Government Digest 03/05/10

Unemployment hike delayed
TALLAHASSEE —Shortly after convening, the Florida Legislature unanimously approved a bill pushing off a scheduled major increase in unemployment compensation tax rates. (See “Jobs Killer,” Dec. 18, 2009.) Gov. Charlie Crist then signed it into law. Many businesses would have seen unemployment tax increases of nearly 1,100% on April 1 without this bill. Businesses will still see the minimum per-employee tax rise from $8.40 to $25.20, though much less than the $100.30 rate previously set to take effect. But more increases will be necessary to begin paying interest on more than $1.1 billion the state has borrowed from the federal government to pay unemployment benefits.

First toll truck lanes
TAMPA — The first truck-only toll lanes in the United States are part of the $650 million project to link Interstate 4 and the Selmon Crosstown Expressway.
The link is designed to solve traffic congestion in historic Ybor City, 20% of which is pass-through truck traffic. Most of the trucks are going to and from the port, and need to get from I-4 to the Selmon.
The connector, a joint project between the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority and the Florida Department of Transportation, will build what is essentially an elevated interchange between the two roadways, eight blocks to the east of the currently impacted north-south surface streets. But instead of mixing all the traffic together, the design calls for separate roadways for the several different principal movements between the two expressways, including separate truck lanes.
All traffic will pay electronic tolls to use the connector, making the truck lanes into toll lanes. Florida Turnpike Enterprise will handle the tolling, using its statewide Sunpass system. The project funding involves both toll revenues and fuel-tax funds.
A workshop and conference, Innovations in Pricing of Transportation Systems, is set for May 13-14, in Orlando at the Royal Plaza Hotel in Walt Disney World Resort. For details go to http://conferences.dce.ufl.edu/pricing.

Pasco does online bids
PASCO COUNTY — Pasco County has joined The Florida Online Bid System. All bids, quotes, addendums and awards will now be posted through www.FloridaBidSystem.com. This automatic bid notification system allows companies to receive emails anytime Pasco County has a bid opportunity that matches a company's business. For assistance, call the support department at IPT by BidNet, at 1-800-677-1997, ext. 214. Ask for The Florida Online Bid System.

Alexander to lead Alico
LABELLE — State Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, was named president and chief executive officer of Alico Inc., a 50-year-old agriculture, mining and real estate company based in LaBelle. Alico, Inc. is a publicly traded (NASDAQ symbol: ALCO) land management company with four subsidiaries that owns about 135,500 acres in Collier, Lee, Glades, Hendry, and Polk counties. Alexander, chairman of the Senate budget committee, takes the helm following the resignation of Steve Smith. Smith had been the president and principal executive since November 2008 and had been with the company for more than 15 years. Alico was founded Feb. 29, 1960. Alexander, the son of Alico chairman John R. Alexander, is also the president and CEO of Atlantic Blue Group, Inc., Alico's controlling shareholder.