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Temple Terrace city officials here are weighing a water rate increase of as much as 35% on residents next year, the price tag for a water treatment overhaul that critics say should have been addressed years ago. The city’s water treatment plant is roughly 40 years old and has reached the end of its useful…
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The City of Tampa has settled with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection after state inspectors documented illegal discharges, permit violations and persistent sewage odors at the Howard F. Curren Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant, south of downtown. The city was staring down a fine of nearly $590,000. Instead, under a deal state regulators call an…
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The Florida Department of Education is pushing forward with a proposed rule that would require every public college in the state to take artificial intelligence seriously before it further disrupts classrooms. Under the proposal, all 28 institutions in the Florida College System would be required to adopt clear policies governing how students, staff, and campus…
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A license plate reader program credited with helping deputies solve felonies and locate missing children is being shut down after Pasco County commissioners turned against it, Sheriff Chris Nocco announced this week. Nocco notified the Board of County Commissioners that he is terminating the interlocal agreement governing the license plate detection systems, effective September 30.…
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Tampa’s real estate market is doing exactly what a healthy market should: attracting capital, building housing, and creating value across the region. A recent CBRE survey ranked Tampa seventh among U.S. markets targeted by commercial real estate investors in 2026, with multifamily housing the top target — 74% of investors surveyed said they want in…
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A routine briefing on license plate cameras turned into a heated confrontation Monday night, as residents pressed city officials over how much surveillance authority local government has quietly amassed — and how long it plans to hold onto their data. Plant City Police Chief Richard Mills and a Flock Safety public affairs representative, Jalen Johnson,…
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Longtime Clearwater residents near The Landings golf course are pushing back against a city-backed plan to convert the greenspace into a multi-use recreation center, arguing that City Hall’s redevelopment ambitions threaten to upend a quiet residential neighborhood that never signed up for the change. Neighbors say they aren’t opposed to development outright — but they…
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Florida families now have a formal window to weigh in on a state proposal that would hand parents more control over their children’s vaccination decisions, as the Department of Health moves to strike four vaccines from the list required for school attendance. The public comment period opened Monday and runs through Sept. 14. Under the…
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Two years after the City of Tampa scaled back regulations on accessory dwelling units, homeowners across the city are moving to add small second structures to their properties — proof, backers say, of what happens when local government gets out of the way of private property owners. Renee King has had an ADU on her…
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Florida recorded the largest decline in Affordable Care Act marketplace enrollment in the country this year after enhanced federal subsidies expired, forcing many residents to confront the actual cost of coverage. About 440,000 Floridians left their ACA plans following the January end of the COVID-era premium assistance, according to figures first reported by the Associated…
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Florida’s tourism engine is sputtering for a second straight quarter, with a steep drop-off in Canadian visitors driving much of the slowdown, according to new data from Visit Florida, the state’s tourism marketing agency. By the numbers Florida drew an estimated 34.01 million visitors from April through June, down 0.7% from the same quarter last…
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Tampa International Airport will keep its security checkpoints staffed entirely by federal Transportation Security Administration officers after a months-long review of switching to a program that would have brought in private-sector screeners under federal oversight. TSA approached airport leaders earlier this year about joining TSA Gold+, a public-private partnership model that replaces federal screening officers…
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City residents are on track to pay more for water, wastewater and other utilities starting Oct. 1, marking the sixth consecutive year St. Petersburg has raised these rates — even as council members debate a series of alternative revenue schemes that could shift costs elsewhere without necessarily lowering the overall tax burden on residents. City…
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County leaders are advancing a permanent, county-wide ban on large-scale data centers in unincorporated Volusia County, opting for the most restrictive regulatory route available rather than a temporary pause while the issues get sorted out. At an Aug. 17 meeting, officials chose to pursue an outright ban instead of a moratorium, and the county has…
