Things To Do In SW Florida

Despite headline-grabbing return-to-office mandates by some employers, hybrid and remote work are here to stay.

Many employers are even perfecting their approach to flexible work arrangements. They’re making in-person time more strategic and purposeful, designating in-office days and taking steps to ensure new employees don’t feel isolated.

“They’re undoubtedly here to stay,” Johnny Taylor, president and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management, said of remote and flexible work options. “It’s hard to put that genie back in the bottle.”

When employers adopted flexible work arrangements during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many found that employees were just as productive when working remotely. In the years since, they’ve discovered that hybrid and remote work options also improve morale and make it easier to recruit and retain employees, who are increasingly prioritizing flexibility.

Among U.S. workers who have jobs that can be performed remotely, the percentage who work a hybrid schedule has hovered between 51% and 55% since November 2022, according to Gallup. That’s up from 32% in 2019. The percentage who are exclusively remote has stayed between 26% and 29% in recent years, up from 8% in January 2019. read more

The Apopka City Council took the penultimate step Wednesday toward hiking fees developers are charged to help fund police, fire/rescue and recreation services — as much as 42% for residential and 280% for nonresidential construction.

Commissioners voted unanimously during their meeting for proposals increasing impact fees, advancing them to final votes Dec. 17, according to a report in GrowthSpotter. If approved on second reading — with the required supermajority (four of the five members) — the city could begin collecting the higher fees 90 days later. The city last raised these fees in 2017.

Throughout the march toward raising the fees that started months ago, commissioners have repeatedly stressed that the increases are not paid by current residents.

“Just to confirm, this is not a fee to the current residents, this will be a fee to developers that will most likely be passing their fee onto the new residents, correct?” asked Commissioner Nick Nesta.

Shawn Ocasio, senior manager with Raftelis Financial Consultants in Maitland, affirmed that and said during his presentation to the council that without the proposed increases the city would have to pass costs along to current residents. read more

While SpaceX continues to test its Starship and Super Heavy rocket in Texas, Space Force officials in Florida are preparing for a first launch as early as mid-2026.

SpaceX is awaiting the completion of a pair of environmental impact statements for its plans to launch from both Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39-A and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 37.

“KSC is leading the way with (LC 39-A) and the partnership with SpaceX there to do the development work to be able to support Starship,” said Space Launch Delta 45 commander Col. Brian Chatman during a media discussion about the 100th launch of the year on the Space Coast. “Early- to mid-next year is when we anticipate Starship coming out here to be able to launch, and we’ll have the range rated to support at that time.”

Construction at the KSC site is moving ahead while SpaceX also builds out a Starship manufacturing facility nearby called the Gigabay to pump out the rocket stages for the 403-foot-tall behemoth. read more

Readers of my column know I emphasize the importance of naming beneficiaries for every IRA account. Many ask under what circumstances they should consider naming a trust as an IRA beneficiary.

In a recent Slott report, Andy Ives, an IRA analyst and certified financial planner for the Slott group summarized the disadvantages of naming a trust as the beneficiary of an IRA account as well when there are advantages to do so.

Disadvantages of naming a trust as beneficiary

A trust should not be named as a beneficiary of an IRA account unless there is a legitimate reason to do so. In no situation is there an income tax advantage in naming a trust as a beneficiary.

In fact, in most situations the income tax would be higher if you named the trust as a beneficiary. In a trust, tax rates reach 37% when income is more than $15,650. By comparison, if you file your tax return jointly, you would not reach the 37% level until your taxable income exceeded $751,600. If you file singly, your taxable income would have to exceed $626,350 before you reached the 37% level. read more

Toy-making giant Mattel Inc. is developing plans that could bring the first retractable-roof water park to Orlando, along with Barbie, Thomas the Tank Engine and Hot Wheels theming.

Creative and operational work is underway, led by Orlando-based Martin Aquatic.

“It is an opportunity to play with one of the cornerstone brands in Americana,” said Josh Martin, president and creative director. “For the Mattel Wonder projects, we are the creative lead for all the design and layout of storytelling, as well as the aquatic engineer of record, where we do mechanical, electrical, structural.”

Mattel announced this week its intention to create five water parks — dubbed Mattel Wonder Indoor Waterparks — with Orlando targeted as the first location. Where exactly they will go has not been revealed.

“We’re not fully ready to announce what those locations are,” Martin said. That information may be shared as early as next month, he said.

Some vendors have been selected, he said, including Canada-based OpenAire, which makes an aluminum-glass building with a retractable roof. read more