The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Collier County

Saint Leo opens BB&T Center for Innovation & Technology

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Saint Leo University has opened the BB&T Center for Innovation & Technology at the Donald R. Tapia School of Business.

The center was made possible by a donation from BB&T Bank, and encompasses the fourth floor of the business school building. The highlights include a cybersecurity laboratory, which supports the teaching of the university’s new master’s degree in the field, as well as a collaboration zone, where business students work on real-world projects for area companies and nonprofits.

Kenneth Coppedge, West Florida regional president for BB&T, heads a nine-county region stretching from Hernando to Collier counties, and noted in a release that if he “were a young person, this is the area of opportunity that I would want to be a part of.”

The cybersecurity program now offered on the main campus will be offered online in the near future.

Saint Leo is a regionally accredited, liberal arts-based institution located in St. Leo. It was chartered in 1889 by Catholic Benedictine monks, and over the past 125 years, has provided education to people of all faiths.

The school has 16,000 undergraduate and graduate students at both the main campus in Pasco County, as well as 40 teaching locations in seven states.

Housing market up, condo sales down locally

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Nearly 15,000 existing homes and condominiums changed hands in the greater Tampa Bay area during April, May and June, showing promising housing market trends despite a drop in overall condo sales.

The region — which includes Pasco, Hillsborough, Hernando and Pinellas counties — sold 3,733 condos in the second quarter, down more than 5 percent from the year before. The median sales price, however, rose more than 12 percent to $110,000.

That volume was second only to the greater Miami and Fort Lauderdale area, where nearly 13,000 condos were sold, according to a new report from Florida Realtors. Sales there, however were down more than 6 percent.

The lower volume is actually good news for the market, Florida Realtors chief economist John Tuccillo said, because that means foreclosure-related short sales are on the decline.

“The second quarter numbers show that Florida’s real estate market is settling in,” Tuccillo said, in a release. “While prices throughout the state tend to be up, sales are mixed with single-family sales growing, and condos and townhouses declining.”

Some of the reasons for that include the reduced role of bulk investors — buyers who pick up multiple units at a time in hopes to rent or flip — and many families who are having trouble getting mortgage credit because of flat income.

“This market is sustainable, but either or both of these roadblocks must be removed if it’s to take off again,” Tuccillo said.

Just a little more than 10,800 single-family homes were sold in the quarter, up 3 percent from a year ago. Median prices, however, were much more flat at $156,000, an increase of 1.3 percent.

Statewide, single-family sales were up more than 7 percent, while median sales prices rose just above 5 percent at $180,000.

Of the regions Florida Realtors track, Ocala in Marion County still had the lowest median price for a home at $105,000, despite a 6 percent increase in price. The most expensive homes remained in the Naples and Marco Island area of Collier County, were the median price rose nearly 16 percent to $405,000.

The interest rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 4.23 percent for the second quarter, up from 3.69 percent the year before, according to Freddie Mac.

Mixed recovery messages from local housing market

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Condominium sales in the Tampa Bay region are down, but prices are on the rise as home sales continue their long recovery in the state.

The median sales price of a condominium in the region, which includes both Pasco and Hillsborough counties, was $110,000 in May, up nearly 13 percent from the year before, according to a new report from Florida Realtors. The number of closed sales dropped nearly 10 percent, however, to 1,256 units.

Single-family home sales climbed a little more than 1 percent last month in the area, while median sale prices slipped about the same percentage, to $156,000.

What had been a buyer’s market is quickly turning into one benefitting sellers, said Florida Realtors president Sherri Meadows, in a release.

“Right now, the market offers a great opportunity for sellers, who are seeing nearly 93 percent of their asking price at the closing table,” she said. “And mortgage rates, though rising, remain historically low, giving consumers more buying power.”

Statewide, condo sale prices rose nearly 14 percent to $145,000 while home prices ticked up another 4 percent to $180,000. The most expensive homes are found in Collier County where the median price for a single-family was $410,000, while condos were running $230,000. The cheapest were in Ocala where single-family were selling at $108,000, and condos at $46,000.

The market still struggles to get first-time buyers.

“Going forward, we’re concerned about affordability,” said John Tuccillo, chief economist for Florida Realtors, in a release. “In particular, the difficulty of first-time buyers to access mortgage financing, and the lag in providing a much-needed supply of new homes may hold back Florida’s housing market.”

Free isn’t always free, especially with cell phones

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A full-page ad that appeared in a South Florida newspaper in May has caught the attention of the Better Business Bureau, which warns consumers that just because someone claims a product is free doesn’t mean it is free.