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Florida taxpayers footing the bill for public assistance programs may finally get some accountability in how that money is spent, after Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Monday that the state is working with the Trump administration on a plan to bar welfare benefits from covering non-essential purchases. The proposal would apply to Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT)…
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Hillsborough County taxpayers are about to find out whether nearly $880 million in public money will flow to a professional sports franchise, as local governments prepare to finalize a deal that has grown and shifted in the final stretch before a vote. Tampa City Council is scheduled to vote on the stadium funding package Thursday,…
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Pinellas County is considering a significant increase in beach parking fees at some of its most popular locations as commissioners work to close a budget gap and find additional revenue. Under the proposal being considered for the county’s fiscal year 2027 budget, the current $6 daily parking fee at Fort De Soto Park, Sand Key…
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Florida is expanding a state program that helps families pay for children’s swimming lessons as officials confront a troubling rise in childhood drowning deaths. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation earlier this year expanding eligibility for Florida’s swimming lesson voucher program from children age 4 and younger to children ages 1 through 7. The program was…
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The City of Tampa cut off reclaimed water service to every customer connected to the system Monday, leaving residents who rely on it for irrigation without a timeline for when it will come back online. The city announced the shutdown in a statement posted to social media Monday morning, calling it a “service update” and…
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Drivers navigating the intersection of Seminole and Park boulevards have spent recent weeks dodging orange cones, heavy equipment, and shifting lane patterns as Pinellas County pushes forward with a long-planned signal overhaul. The project will replace the intersection’s aging span-wire traffic signals with permanent steel mast arms, eliminate the concrete “half-moon” slip lanes used for…
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Florida voters will decide this November whether to expand the state’s homestead property tax exemption, a move that would deliver meaningful relief to homeowners who have spent years absorbing rising tax bills. But opponents of the measure, including some renters, are already arguing that any dollar taken from local government coffers is a dollar too…
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Hillsborough County commissioners last week approved a 280-home development north of Dorman Road, rejecting an organized push by area residents to block it — a decision that puts the county’s growth management process, not just a piece of pasture, to the test. The residential project has been the target of Preserve Rural Lithia, a resident…
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Florida’s push for property tax relief is running into a complication that advocates say lawmakers should have seen coming: an entire class of homeowners left standing outside the benefit, despite paying taxes like everyone else. As voters prepare to weigh in on a constitutional amendment that would restructure the state’s property tax system, the Federation…
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Sixty-eight drivers were caught speeding through Bradenton school zones on the first day of class, a jump from 50 violations logged on opening day last year, according to police, who say the numbers point to a basic lapse in personal responsibility behind the wheel rather than a shortage of warning signs or enforcement cameras. Officers…
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Tampa’s Community Redevelopment Agency asked residents Wednesday to weigh in on how the taxpayer-funded agency should keep spending public money in Ybor City, part of an ongoing process that officials say will eventually funnel recommendations up to city leaders for a final decision. Urban planner Riva Heinrich, who addressed attendees at the meeting, said the…
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Clearwater city leaders are bracing for a leaner government if Florida voters decide in November to give themselves a break on property taxes, telling council members this week that a proposed statewide amendment could blow a $20 million hole in the general fund over the next two budget years. City staff laid out the numbers…
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City Hall is asking St. Petersburg residents to dig deeper into their pockets again, with a fresh round of utility rate hikes set for a first vote this Thursday — just six days before voters head to the polls to pick the city’s next mayor. If the St. Petersburg City Council signs off, the increases…
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Buying a home in Tampa still requires a six-figure income, but new data suggests the runaway affordability crisis of recent years may finally be leveling off, without any new state or federal mandate forcing the shift. A household needs to earn $103,549 a year to comfortably afford a typical home for sale in the Tampa…
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Dengue fever is gaining ground across Tampa Bay this summer, with local health departments confirming multiple mosquito-borne cases in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties as the region enters its highest-risk stretch of the year. Hillsborough County reported its first locally-acquired dengue fever case of 2026 in late July, marking the first such case reported anywhere in…
