FYI Miami


	Miami Beach Convention Center upgrade gets thumbs-up, no payment plan
	New York realty giant Douglas Elliman adds flagship office
	Coconut Grove Playhouse costs, fines delay Act I
	Solar-powered Florida International University mobile medical clinic nears military tests
	Mortgage broker ranks in Florida down almost two-thirds
	Bus and rail use dropped in Miami-Dade County as jobs fell off
	In jobs tug-of-war, Miami-Dade County won't tie small-business strings onto land use

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FYI Miami is a weekly feature of Miami Today, keeping readers ahead of the news. Here are highlights from the most current edition.

Complete coverage, including The Insider and all information columns, is available in the e-edition. Sign up now.

   SPECIAL SIGNATURES: Nearly two months after a special meeting discussing the potential mayoral recall closed without discussion due a lack of quorum, Miami-Dade officials are working to assure that history does not repeat itself. The Internal Management & Fiscal Responsibility Committee forwarded Tuesday to the full commission an item that would amend the county charter to provide that commission signatures calling for a special meeting signify intent to attend.
   STRIKE THREE: A month after his deadline to renegotiate Marlins Stadium contract terms has passed, Mayor Carlos Alvarez has honored the Miami-Dade County Commission's request to provide an update on the status of discussions. According to a report issued by County Manager George Burgess on Monday, the Florida Marlins did not agree to re-open stadium contracts. In a Dec. 7 statement, Marlins President David Samson said, "We see no legal or other basis to renegotiate or open any of these fair and heavily negotiated agreements."
   VISIT MIAMI: Miami-Dade County resort tax collections, which exclude Bal Harbour, Miami Beach and Surfside, rose 27.3% in December to $1.727 million compared to December 2009's $1.356 million. In addition, collections of the convention development tax, which is a 3% tax on any living quarter utilized six months or less, also climbed 18.3% year over year to $4.803 million from $4.059 million in December 2009. Collections for the county's food and beverage tax, which is a 2% tax on food and beverage purchases on a hotel property, saw the largest increase in December to $562,647 from December 2009's $427,024, a 31.8% rise.
   TROLLEY FUNDS: Miami will have $313,625 more in state funds to spend on its Health District trolley should commissioners approve the allocation today (2/10). Those funds will total the state's contribution to $852,185. The city would also be required to match the $313,625, which it plans to do with transit surtax funds.
   RAIL RIDERS: Tri-Rail's year-over-year total ridership dropped 1.1% in December to 294,951 passengers from 298,377 in December 2009, according to reports from Veolia Transportation. Workday ridership increased slightly to 258,953 riders from December 2009's 257,189, a 0.7% rise. Sunday ridership dropped 6.2% year over year to 16,845 from 17,965. Saturdays saw the largest Tri-Rail ridership decline with 15,782 in December compared to December 2009's 20,400, a 22.6% fall.

   Complete coverage, including The Insider and all information columns, is available in the e-edition. Sign up at www.miamitodaynews.com

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