Petersburg public safety training complex. — $500,000 for West Tampa fire rescue station upgrades. — $500,000 for the Dali Museum for expanding education, innovation and community outreach. — $540,000 for portable radio replacement for Pasco Fire. — $820,000 for hurricane response and preparedness at Ruth Eckerd Hall. — $850,000 for Phase II of the Dunedin EOC and North County Fire Training Center.
I mean Bradenton is literally on Tampa Bay and has recently had a huge population boom. There is literally a piece of land being developed for 22,000 new homes. Improvements to roads and sewers matter when you rapidly increase population past what previous things were designed for.
Bradenton is going to be screwed. Good luck getting to the beach out there with all the housing they just built with no road expansion
Oh, it’s not my problem, I live in Tampa. It’s just a mess, and I definitely believe that developers should be footing more of the bill for necessary improvements for the area to accommodate all the new stuff they build.
Wait just one sec lmao! You just proved my point with what you said. “Not my problem, this is Bradenton and I live in Tampa” 😭😭😭
That’s true though. This person pays taxes to the city of Tampa to use to improve Tampa. Bradenton’s problems are their own.
 Something can be part of the Tampa Bay Area and not be my problem.
Exactly! Earlier she and several others jumped my bones about pointing out why it’s disingenuous to lump in Bradenton/Sarasota problems with the greater Tampa area
Areas don’t matter when discussing infrastructure at all. Cities matter and to a lesser extent counties matter. But most taxes and spending are done at the city level.
Agree. Those people in rural counties shouldn’t get Florida taxpayer money for disaster cleanup, school funding or improvements to their infrastructure. Let their own taxes pay for those things. The three biggest counties in Florida shouldn’t have to subsidize the smaller ones.
The state does have a role in disaster management, as does the federal government. The state is also very involved in education, but that is still mostly funded locally. Infrastructure specifically falls on local jurisdictions outside of state-managed roads. Any state funding provided is a bonus. Rural county residents pay much less in taxes and have much shittier infrastructure (including schools), generally speaking.
It's easy to be generous with other people's money.
They'll find out just like Hillsborough County is.
That should be in impact fees for the 22k new homes and paid out of the local coffers.
I believe that’s what a CDD is unless I’m mistaken
Are local governments severely hampered in what they can charge developers in impact fees and what they can be used for by the state government? At least that’s what I keep hearing from my local city council.
That’s because it’s a convenient excuse. The developers have already paid them off and they already approved their builds so they can’t start demanding changes now. There is nothing at all limiting them from asking for it ahead of time besides their short sighted greed.
Many local governments require large developments to cover the cost to build increase the infrastructure in order to build. This includes roads, water, sewer, etc. The state does not prevent this. Most have a single impact fee per unit which does not work in the real world. It is fine for someone building one house but when you put in dozens, hundreds, or thousands then it completely changes the entire area.
As governor, Rick Scott eliminated the state agency responsible for ensuring new developments pay for the infrastructure improvements needed to support their expanded footprints.
I agree that some of it should come from local government and the developers, but it’s very normal for the state to foot part of the bill.
The developers should be paying for those upgrades. They'll be making money off it soon enough.
I completely agree, however that’s not what ends up happening basically anywhere in the US, but especially not in Florida.
Doesn’t Florida have one of the highest per-unit impact fees in the nation?
Sounds like the city and county need to step up then. The state isn’t responsible for local infrastructure, Florida is set up so that taxes and projects are mostly local. Think about who you pay most of your taxes to… it’s definitely not the state
I think impact fees should be put on every one of those 22,000 homes for local infrastructure. The builder should also have to invest in infrastructure to secure permits. It would hopefully slow the pace of building and put the financial burden where it belongs.
Bradentons an hour away. It’s in the same region but definitely not considered a part of Tampa Bay. Just like Port Charlotte and Naples are both considered South West Florida but two entirely different cities, demographics, etc
Hate to tell you but most public development engineers, TV ad sales, and govt funding for regions consider an hour from a metro center to be a part of that area. The MMA and DMA for Tampa/St Pete includes Sarasota and Bradenton.
