Flagler County’s May unemployment rate was 3.6 percent, down from 3.9 percent in April, as the rate continues to oscillate within the same narrow band it has for a year and a half. Previously steady growth in the labor force, however, has stalled. After rising earlier this year, it declined for the second month in a row, to 51,383, almost exactly where it stood a year ago. The labor force reflects working-age adults with families as opposed to children or retirees, who account for 60 percent of the county’s population.
Flagler, Palm Coast & Other Local News
Palm Coast Arts Foundation’s Parting Legacy: a $69,000 Gift to City Repertory Theatre
Ending its 20-year-run, the Palm Coast Arts Foundation today handed over a $69,000 gift to City Repertory Theatre, the largest gift the theater troupe has ever received and one of the largest cultural gifts ever recorded from a non-governmental organization to another in Flagler. PCAF was required to disburse its remaining funds to a kindred non-profit before closing its books.
Flagler Beach Demolishes Any County Plan To Make Barrier Island Pay Higher Tax for Beach Protection
If the county plans any taxing method to pay for beach protection that taxes the barrier island more than it does the rest of the county, Flagler Beach will not sign off. Four of the five city commissioners are opposed to any such plan, and the fifth is skeptical of the county’s approach. Flagler Beach is especially resentful of the county for even discussing various proposals, however preliminary, without having included Flagler Beach in the discussions from the start.
Court Rules Old Dixe Motel Owners Have 10 Days to Provide County $250,000 Deposit Owed Since 2021
The owners of the derelict Old Dixie motel have 10 days to provide the Flagler County Clerk of Court a $250,000 deposit they have owed county government for three years as part of an agreement on the rehabilitation of the motel, Circuit Judge Chris France ruled in an order issued today.
For 17th Straight Year, Flagler Schools’ Enrollment Fails To Grow Despite Continuing Population Surge
In spite of growth that added 16,000 new residents to the county in three years, in spite of Palm Coast, the county and Flagler Beach issuing certificates of occupancy for some 3,200 housing units in 2023 alone, and in spite of similar growth trends in 2024, Flagler County schools are simply not attracting enough students to reflect that growth.
Palm Coast Takes a Step Closer to Utility Tax, But Only If Voters Approve in a Binding Referendum
The Palm Coast City Council today took its closest step in 25 years toward a utility franchise fee, an additional levy that would raise your power bills by up to 10 percent. Public opposition has defeated such fee proposals four times since 2011. But the council is leaving it to the voting public to decide what the fee should be, or if there should be a fee at all. The fee must be contingent on a future referendum. And the referendum must be binding.
Seeing Record $82 Million Haul from State as Failure, Palm Coast Is on Brink of Firing Its Powerful Lobbyist
Disappointed by the performance of its lobbyist in Tallahassee despite netting $82 million in state appropriations this year, the Palm Coast City Council is on the verge of firing Southern Group, one of the state’s most powerful lobby firms. Council members spoke as if legislative appropriations were either the city’s due, or that securing them were a science that lobbyists know or don’t know. But that’s more fancy (or hubris) than truth in a whorl of politics, trade-offs and, in the governor’s case, often inscrutable vetoes.
LongHorn Steakhouse Opening Later This Year Near Miller’s Ale House at BJ’s Warehouse Shopping Center
LongHorn Steakhouse is building a 5,780 square-foot restaurant in one of the three businesses opening along State Road 100 in Palm Coast, in the BJ’s Warehouse shopping center opening later this year. The other two are Miller’s Ale House and Chase Bank. Two remaining spots have not been filled. Miller’s Ale House may be the first to open as soon as next month.
At ‘Monumental Groundbreaking’ for Beach-Rebuilding, Shovels of Praise, But Not a Word About Climate Change
Federal, state and local officials gathered at veterans Park in Flagler Beach under a broiling sun this morning for the groundbreaking of the $27 million beach-rebuilding project by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a project 20 years in the making. Officials exchanged heaps of praise, but a principal reason behind the project–climate change–was left unspoken in a state where the words are now banned.
Palm Coast Launches Swale Maintenance Pilot Program in P-Section, Along with ‘Progress’ Page
The City of Palm Coast announced a new pilot program by the Stormwater and Engineering Department aimed at improving swale maintenance across the community. This initiative targets specific problem areas by selectively regrading and resodding high spots in swales, providing solutions without the need for complete overhauls. This program is part of the city’s ongoing commitment to enhancing infrastructure and services for residents.