- December 15, 2025
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Genshaft gets raise
The University of South Florida board of trustees approved a $75,000 pay raise for Judy Genshaft, putting her among the nation's highest-earning university presidents. Her annual base salary will be $470,000 when her five-year contract begins July 1.
Genshaft will also receive bonus pay of $175,000 per year upon meeting certain goals, plus $100,000 per year if she stays through the entire contract term. That puts the package as high as $745,000 annually, plus retirement benefits.
Having been at USF for the last decade, Genshaft is credited with generating construction projects and attracting research dollars to the four-campus system. She also serves as current chair of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Chamber takes on Rays
The Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce committed to studying financing options throughout the coming year for a proposed Tampa Bay Rays baseball stadium that will replace St. Petersburg's Tropicana Field.
Chuck Sykes, chairman of the chamber, said he welcomes Pinellas County business leaders to join in the discussion, which will focus on private rather than taxpayer financing. Although the Rays are contractually obligated to play at the Trop through 2027, he emphasized that discussion of a replacement stadium is necessary to assure the team does not leave the market.
Rays owner Stuart Sternberg welcomed the discussion, saying local businesses have not been involved in prior stadium discussions.
GOP convention still on
The Republican Party will still hold its 2012 convention in Tampa even if a change is made at the top of its organizational chart.
An effort is afoot to replace Michael Steele as chairman of the Republican National Committee in January over debt concerns. Steele made the formal announcement in March that Tampa will host the GOP convention, but party leaders say his ouster would not affect the prior decision by the site selection committee.
The convention is booked for the final week of August 2012 at the St. Pete Times Forum and other local facilities. An estimated 45,000 people are expected to attend, including delegates, GOP supporters and the media.
Collier cuts taxes
Faced with anemic growth and some of the highest taxes in the region, Collier County commissioners recently voted to further reduce taxes on new construction that subsidize the construction of libraries and government buildings. These taxes are also known as “impact fees.”
Commissioners lowered the library tax imposed on new residential construction by between 44% and 62%, depending on the land-use category. For example, the library tax will now cost $317 on a new home that measures between 1,500 and 2,499 square feet.
The government-building tax dropped 17% for residential-land uses and 25% for commercial-land uses. For example, that tax on the construction of a 50,000-square-foot shop dropped to $976 per 1,000 square feet, or a total $48,800.
Naples home sales fall
Sales of existing single-family homes in Naples fell 19% and the median sales price rose 1.5% in November, according to the Naples Area Board of Realtors.
Realtors assisted in selling 225 homes in November for a median sales price of $193,000. At the current sales pace, there is currently a 20-month supply of existing homes for sale in the Naples area.
The number of November sales fell in all price categories, but was steepest in the price ranges under $500,000. The inventory of homes priced under $300,000 rose nearly 15%.
Alico posts loss
Alico Inc. posted a net loss of $623,000 for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 on revenues of $79.8 million, the LaBelle-based agricultural company reported.
Alico says the 11% decline in revenues in fiscal 2010 was due in part to the fact that it planted fewer acres of sugarcane in 2007 and 2008 because of poor market conditions. As a result, the company harvested 52% less sugarcane in 2010 than in the previous year.
District aims at shortfall
The Manatee County School District has an $8.4 million shortfall in its health insurance fund, according to an operational audit from the Florida Auditor General's Office.
The district plans to raise premiums for non-union employees in January to cover some of the shortfall. District officials would also like to raise premiums for teachers to cover the rest of the deficit, an effort being fought by the Manatee Education Association, the teachers' union.
The operational audit probed the district's financial performance from July 1, 2009, to June 30. The audit also checked the district's response to issues pointed out in previous audits.
Region ranks high
The Sarasota-Bradenton area ranked first in a national survey of top retirement communities, leading three other Gulf Coast markets in the top 10.
The survey, published by business news website Portfolio.com, was based on the 2009 American Community Survey compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau earlier this year. The top markets had to have at least 40,000 residents classified as seniors, along with a growth rate in new seniors entering the community.
The Cape Coral-Fort Myers market ranked fourth in the survey, while the Naples market ranked fifth. The Punta Gorda market ranked ninth. Twelve Florida markets made the top 20.
Agency chief retires
Kathy Baylis, founding president and CEO of the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County, will retire in June, the EDC board announced.
Baylis, the onetime general manager of the Plantation Golf & Country Club in Venice, began her economic development career with the EDC in 1995. Back then she was named an assistant director for the Sarasota County Chamber of Commerce's Committee of 100. Baylis led the independent launch of the county's EDC in 2004.
The EDC board has already begun to search for the organization's next CEO. It started the process with a search firm, which will likely find up to 15 potential candidates for the position.
