According to the 2010 State Business Tax Climate report released this week by the Washington D.C. based Tax Foundation, Florida remains among the top 10 states in the nation when it comes to “business friendly” taxes. Florida ranked 5th in this year’s report and has had the best ranking among Southern states for several years in a row. A spokeswoman for the Tax Foundation stressed that the rankings don’t reflect how much money the taxes raise, but how broad and competitive the structure is compared to other states. Florida’s advantage comes mostly from having a state constitution that prohibits an income tax.

Tags: Florida, growth, taxes

While growth has slowed somewhat for parts of the region, the numbers released this week by the U.S. Census Bureau for 2007 shows the areas population is not only still growing, but also diversifying in both age and race. In fact, Lee County, which includes Bonita Springs, Cape Coral, Estero and Ft. Myers, had the fastest growth rate in the state.

Lee County saw a decrease in its population’s median age from 45.2 in 2000 to 42.4 in 2007. Residents between the age of 25 and 34 grew almost 65% during the period while residents age 65 and older fell to only 22% of the overall population. Minority residents also grew substantially over the last seven years, with the largest increases coming from the Hispanic and Asian populations (141% & 114%).

Tags: growth, SW Florida

It should come as no surprise that Lee County is the fastest growing Metro area in Florida for 2007. Combining absolutely year round gorgeous weather (average mean temperature 83 degrees), 50 miles of white sandy beaches, and being named as one of the Top 10 U.S. Travel Destinations has produced a 3.6 percent (20,475) increase in residents from 2006 to 2007. Already known as a retirement mecca, the Lee Island Coast, encompassing Bonita Springs, Cape Coral, Estero and Ft. Myers, is rapidly growing due to increasing employment opportunities and peoples’ desires to live and work in a sub-tropical paradise.

Tags: Florida, growth

Just recently, Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles Bronson (gotta love his name - how apropos) announced taking legal action against a Sarasota County company for violating the State Do Not Call law. The legal action seeks an injunction prohibiting the offending company from making any future calls to residents on the list and fines of up to $10,000 for each of the calls made to the prohibited phone numbers is possible. Commissioner Bronson said “the message is that this activity will not be tolerated.”

Bronson’s department has collected or obtained judgments of more than $1.5 million against companies that have called residents on the list. Bronson encourages Floridians to join the program. For more information, consumers can call the department’s toll-free hotline at 1-800-435-7352 or visit the Division of Consumer Services website at www.800helpfla.com.

Tags: Florida, growth

By any standard, population growth in Southwest Florida has slowed from the torrid pace of 2000-2006. However, it still ranks near the top when compared to the rest of the country.

The Cape Coral-Bonita Springs-Ft. Myers metropolitan area (Lee County) dropped one spot to the fourth fastest growing metro area while the Naples-Marco Island metropolitan area (Collier County) fell to the 16th fastest growing metro area for the time period 2000-2007.

The rankings are based on the percentage of growth, not the actual number of people. Lee County’s population grew by 33.9% (150,000) and Collier County’s by 25.6% (65,000) from April 2000 to July 2007.

Tags: growth, markets