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While many local governments across Tampa Bay have leaned on rising property values to quietly grow their tax revenue year after year, Seminole is heading into its 20th consecutive year without touching its tax rate at all — a streak city leaders point to as proof that restraint, not expansion, is what keeps a municipal…
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City officials in Palmetto are moving ahead with a new flood adaptation plan, but for residents still repairing homes damaged by the 2024 hurricane season, the process is a reminder of how slowly government responses can move compared to the losses homeowners absorb on their own. The Palmetto Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) has hired Applied…
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St. Petersburg’s utility contract with power provider Duke Energy expired more than a week ago, and City Hall still hasn’t scheduled negotiations to replace it, even as the utility publicly presses Mayor Ken Welch to sit down before the lack of an agreement turns into a legal headache. Duke sent a letter to Welch warning…
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After watching hurricanes Helene and Milton rack up as much as $300,000 in damage to a single city building in 2024, Bradenton Beach is trying something refreshingly simple: spend a little now to avoid paying a lot more later. The city has installed a Tiger Dam system at its public works building, a barrier made…
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Students across Tampa Bay, including thousands in Hillsborough County, headed back to class this week, but for parents the return to the classroom came with a bill that keeps climbing year after year. National studies show families are now spending more than $800 on back-to-school purchases, with PricewaterhouseCoopers pegging the figure closer to $1,000 once…
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Tampa City Hall is pressing ahead with a $100 million stormwater overhaul in South Tampa, and while officials insist the massive underground project will fix chronic flooding, the businesses and residents who’ll have to live through years of construction are increasingly asking who’s really paying the price. The South Howard Flood Relief Project would bury…
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Hopeful Tampa Bay homebuyers are still tens of thousands of dollars short of what it actually costs — and a new report suggests years of policy drift, not just market forces, are keeping the dream of ownership out of reach for the region’s middle class. A newly released Redfin analysis shows that a household in…
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The school bell isn’t the only thing ringing across Tampa Bay this week. So are cash registers. As students head back to class Monday, local governments are flipping school zone speed cameras back on across Hillsborough County and the cities of Tampa, Lakeland, Bradenton and Sarasota. A Spectrum Bay News 9 Watchdog investigation found the…
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Florida drivers are being tracked by a rapidly expanding web of license plate reader cameras, and in most cases, they have no idea where the devices are or who’s watching the data. Flock Safety, the dominant vendor behind the technology, says it now partners with more than 5,000 law enforcement agencies across roughly 6,000 communities…
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While inflation keeps eating into household budgets, Florida is doing something increasingly rare among state governments: getting out of the way and letting families keep more of their own paychecks. The state’s monthlong back-to-school sales tax holiday began July 20 and runs through Aug. 20, exempting clothing, shoes, backpacks, school supplies and computers from sales…
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Just weeks after residents have watched their water bills climb for years, St. Pete City Council is weighing another utility rate hike — this one roughly 7% — with a public hearing set for August 27 and changes that could take effect as early as October 1. City leaders say the increase is needed to…
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A citizen-led petition drive is closing in on the signatures needed to force Clearwater City Hall to reconsider a decision that handed over a public street to the Church of Scientology, with organizers arguing residents were cut out of a call that should have been theirs to make. The Clearwater City Council voted 3-2 on…
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As Florida voters weigh a homestead tax exemption expansion this November, small-town officials in Polk County are warning it could hit their bottom line — even as records show their own budget growth has far outpaced the town’s population gains. Amendment 3 would raise homestead exemptions for qualifying homeowners, cutting their property tax bills. Backers…
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Pasco County Schools is telling parents to cut back on screen time this year — then handing them a new app to spend more time on their phones. District leaders unveiled “Pasco One,” a consolidated app that folds transportation schedules, cafeteria payments, and school communications into a single login. It replaces roughly three separate apps…
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Hillsborough County commissioners took a first step this week toward a new layer of government oversight for short-term vacation rentals, advancing a draft ordinance that would require owners to register with the county, pay a $200 fee, and designate a 24-hour on-call representative for their property. The county has more than 3,000 short-term vacation rentals,…
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