From the St. Petersburg Times:

Sunshine won't pay the bills

More people still move to Florida. But the rising cost to live here now drives struggling workers away.

By IVAN PENN
Published August 12, 2006
 

David Flintom keeps looking for ways to cut his expenses. The St. Petersburg resident hangs his wet laundry on a clothesline, no longer has cable TV and drives a motorcycle instead of a pickup. But it never seems like enough, so he may leave Florida.

Awilda Ortiz, a 23-year-old disabled nurse, thinks "every single day" about leaving the state because of increasing costs and the struggle to pay her bills.

And then there's Harold and Barbara Polsky. The Port Richey couple that launched an organized protest to the rising cost of homeowners insurance have made a decision. It's time to go.

"We've put our house up for sale," said Barbara Polsky, who is moving to Roanoke, Va. "There is no way median income people can meet those kinds of costs."

The rising cost of living in Florida, long a paradise for people seeking rest from their labors and the high prices in the North, is driving some residents to states such as Virginia, Georgia and Tennessee.

It is no mass exodus, and people are still coming to Florida, but higher insurance, utilities and property taxes in particular are leading some to seek pastures where green means more money in their pockets.

"We've seen a change in the relative attractiveness of Florida," said Mark Vitner, senior economist for Wachovia Bank. "We've seen some evidence that people moving out of Florida has increased."

Moving companies are offering the first look, he said.

United Van Lines Inc., one of the nation's largest moving firms, has seen a steady increase in shipments heading out of Florida in the past five years.

In 2001, 58 percent of United's Florida jobs were coming to the state while 42 percent were leaving. By the end of 2005, outbound shipments rose to about 46 percent. The trend continued for the first six months of this year.

Tennessee real estate agent Sheila Tallant says she is hearing from Floridians nearly every day.

Tallant, who focuses on the Crossville and Pikeville areas about an hour to 1¹/₂ hours north of Chattanooga, says 80 to 90 percent of their inquiries come from Florida. And 50 percent of her office's sales come from Florida.

"They're just saying insurance and taxes are just getting overwhelming in Florida," she said, noting you can buy a single-family home on 5 acres in the Crossville and Pikeville areas for $120,000.

Bill Moore, director of sales at Heartwood Communities in Tifton, Ga., where homes can be found for $130,000 to $140,000, said he too is focused on Florida.

"I'm now doing nothing but soliciting in the Florida market," Moore said. He has had 600 inquiries from Floridians about his housing development. Ten percent of those yielded visits to Heartwood, about 60 miles from the Florida line, off Interstate 75.

Vitner from Wachovia notes that at $239,000, the median price of a home in the Tampa Bay area is about $8,000 above the national median.

Other economists echo concerns about Florida losing residents.

"The middle class is under a lot of strain," said Scott Brown, an economist with Raymond James Financial Inc., in St. Petersburg. "I heard there are people leaving Florida because of home prices. ... It's not just the price of a home but the insurance costs, the property taxes."

Despite those who leave, Florida's steady growth is expected to continue, making the state the third largest in the country soon, passing New York.

Statistics from the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida show nearly 1,000 more people move to Florida every day than leave.

"If you look at the population estimates for the state of Florida, they're increasing," said Christopher McCarty, director of the University of Florida Survey Research Center. "There may be people leaving, but there are people moving in to take their place - and more than that."

Still, those who have remained - up and down the socioeconomic ladder - continue to feel the pressure.

"Everybody is having to make tough decisions," said Cliff Smith, the interim director of the Pinellas County Department of Human Services.

Smith's agency had a 40 percent increase in requests for assistance with rent and utility bills in July over the same period last year. His office's counterpart in Hillsborough saw 25 percent more people during that time.

Awilda Ortiz of St. Petersburg is among those who sought help. She relies on $800-per-month disability payments from an accident to cover her mortgage, insurance, utilities and other bills.

"It's not easy," said Ortiz, standing outside the Pinellas County Department of Human Services office in St. Petersburg.

David Flintom moved to St. Petersburg from Seattle four years ago and bought a two-story house with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Since then the 36-year-old warehouse manager of a household products and building supply store has seen his insurance rise from $1,000 a year to $2,300. His utilities have doubled to about $200 a month. And it costs $70 a week to fill up his pickup.

Flintom has tried to save money by riding a used motorcycle that takes $7 a week to fill. He doesn't have a home telephone, and he doesn't go out with his friends much anymore.

"I love the house," he said. "I really don't want to let it go. But every month I just keep getting beat down."

So Flintom is thinking of leaving.

From their home in Pasco County, Harold and Barbara Polsky helped lead an effort to push the state to fix the state's insurance troubles through Homeowners Against Citizens. Citizens is the state-run insurer of last resort. The couple left the organization about two weeks ago amid disputes with other board members on policy issues.

Because of their location, the Polskys were required to carry homeowners, wind and flood insurance, which rose from about $1,700 a few years ago to about $3,000, they said. And new premiums could reach $8,000 or more, they said.

"I like Florida, but not that well," 64-year-old Barbara Polsky said.

She and her husband decided to leave the state rather than continue struggling.

They are moving to Roanoke, Virginia's largest city west of Washington, D.C., and where 49-year-old Harold Polsky's company, the Home Shopping Network, has an office.

The median home price in Roanoke is $150,000, according to Wachovia economists. And the Virginia Bureau of Insurance says homeowners insurance starts at $315 a year in Roanoke and can go as high as $1,200 for pricier policies.

Added benefits of Roanoke: towering mountains around the city, which sits in a valley, and no hurricanes.

"I heard it's beautiful," Barbara Polsky said. "I hope it is."

Ivan Penn covers consumer affairs issues and can be reached at 727 892-2332 or ipenn@sptimes.com.