The ad, according to the consumer advocacy organization, offered “easy-to-use senior mobile cell phones free” for senior citizens. The advertiser is a company that has earned an F-rating with the BBB because of its lengthy negative advertising and complaint industry.

According to the ad, for a one-time activation fee of $97 plus shipping, those who had beat a 48-hour deadline would receive a free cell phone, get nationwide coverage with no long-distance charges, would not have to sign any contracts, make no deposits, or pay no monthly bills. The bill also repeatedly expresses that senior citizens are risking their safety by not having a cell phone, and that the government urges them to carry one, the BBB said.

The organization first became aware of this ad in May 2013 in West Virginia, and an investigation there showed that the company inflates the costs of its activation fees to cover and profit from what’s advertised as “free,” BBB officials said.

The offer would charge consumers $97 plus shipping for access to 911 services, which already are provided by all wireless carriers for free. And while there are no monthly bills, consumers must pay for minutes once their first 250 prepaid minutes are used, or after 60 days.

BBB officials say the best way to avoid issues like this is to make sure, as a customer, that all the terms of the offer are read and understood. If something doesn’t make sense, be sure to ask.

Also, customers should always question free offers. The BBB Code of Advertising states that the word “free” can be used whenever the advertiser is offering an unconditional gift. If that free item is conditional on a purchase, the advertiser must make that clear and conspicuous with the free offer — and not simply by placing an asterisk next to the word “free” with a footnote.

Customers can always check out the reliability of a company by visiting BBB.org. The Better Business Bureau Serving West Florida is one of 112 local, independent BBBs across North America that serves Pasco, Hillsborough, Hernando, Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, Hardee, Desoto, Charlotte, Lee and Collier counties.

Graduation rates in Pasco, Hillsborough, near state average

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Pasco County Schools is making progress toward raising graduation rates in its system, but a new report from the GradNation campaign shows that there is still some ways to go.

Pasco is graduating 77 percent of its high school students while the Hillsborough County School District is graduating 73 percent — both nearly in-line with the state average of 75 percent. Yet, there is some silver lining for Pasco, which has a graduation rate near that of Osceola, Lake, Collier and Sarasota counties, and not too far behind leading counties like Brevard and Seminole among the most populated school districts.

Graduation rates in Florida as a whole have been steadily rising over the past decade, from 57 percent in 2003 to 75 percent in 2012. Yet, those rates are still among the lowest in the nation, beating only Alaska, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico and Oregon.

GradNation arrived at the numbers using what it called the Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate, which tracks a group of students who enter high school together and graduate “on-time” with a regular diploma. The rate accounts and adjusts for students who transfer in or out of the school, or who pass away.

Retired Gen. Colin Powell, who serves as founding chair for America’s Promise Alliance — one of the participating groups in the study — said in a letter with wife Alma Powell that nationwide, school graduation rates are climbing. However, to reach the 90 percent level, there is still more work to be done.

“Despite our gains, far too many young people still do not earn a high school diploma, and the number of non-graduates remains alarmingly high among young people of color, and those from low-income communities,” the Powells wrote in the letter. “In other words, a young person’s chances for success still depend too much on his or her ZIP code and skin color, and too little on his or her abilities and effort.”

The report was commissioned by Civic Enterprises, Everyone Graduates Center at the School of Education at Johns Hopkins University, and America’s Promise Alliance for Excellence Education. Efforts were put together after graduation rates had plateaued over a three-decade period. In the last 10 years, however, national graduation rates have climbed more than 10 percent, with a goal to move another 10 percent ahead by the Class of 2020.

Union helps Pasco County employees ratify first contract

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The Teamsters Local 79 union in Tampa is celebrating its first Teamster contract with Pasco County public employees the group says will represent 1,100 public sector jobs across the county.

A one-year contract was ratified by those employees late last week, according to the Teamsters, and covers workers ranging from road and bridge maintenance, to librarians.

“We fought to win a strong first contract for these hardworking public employees, and we won,” said Ken Wood, president of Teamsters Local 79, in a release. “The battle took almost four years, but our negotiators knew that they must bring the employees a contract that honored their job seniority, had just-cause provisions, and included wage increases. And that is just what they delivered.”

Pasco’s public employees are the newest ones represented by the local Teamsters group, who already work with similar employees in Hernando, Citrus and Collier counties.

Teamsters Local 79 is affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents 1.4 million workers throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.