Connect with us

Florida

Florida Senate puts up $5 million for Pensacola’s effort to acquire old Baptist Hospital

Published

on

Florida Senate puts up  million for Pensacola’s effort to acquire old Baptist Hospital


play

The Florida Legislature appears set to back Pensacola’s effort to redevelop the old Baptist Hospital property with $5 million.

Florida House and Senate committees backed their version of the state’s budget plans — $115.5 billion on the House side and $115.9 billion on the Senate side — and included in the Senate version was $5 million for “Live Local Pensacola” the name of the city effort to acquire and demolish the old Baptist Hospital property.

Advertisement

The city’s working plan is to clear the property and find a developer who can transform the campus into a new mixed-income community with all levels of affordable housing.

Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves’ funding plan to demolish the old hospital in a single year included at least $5 million from the Florida Legislature.

Also included in the Senate version was $2.2 million for funding for Bay Bluffs Park and $1 million for a terminal expansion at the Pensacola International Airport.

The House version of the budget contained $750,000 for funding for the airport.

Reeves thanks Sen. Doug Broxson for the inclusion of the projects in the Senate version of the budget, which was published on Friday.

Advertisement

“This is just the first step in seeing if these projects end up getting funded,” Reeves said. “They have dollar amounts tied to them, but there’s a lot more work yet to come.”

The lack of inclusion of the Baptist Hospital project in the House version of the budget comes after Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola, said he couldn’t move the project forward because the city had not committed to using the dollars if the state allocated them.

The issue has strained the working relationship between the mayor and Andrade, whose district contains the entire city limits of Pensacola except for the new Baptist Hospital campus on Brent Lane.

Andrade’s view had not changed when he spoke to the News Journal in a text message on Wednesday.

Advertisement

“It shouldn’t have been a surprise I didn’t put money in my budget for it,” Andrade said. “The city didn’t do what I needed them to do to justify putting it into my spreadsheet. I did put money in for the airport because they committed to using it.”

That doesn’t mean Andrade is not supporting the project, however, as the budget is far from final.

Andrade said he still plans to support the project when the House and Senate versions of the budget get to a conference to unify the two spending plans.

“So long as I have the funds, my plan is to match (the Senate’s version) at $5 million when I go into conference negotiations,” Andrade said.

If the funds are approved and survive Gov. Ron DeSantis’ line-item veto, the city will have won a large portion of the $16.4 million it says it needs to accept the property from Baptist Hospital.

Advertisement

Last week, Reeves announced his full funding plan for acquiring the property. It would still require Baptist Health Care to contribute $3 million and Escambia County to contribute $2 million. The Pensacola City Council will vote next week to pledge $1 million to the project.

Proposed funding breakdown:

  • Pensacola: $1 million
  • Other grants: Up to $5 million for commercial property
  • Escambia County: $2 million
  • Baptist Health Care: $3 million
  • Sale of land to affordable housing developer Paces Foundation: $2.9 million
  • Florida: Between $5 million and $8 million
  • Total: $13.9 million to $16.9 million



Source link

Florida

‘She was smashed’: Florida woman accused of driving onto golf course while intoxicated

Published

on

‘She was smashed’: Florida woman accused of driving onto golf course while intoxicated


A Florida woman was arrested after she drove onto a golf course while intoxicated, crashed her car, and found with dozens of miniature bottles of Fireball whiskey, according to authorities.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office identified her as 34-year-old Erika Mayer, of Palmetto.

“She was smashed,” Sheriff Grady Judd said in a video shared on X earlier this week. “She was drunk — capital DRUNK. Wrecked her car. She said, ‘But I haven’t been drinking.’

The sheriff’s office said deputies responded to a single-car crash near Streamsong Golf Resort on May 14 shortly before 7 p.m. When deputies arrived, they found a red 2018 Hyundai resting on a sidewalk and a woman sitting beside the car.

Investigators said Mayer appeared impaired, displayed slurred speech, poor balance, and incoherent behavior. Deputies also detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage on her breath, the sheriff’s office said.

Advertisement

A witness told deputies they saw Mayer driving across one of the golf courses in the area before the crash.

Judd said deputies searched Mayer’s car, where they found 21 open mini bottles of Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey, two empty 50 milliliter bottles of 99 Brand liqueurs, and an unopened 10-pack of Fireball.