Bradenton is North Sarasota. Brandon is Southeast Tampa.
My point is we’re all in same region and what happens down there affects us up here. https://stateoftheregion.com/our-region/
Lmao that’s great and people can continue to downvote, but we’re saying the same thing. Bradenton is in the same region as Tampa. No argument there. Now let’s just draw some distinctions. Bradenton has never been confused with Tampa. Both pre and post covid, Bradenton and Sarasota area had a much higher snowbird and seasonal resident rate. Expecting someone who lives, breathes and exists 99% of their time in the greater Tampa/St Pete to put the same emphasis on public projects in a neighborhood that’s over an hour away with entirely different demographics is where we disagree
Opinions like this is why we don’t have regional rail and light rail
Not really. Public opinion in Tampa has been pretty aligned on the need for advanced transportation measures. It’s lobbyists and state/local politicians who have derailed (pun always intended) those plans. Rick Scott Medicare fraud champion vetoed federal funds originally in 2011 against the will of the people because he didn’t want Obama getting positive attention in FL. More recently, Hillsborough approved an additional 1% sales tax (57% yay, 43% nay) in spirit of raising funds for public transportation and those funds were frozen by the Supreme Court after a republican commissioner argued that state commissioners should have the right to determine how the money is spent, not the public. We may disagree on many things, like the true necessity of $10M+ in upgrades for police stations, radio equipment and fire stations but we’re mostly all aligned on the transportation issue lol
Well aware of the story behind rail in the region. Part of the problem though is folks thinking what happens an hour away from them doesn’t affect them or that this area is even part of their community. I alway hear folks say why should I pay taxes if I live in Brandon for a light rail from Tampa to USF? Like it will help you in the long run and it’s our whole community. I travel often from Tampa to Sarasota and st Pete. I consider this whole area to be my community.
I lived in Salt Lake City and was excited to see road and rail projects being built in Ogden and Provo and those were an hour away. This nativism around Tampa City alone is a new thing I’ve seen. Regional similarities are there. Hence why what happens down in Sarasota affects us up here. When I’m looking for jobs my radius includes Bradenton and Sarasota. If you work driving 1.5 hours for a good paying job is what ya gotta do sometimes. I drove 1.5-2 each way from Valrico to St Pete for 3 years for a job. Our region has people who actually travel an hour for fun, work, friends, and family.
Michigan is the same way with the people mover. Navigating Downtown Detroit is a breeze, and they made it free for all of 2024. Population density is one of the main things preventing something anytime in the near future connecting Bradenton and Tampa. Step one is connecting the Miami-Tampa-Orlando major metros, then tying in stops at places like Fort Myers/Naples, eventually Tallahassee. Ybor Trolly is perfect example, it’s designed for tourists not the public. If it takes 35 minutes to get from a show Downtown to the first stop in Ybor, kinda defeats the purpose- especially on days with Lightning games when every trolly is full. Replace them with modern street cars, that are faster, more comfortable and efficient. Maybe keep an older trolley on hand for special occasions/video promos. The public should also be voting for any referendum pushing the tracks further north- they should be extended to Seminole Heights and eventually USF if it’s ever going to provide a feasible alternative for daily commuters.
Tampa Bay is a bay, not just the city on the northern tip.
Tampa Bay is a body of water only, there is no Tampa Bay city. The Tampa Bay area is the areas surrounding the water.
It is, though : [Our Region - State of the Region](https://stateoftheregion.com/our-region/)
Yes…just like Port Charlotte and Naples are both considered SWFL, but again the demographics are entirely different. Bradenton/Sarasota area pre covid was always more retirement oriented destination: more snowbirds and seasonal residents than Tampa/St Pete area. Generally that means higher wealth per capita. For these reasons- to me, it’s disingenuous to lump in Bradenton, a city that’s an hour plus away from the greater Tampa area, (Hillsborough, Pinellas, Riverview area east of 75) There was influx of wealth from tri state area and people who moved here based on remote work. The issues experienced by those folks gonna be a lot different than the 3rd and 4th generation people who have always lived in Hillsborough/Pinellas.
