Things To Do In SW Florida

A significant rate decrease has been approved for Florida Power & Light residential customers heading into the year’s peak season for electricity use.

Florida’s Public Service Commission on Tuesday approved the “mid-course correction” sought by FPL to adjust for plummeting costs of natural gas, which fuels the utility’s electricity plants.

The correction will save consumers $662 million through the end of 2024, the PSC reported.

Households in Florida that consume a “typical” 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity each month will pay $7.69 less — or 6% — beginning in May. FPL serves all of Brevard County and portions of Volusia and Seminole counties.

That savings follows a decline of nearly $7 a month that took effect in April with the expiration of a temporary surcharge imposed to recover restoration costs from past hurricanes.

That means the total reduction from March to May for “typical” FPL customers will be $14.50 — lowering bills from $135.69 in March to $121.19 in May. read more

By HALELUYA HADERO (Associated Press)

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon is removing Just Walk Out technology from its Amazon Fresh stores as part of an effort to revamp the grocery chain.

The company’s well-known technology lets customers pay for items without standing in line and sends them receipts afterwards. Amazon says it will now be replaced by smart carts that allow customers to skip the checkout line but also see their spending in real time.

While redesigning Fresh stores in the past year, Amazon spokesperson Carly Golden said the company heard from customers who enjoy skipping the checkout line but also wanted to view their receipts and savings as they shopped. Golden said the smart carts will give customers these benefits as well as the convenience of skipping the checkout line.

Amazon’s decision was first reported by The Information.

Seattle-based Amazon operates dozens of Fresh grocery stores across the country, most of which are in California, Illinois, Virginia and Washington state. The company also operates cashier-free convenience stores under the Amazon Go brand and owns Whole Foods, which it purchased in 2017 for $13.7 billion. read more

By Bhargavi Sakthivel, Maeva Cousin and David Wilcox, Bloomberg News

The Congressional Budget Office warned in its latest projections that U.S. federal government debt is on a path from 97% of GDP last year to 116% by 2034 — higher even than in World War II. The actual outlook is likely worse.

From tax revenue to defense spending and interest rates, the CBO forecasts released earlier this year are underpinned by rosy assumptions. Plug in the market’s current view on interest rates, and the debt-to-GDP ratio rises to 123% in 2034. Then assume — as most in Washington do — that ex-President Donald Trump’s tax cuts mainly stay in place, and the burden gets even higher.

With uncertainty about so many of the variables, Bloomberg Economics has run a million simulations to assess the fragility of the debt outlook. In 88% of the simulations, the results show the debt-to-GDP ratio is on an unsustainable path — defined as an increase over the next decade.

The Biden administration says its budget, featuring a slew of tax hikes on corporations and wealthy Americans, will ensure fiscal sustainability and manageable debt-servicing costs. read more

Among the many changes wrought by the SECURE 2.0 Act, passed by Congress at the end of 2022, is the option to roll over a limited amount of unused funds in 529 college savings accounts to individual Roth accounts.

This provision went into effect this year, and the option is available twice in 2024. However, to do two rollovers, the first one — corresponding to the 2023 tax year — has to be completed by April 15.

Rollovers of this type are allowed when the student identified as the beneficiary of the 529 account receives a scholarship. There is a yearly limit. For 2023, the limit is $6,500 ($7,500 if the donor is 50 or older). For 2024, the annual limit is $7,000 ($8,000 for donors 50 or older).

If the beneficiary meets the qualifying conditions, the 529 to Roth rollover can be done for both 2023 and 2024 as long as the first rollover is completed by April 15, 2024.

A distribution made after Dec. 31, 2023, and by April 15, 2024, designated for 2023, would be reported as a Roth contribution for 2023. read more

It isn’t often you’d hear someone say that paying almost $10 million for a home is a great deal.

One of just 11 Winter Park homes in the Isle of Sicily on Lake Maitland just sold for $9.7 million, according to a report in GrowthSpotter.

“This home has water on both sides, so you have water in the front of the house and the back of the house since it’s out on a point,” said John Pinel, who was listing the home with Mick Night, both with Premier Sotheby’s International Realty. “You go across a little bridge to get there.”

The 9,522-square-foot home was on the market for 327 days and was listed at just under $11 million.

“When you get around $10 million in Winter Park, there are buyers, but not a ton of buyers. We never did move the price the entire time,” Pinel said.

The home was built in 2014 and has five bedrooms and five full bathrooms along with a four-car garage with room for a lift, home automation, and other popular features buyers look for.

“It’s a challenge to find homes on the Chain of Lakes that are currently updated or newer construction so there’s always a demand for that,” Pinel said. “Most of the homes and properties that are selling on the Chain of Lakes are older or need renovating. They don’t have all the bells and whistles that multimillion dollar buyers want, so they have to go in and spend the time and energy to get that.” read more