Florida's escalating cost of living – Disappearing dollar
That is starting to change, though, as housing prices have escalated rapidly, along with apartment rents, home insurance premiums and electric rates. Hurricane Ian is expected to make the problem even worse, adding to the housing pinch and sky high insurance rates.
Gov.
As DeSantis seeks a second term,
Property insurance
The problem: The average premium for a
The cause of the problem: The market is in crisis and only seems to be getting worse.
Companies have been dropping policies, raising rates and going out of business, and that was all before Ian made landfall and compounded the industry's problems even further. Ian is certain to result in billions of dollars worth of claims, further worsening insurers finances.
Insurers claimed they couldn't make money before Ian, even after dramatic increases in premiums, because of fraud and too many lawsuits. They also are struggling with higher reinsurance costs.
Consumer advocates point to other problems, such as insurers being undercapitalized, relying too heavily on reinsurance and siphoning profits into affiliated companies. Ratings agency AM Best put out a report recently showing
What DeSantis has done about the problem: DeSantis approved a pair of bills aimed at easing the property insurance crisis, including one that emerged from a special legislative session called by the governor in May.
The bills made it harder to sue insurers and had other reforms generally favored by the insurance industry. They did nothing to address concerns, however, about companies not having enough reserves or playing financial shell games that make them seem less profitable than they are.
The legislation hasn't solved the problem. Insurers are still failing, and rates still are expected to increase. One of the largest insurers in the state announced it was leaving
"It continues to be the most treacherous property insurance market in the
Republican state Sen.
"We're in a really bad place in
Home prices
The problem: The median sales price for a single-family home in
The cause of the problem:
The state continues to see significant population growth as the economy rebounds from the pandemic and baby boomers retire to the state in large numbers.
At the same time, the cost of building materials increased along with land values and many builders have struggled to find enough workers, all of which has contributed to higher housing costs and an inability to meet demand.
What DeSantis has done about the problem: Working with the
"We're trending in the right direction," with the housing funds said state Rep.
The state housing money goes to a range of programs, including subsidies to build rent-controlled apartment complexes and other low-income housing. In the past, state lawmakers often swept money from the affordable housing trust funds to pay for other programs. That will stop under a bill signed by DeSantis, which gives the trust funds a recurring, untouchable revenue stream.
But the bill also slashed in half the amount of funding that flows into the affordable housing trust funds from taxes on real estate transactions. So while the
Utility rates
The problem: The average retail price for electricity in
The average
The cause of the problem: Electric utilities have been raising rates because of higher fuel prices, which they pass on to customers, but they've also sought significant base rate increases and gained permission to charge more for hurricane hardening under a bill DeSantis signed.
The company says higher rates are needed to upgrade its infrastructure and pay for more clean power projects, but critics say the increase gives FPL an excessive profit margin of 10.6%, which is greater than other utilities.
The rate increase is being challenged in court.
What DeSantis has done about the problem: DeSantis mostly has been quiet about rising electric rates.
The governor did veto a bill loathed by solar advocates that would have made residential solar more costly. The legislation was pushed by FPL, but met with fierce opposition, including from many conservative communities in the
Yet while DeSantis sided with consumers on the solar bill, he has appointed
Kelly said FPL received "near about everything they were asking for" from the PSC during the recent rate case. He believes the profit market the company was granted of 10.6% is unjustified, noting it is higher than other
"It was clear that the utilities were planning to file major rate cases in 2021 and it doesn't take a genius to figure out would you rather be going against somebody that's got years and years of experience versus someone that has just come into the office with no experience in the area of energy," Kelly said.
Apartment rental rates
The problem: Rent for the average two-bedroom apartment in
The cause of the problem: Similar to what's happening in the single-family home market, the supply of affordable apartments hasn't kept up with demand as a steady wave of people move to
Legal Aid of Manasota Executive Director
"It primarily is a supply and demand issue," Harradine said. "That's what the market will bare, so they're going to find somebody who can pay that much."
What DeSantis has done about the problem:
Ross said there's a greater need for affordable rentals than affordable single-family homes, and that SAIL is a "critically important program" that shouldn't have its funding raided for other programs. "We have more rental need than we do homeownership need so no money should be taken from SAIL ever," she said.
Handing out housing assistance to police, nurses and teachers plays well politically, though, and DeSantis has been eager to tout the Hometown Heroes effort, kicking off the program with a press conference in
DeSantis' staff also worked to help a developer and major campaign donor to pass legislation that would have made it easier "to convert rent-controlled, affordable-housing units that were built with public subsidies into higher-priced, market-rate apartments and condos," according to the Seeking Rents newsletter. The legislation ultimately was revised to lessen the impact on affordable housing.
Follow Herald-Tribune Political Editor
Cost of living
increases during DeSantis' first term
Property insurance
116%
Homes
65%
Apartment rentals
41%
Utility rates
20%
Inside
Crist acted on similar issues as governor. 4A
illustration by hannah lauritzen/
Crist's cost-of-living plan in contrast to DeSantis
Big contrast between Crist and DeSantis on cost-of-living issues
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