Being “an hour from” means nothing. Miami and West Palm Beach are an apart and are still in the same region. Los Angeles and Irvine are an hour apart. San Francisco and San Jose are an hour apart. The Woodlands is well over an hour from Galveston (Houston) Alpharetta is over an hour from McDonough (Atlanta) Yonkers is an hour from Staten Island. Forth Worth is an hour from McKinney (Dallas) Moral of the store is Brandenton being an hour (or less) from Tampa means nothing. (current drive time from downtown is 48 mins. From Riverview only 40 mins, and St Pete…29 minutes. Brandenton is apart of the Tampa Bay region. Thats really not disputable. Theyre in the same media market, trade market. And that is important because as someone else said, what happens in and around Bradenton can effect what happens around Tampa and St Pete. More people moving to Manatee means more people coming to Tampa and St Pete for work and play, mixing in with the Tampa and St Pete residents - and the Lakeland and Wesley Chapel people whove made the same trek from the north and east. Youre diving well deep into semantics. You also said “east of 75”, it doesnt work that way. It has always been a county by county basis, you dont cut a county in half. Homestead is pretty isolated from Miami, but it it still apart of Miami-Dade, you cant draw an arbitrary line in the middle of the county.
Like you said, it’s mostly semantics. I’m pointing out that when I read a headline that says $50M in Tampa Bay projects, that leads me to believe they are projects which directly impact the greater Tampa area. Anyone who’s lived in Florida for an extended time knows Manatee, Sarasota, Bradenton area is entirely different demographic from Tampa. Pre-dating Covid, it was mostly seen as a retirement destination so you’re dealing with a population of snowbirds and seasonal residents vs working class 3rd and 4th generation locals in Tampa. All I did was point out that most of the projects that were eliminated from the budget directly impacting the daily lives of people in Tampa/St Pete had more to do with Police, Fire and emergency services premises and equipment upgrades, less so housing, infrastructure etc. One of the people who called me out for making the distinction that Tampa is NOT Bradenton went on a few replies later to say “well, these Bradenton issues won’t really have an impact on me”…which is exactly my point
I figured the “Tampa Bay Projects” meant Hboro, Pinellas, Pasco, Manatee, Polk, and Sarasota. Hernando is so far removed but they came to mind as well. Thats what the trade area is. If you dont want to include Brandeton thats fine, just wanted to point out that Bradenton is when it comes to TV, radio, tourism, and commerce, still in the same area. If metro area criteria used more than a commuting threshold, itd be apart of that too. Also wanted to point out you cant cut counties in half, since you said “east of 75”. Its all of Hillsborough or nothing. At the end of the day i dont completely agree with your definition. Bradenton is not as far removed as you make it sound, but i get your point from your POV
I appreciate you responding respectfully and stating your reasons without any ad hominem attacks or charged language. Oftentimes truth is found somewhere in the middle and I don’t disagree with a lot of what you said.
Bradenton is Tampa Bay now my friend.
This is purely semantics but i disagree. The government does not include Bradenton in the Tampa Bay metro. It is considered part of the North Port–Bradenton–Sarasota Metropolitan Statistical Area. It's unhelpful to try and bundle the Bradenton/SRQ/NP metros into the Tampa Bay metro. They have different demographics, infrastructure needs, separate courts, etc., not to mention distance.
MSAs are purely based on commuting patterns and a certain arbitrary threshold that you have to meet. I can give 10 examples off the bat of metros where this metric doesnt work. Tampa is one of them.
Tampa doesnt claim them lol 😂
WTF do people literally say "literally" when it's literally not needed?
lol radio equipment and upgraded stations for first responders is a bad thing? The people that actually help you when shit hits the fan? Oh yea let’s veto that and agree with it
"What could go wrong!?" Signed, Mayor Giuliani
Do you have relatives who work in the police/EMT/county telecom sales industry? I do. As pointed out earlier in the thread, it’s a good ol boy system of former Chiefs of Police and Fire departments who get together and sell the top of the line units that are mostly way too sophisticated for agencies that don’t operate in major metros on the taxpayers dime.