“And she had empty Fireball bottles in her pants,” Judd said, adding that she was “drunker than Cooter Brown” and “had no idea where she was.”

Deputies said they asked Mayer to perform field sobriety exercises and provide breath samples, but she refused both requests.

According to Judd, Mayer told deputies she declined the tests because she heard it was a bad idea to participate in field sobriety exercises.

Mayer was arrested and charged with DUI, DUI with property damage, and refusing to submit to a DUI test. She was also cited for failure to drive within a single lane and possessing an open container of alcohol in a vehicle.

Advertisement
Comment with Bubbles

JOIN THE CONVERSATION (3)

No one was hurt in connection with the crash, authorities said.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Florida

Florida cities rank among best and worst places to raise a family

Published

on

Florida cities rank among best and worst places to raise a family



Port St. Lucie ranked No. 147 among 182 cities in the United States for places to raise a family in 2026, according to a WalletHub study.

Port St. Lucie ranked among the best places in the United States to raise a family in 2026, according to a WalletHub study.

Advertisement

The free personal finance website compared 182 cities in the United States to find the best and worst places to raise a family in 2026.

The website scored cities based on these criteria:

  • Family fun
  • Health and safety
  • Education and child care
  • Affordability
  • Socio-economics

Port St. Lucie ranks for best places to raise a family

The rankings range from 1 to 182, with 1 being the best.

  • Family fun rank: 179
  • Health and safety rank: 40
  • Education and child care rank: 160
  • Affordability rank: 135
  • Socioeconomics rank: 70
  • Playgrounds per capita: 101
  • Violent-crime per capita: 4
  • Overall rank: 147

Top-ranked Florida cities to raise a family

  • 49. Orlando
  • 59. Tampa
  • 60. Pembroke Pines
  • 63. St. Petersburg
  • 117. Jacksonville
  • 123. Tallahassee
  • 133. Cape Coral
  • 147. Port St. Lucie
  • 163. Miami
  • 166. Fort Lauderdale
  • 173. Hialeah

Best places to raise a family in 2026

  • 1. Fremont, California
  • 2. Overland Park, Kansas
  • 3. Irvine, California
  • 4. Plano, Texas
  • 5. Columbia, Maryland
  • 6. Bismarck, North Dakota
  • 7. South Burlington, Vermont
  • 8. Charleston, South Carolina
  • 9. Seattle, Washington
  • 10. Boise, Idaho

Olivia Franklin is TCPalm’s trending reporter. You can contact her at olivia.franklin@tcpalm.com, 317-627-8048 or follow her on X @Livvvvv_5.



Source link

Continue Reading

Florida

As Florida debates property tax relief, a local official analyzed the potential impact on South Florida

Published

on

As Florida debates property tax relief, a local official analyzed the potential impact on South Florida


Florida homeowners who have been lobbying for property tax relief may be closer to receiving it with a newly filed bill in Tallahassee.

Joseph Zamb, who works in real estate, said the ultimate goal should be to eliminate property taxes entirely for homesteaded properties. He believes this step would benefit both investors and homeowners.

“I think that the next step for South Florida, all of Florida, is to completely eliminate property taxes,” Zamb said. “You need to get the American dream back, buy a house, and not have to constantly be paying, paying, paying”.

The official bill calls for a $150,000 homestead exemption in 2027, followed by a $250,000 exemption in 2028. The legislature would then be tasked with creating a long-term plan for the following years.

Advertisement

Broward Property Appraiser Marty Kiar analyzed the potential impact based on 2025 property values. Kiar found that with the $150,000 exemption, the 425,000 homesteaded property owners in Broward would save about $2,100. However, this exemption would mean the county loses $195 million, and schools are down by $294 million. Kiar noted that the current version of the bill does not include a carve-out for schools.

“Whatever city you live in will depend on the loss of revenue to your city, based on how many homesteaded properties there are, how many commercial properties there are,” Kiar said.

The legislature is scheduled to hash out the details next week during a special session. If the bill passes, it would be presented to voters as a constitutional amendment for approval or rejection.

“At the end of the day, it’s going to be the most consequential vote that anybody is going to make if anything’s on the ballot in November, because it could potentially change the way things are done,” Kiar said.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending