Coffee Talk (Sara/Mana)

Coffee Talk (Sara/Mana)

Right time to go flat

Former presidential candidate Steve Forbes spoke with Coffee Talk before giving his speech at the Wall Street Live Money Show at the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota last week. (See pages 8 and 9 for coverage of the event).

Forbes' new book is "Flat Tax Revolution: Using a Postcard to Abolish the IRS," and he was adamant, as he has been in the past, about not just tinkering with the tax code. Forbes says tinkering is the equivalent of a band-aid, and that won't solve anything long-term.

"We need to throw the thing out and start over," Forbes says. "It does not work."

Forbes says despite the current political climate, with Pres. Bush seeing some of the lowest poll numbers of his presidency, it is still the right time to push for the flat tax. He says it is always the right time, as the flat tax will bring long-term economic prosperity and sustained job growth.

Forbes hopes that when Pres. Bush gives his State of the Union speech in 2006 he will be bold in his tax reform plan, not just put forward the half-solutions presented by his tax advisory panel last month.

"The thing about being the president," says Forbes, "is that you get to set the agenda for the nation."

Forbes does not foresee himself being the person that sets the agenda for the nation anytime soon, saying he won't be running for any elected office "in the foreseeable future."

"My role," he says, "is to be an educator and an agitator."

Trash pick-up

The West Coast of Florida has attracted the attention of Houston-based waste-management company WCA Waste Corp. That's big news for the Sarasota-Manatee county market.

Last month, WCA's Florida subsidiary WCA of Florida Inc. purchased the assets of two Sarasota waste-related businesses. First, WCA purchased Meyer & Gabbert Excavating Inc.'s assets, which included a 250-acre landfill in Arcadia, three transfer stations and a six truck-hauling operation. A few weeks later, WCA purchased the assets of the six-truck Andy's Hauling.

According to an SEC filing, Meyer & Gabbert owners Leonard Meyer Jr. and Jim Gabbert received $32.5 million in cash and 236,686 shares of WCA common stock, worth about $1.9 million as of Wednesday morning.

"The mid-Florida market on the west coast from Naples, Fort Myers, Sarasota, Bradenton up to Tampa is really exciting for our company in terms of growth," WCA chairman Tom Fatjo told Coffee Talk. "This is an initial step and we are in active discussions with several other companies in these markets. The owners who built Meyer & Gabbert have done an excellent job developing it."

In addition to Florida, WCA has operations in eight other states: Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

Babcock deal windfall for lawyers, consultants

Six firms will reap $728,000 in fees from the sale of 74,000 acres of Babcock Ranch to the State of Florida. Morgan Stanley and West Palm Beach developer Syd Kitson worked on the deal.

A review of the contract shows which firms are involved and how much their fees are likely to be if the deal goes through. They include:

• Johnson Engineering of Fort Myers, $300,000 for survey work;

• Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart PA of West Palm Beach, $150,000 for legal services;

• URS Corp. of Tampa, $103,000 for environmental services;

• Ard, Shirley & Hartman PA of Tallahassee, $100,000 for legal services;

• Mirabella, Smith & McKinnon of Tallahassee, $50,000 for consulting work;

• Akerman Senterfitt of Miami, $25,000 for legal services.

ER guarantee war?

Coffee Talk reported last week that Sarasota Memorial Hospital plans to offer a 30-minute guarantee in its emergency room later this November.

Well, if you thought that was just too long to wait, start heading south. Venice Regional Medical Center officials have said that soon the hospital will begin offering patients a 15-minute guarantee in its ER.

Similar to SMH's guarantee, the Venice 15-minute guarantee only pertains to how long patients will wait to be seen by a doctor or physician practitioner; it does not cover a patient's entire visit time. A date for the incentive program to begin hasn't been set.

The program is one of Health Management Associates' signature services nationwide and the company, which also owns Charlotte Regional Medical Center, plans to backup the guarantee with a donation to a charity in the patient's name.

Fowler White jumps into Bonita Springs

Fowler White Boggs Banker, one of Florida's largest law firms, is making a push into fast-growing Bonita Springs in southern Lee County. It plans to open an office there by the end of the year.

John Gast, formerly executive vice president of private client services with SunTrust Bank of Southwest Florida, will be in charge of the firm's newest office. Eventually, Fowler White plans to have as many as 20 attorneys in Bonita Springs, specializing in estate planning and real estate, says Joseph Linnehan, managing shareholder of the Fort Myers office of Fowler White.

Heading North

It appears Equity One Inc., a North Miami Beach shopping center owner, sees much more potential for revenue growth in the northern part of the Tampa Bay area. The publicly traded real estate investment trust shifted some of its investment focus into Pasco County from Manatee County over the past nine months.

Earlier this year, the REIT bought 155 acres east of the Suncoast Parkway on State Road 54 for $12.6 million. It proposes a mix of retail, office and residential in the fast-growing area that includes Lutz and Land O'Lakes.

Meanwhile, Equity One divested 177,128 square feet of retail in Ellenton's North River Village for nearly $14.9 million. Of 18 investment properties from Collier to Pasco counties, it no longer has a presence in either Manatee or Sarasota counties.