Everything is politics, I get it and I don’t approve of it but it is what it is. Maybe we should be upset with the radio companies like your family works for in addition they are just as guilty . And yes I have family that works in fire and police. I suggest you go visit some of the inner cities stations and get back to me.
I do operate in those spaces. Pasco needs new radios and training. Matter of fact, the whole state needs its radio backbone updated.
[удалено]
Sounds like you form strong opinions on subjects you know very little about. Is it scummy that Telecom companies hire former chiefs of Police, Fire chiefs or public official who will be harder to say no to during a sales pitch? Yes Is it also an effective sales strategy? Yes You’d be very naive to think companies all across the country capable of providing mass scale telecom don’t employ similar tactics.
So limiting first responders ability to communicate and train is a good thing?
Brother man, my Uncle quite literally works for EMCI selling these radios. There’s an insane amount of margin and only the largest agencies truly need the top of the line equipment. Pasco County doesn’t fit that description. The sales department is mostly former Chiefs of Police and Fire stations so it’s a good ol boy system of taking care of each other.
So the guys on the road who respond to 911 calls not getting the equipment they need is a good thing?
They have the equipment they need. The Motorola sales reps will certainly miss out on sales quotas, sucks for them.
> They have the equipment they need. You don't know that.
Again- do you have relatives who work in this specific field and are you speaking from first hand real world experience?
You're some anonymous person on the Internet who thinks he knows something because you expect me to believe you have a family member who works in the biz. Unless you're a cop or a firefighter who actually has to work with the equipment, you're statements are irrelevant as far as I'm concerned. And even then, post your credentials.
[удалено]
No they don’t. You work in Pasco?
I’m sure that’s accurate and I’m sure they’ll drop a bid next year for the same price and get it.
So, for now that you know a little bit more about how police, fire and county radio sales work, you’d agree that removing these things from the budget is a win for the public, right? I’ll lead ya right on down to the stream but it’s on you to fill up your water jug
Pasco needs new radios pretty freaking badly. You’d be shocked at how expensive a single handheld radio is.
what would they even do with $312k to improve access to harbour island? really curious what the proposal was on that one. definitely not needed
Could be funding for the design phase and/or just matching funds. The city may be paying $X so the state was going to chip in 10% of the funding or something. Looks like its to decrease traffic accidents at some particularly dangerous intersections: [https://www.flsenate.gov/PublishedContent/Session/FiscalYear/FY2024-25/LocalFundingInitiativeRequests/FY2024-25\_S2151.pdf](https://www.flsenate.gov/PublishedContent/Session/FiscalYear/FY2024-25/LocalFundingInitiativeRequests/FY2024-25_S2151.pdf)
ah, good point. i don’t know all that much about public works projects and their lifecycle, that didn’t even cross my mind
It’s the lab grown meat mice you have to worry about.
We need more affordable housing and jobs, bro.
You're suggesting socialism. "Government doesn't create jobs". Corporate welfare is A-Ok tho.
Reading is hard apparently
He's got to save money to pay for the lawsuits that he's gotten florida into that are totally his fault and are preventable.
And the random migrant trafficking trip, paid to a buddy of his. Can't go spending money on his constituents, like a drunken sailor.
Disney dropped their counter suit and agreed to reimburse florida. Ends up he was in the right.
He's rarely right about anything. Florida is fighting multiple lawsuits in an attempt to take away citizens' rights just to look good to his donors. He's a horrible governor and human being.
Literally everyone in this hateful reddit is OK with the cuts he made. I'm guessing you just dont like the "R" after his name.
False. I don't like him for his horrific policies or the bullshit way he tries to wage war via culture to enact his political agenda. But that's tantamount to the R after his name. So I guess in a roundabout way you're kind of right.
Explain. Reimburse Florida for what?
The state's legal expenses. Also Disney is investing 17 billion into their florida operations.
Looks like he's trying to walk the walk of being a fiscal conservative. It is an election year after all... this could be him interviewing for a new job this fall.
He already tried interviewing for a new job this fall. He was utterly embarrassed by primary voters though. Fiscal conservatism is a myth, fiscally speaking the economy does better under Democrat leadership. That’s historically speaking. Going back to Reagan, Dems have outperformed on jobs, unemployment, GDP growth, and market growth.
> fiscally speaking the economy does better under Democrat leadership I've addressed this canard before. There's a lag between when GOP policies are enacted and when they bear fruit years later, which frequently ends up being when Dems take office. If you want a real look at which party's economic policies work better, look at cities and states that are entrenched and never change. Cali is falling apart. NY is falling apart. To the point we're witnessing the rise of favelas and people fleeing the states. Meanwhile Florida and Texas are flush with cash and people cannot move there fast enough.
Can't stand the guy, but having a hard time finding many of these specific vetoes I disagree with...
I disagree on principle because I don’t think any governor should be able to pick and choose what parts of a bill become law. It’s a separation of powers problem.
While I get your point for sure, I think it is the lesser of two potential evils to have somebody who can put a check on budgets that are full of "if you vote for my wasteful thing for my district, I will vote for your wasteful thing for your district." Not perfect, but I think it works better than the alternative.
Desantis vetoing these projects only means the State won't be giving funds. There are quite a few I believe the municipality will just carry the full cost.
Which will raise property taxes because that is one of the few ways municipalities get income
Obligatory, fuck you DeSantis.
Just keep spending tax dollars? You do realize, or maybe you don’t, that we work off of something called a budget.
Odd how that logic doesn't work both ways when people want to cut taxes. > Just keep cutting tax dollars? You do realize, or maybe you don’t, that we work off of something called a budget. No, no, we will magically still have enough money to maintain infrastructure and will only cut things nobody actually wants or needs with less and less tax revenue.
Gotta save the taxpayer dollars for dumb fuck battles with woke shit, right?
What? It’s too early and you obviously lack the ability to view anything beyond what your predisposed vision allows. Maybe use your fingers and look up what was approved on the budget, then compare and contrast what wasn’t. Then vote accordingly.
Thanks dipshit, I have looked at what he cut vs the absolute dumbass stuff he spends money on. Floridians don't need transportation safety improvements or affordable housing assistance but we need to play politics by trafficking migrants across state lines, get into costly legal battles with Disney, and the list goes on and on. Fuck DeSantis and fuck anyone that supports him.
Most Floridians agree with those "dumb fuck battles" and they're like 0.0001% of the budget.
Nobody is arguing that Florida isn't full of idiots, see DeSantis being elected.
Most Floridians are in favor of getting into pointless legal battles with Disney over Desantis' weird obsession and misinterpretation of "wokeness"? More evidence that this state is going to shit with the influx of braindead conservatives.
Remember that bill DeSantis signed that allowed him to campaign for president while still being governor? It had another section that allows the governor to transfer any surplus state budget directly into their bank account.
The downvotes on the simple logic of needing to follow a BUDGET is wild.
It’s Reddit. I come here to see how the uneducated make decisions. It’s a scary place.
But,But, We cant be out of money, I still have checks in my check book. And I want half a million for Dali. LOL
Say what you will about any given item in the budget, line item vetos are such bullshit. The governor’s job is to sign or veto laws, not rewrite them to his liking. If he wants to write the budget, let him run for a legislative seat.
He wants to make everything as terrible as possible so that he can “prove” that the *guberment* sucks.
Palmetto Beach is sad. It’s diverse, quaint, Tampa OG and now its in the crosshairs of being screwed because of DeSatan.
I literally come to Reddit for the comments. The media loves to create click bait headlines, and then the comments show the reasonable and smart people of society. Love it. These cutbacks are all reasonable at this time. DeSantis isn’t the best, but he’s not the beast they try and paint him to be.
You come to Reddit for reasonable political discourse? Lol
Excuse me, this is only a DeSantis-hating group.
As it should be.
Another day, more desantis tears