FYI Miami: March 28, 2019

Below are some of the FYIs in this week’s edition. The entire content of this week’s FYIs and Insider sections is available by subscription only. To subscribe click here.

GAS GOING UP: Miami gasoline prices at the pump rose 0.7 cents per gallon in the week ended Monday to average $2.68 per gallon, up 26.7 cents per gallon in a month, GasBuddy price tracking service reported. AAA – the Auto Club Group forecast that prices would rise another 10 cents per gallon this week across Florida, predicting the price would peak somewhere between May 5 and Memorial Day. The lowest price per gallon in Miami was at a station charging $2.35 a gallon, GasBuddy said, while the most expensive was $3.59.

NEW NET OFFICE: A new Neighborhood Enhancement Team (NET) office will operate at 1897 NW 20th St., as part of an agreement in which Miami-Dade County leases office space at 970 SW First St., the Manuel Artime Community Center, a city-owned facility. The Miami city commission approved two resolutions authorizing the city manager to execute leases between the city and county. A background memo says the city owns the Manuel Artime Community Center, where the county will lease 4,810 square feet of offices for operation of social service programs run by the Miami-Dade County Community Action and Human Services Department. The city says its NET offices strive to raise the quality of life in Miami neighborhoods by providing resources, as well as information, serving as the primary link to city government. Details: www.miamigov.com/nets

BIG CITY CIRCULATOR RIDERSHIP: Ridership on municipal circulators like shuttles and trolleys reached an all-time high of 13 million in fiscal 2018 – 22% over the year prior, according to the Miami-Dade Transportation Planning Organization, which listed Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Doral and North Miami as the five highest-ridership cities in the county. Twenty-seven of the county’s 34 municipalities now operate trolley or shuttle services, which are funded by the more than 20% cut cities get of the “half-penny” tax voters approved in 2002 to expand transportation options across the county.

MIAMI LAKES BONDS BACKED: Miami Lakes has gotten a rating of AA+ on $7.3 million in bonds that it issued in 2010 for its Government Center project. Ratings agency Fitch Ratings notes that “the town irrevocably pledges its electric utility tax revenue… for repayment of the bonds.” That electric utility tax rate is 10% of electricity purchases, the highest the law allows, Fitch says. The town, incorporated in 2000, encompasses 6.8 square miles with a 2015 census population estimate of 31,087, up 6% from 2010, Fitch says. The agency says it expects the revenues from the electric utility tax “to rise at a slow pace generally in line with inflation, aided by growth in population and continued development.”