Bill Filed To Cut Lease Tax

Fort Myers Rep. Fitzenhagen seeks to cut lease tax

The News Service of Florida 11:19 a.m. EDT September 28, 2015

Describing the proposal as a "common-sense approach," a House Republican has filed a bill that would reduce a controversial tax on commercial leases.

The bill (HB 247), filed Friday by Rep. Heather Fitzenhagen, R-Fort Myers, is similar to a measure (SB 116) filed last month by Senate Finance and Tax Chairwoman Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange. The bills, which will be considered during the 2016 legislative session, would reduce the commercial-lease tax rate from 6 percent to 5 percent as of Jan. 1, 2017.

Some business groups have lobbied to eliminate the tax, which they argue is unique to Florida. "It's an utter embarrassment that the state of Florida is the only state in the union to still have a sales tax on commercial real-estate leases,'' Fitzenhagen said in a prepared statement. "This tax is a burden to hundreds of thousands of small business owners across the state of Florida and a deterrent to those businesses who desire to bring jobs and financial prosperity to the state. That's why we need to pass this common-sense approach of slashing the archaic and unnecessary tax, piece by piece."

Rep. Larry Ahern, R-Seminole, also has filed a bill (HB 215) that would gradually increase exemptions before fully repealing the lease tax in January 2025.

10 Trends Occurring in the Collier Dental Space Market by Dr. Jay Crandall

Article just published in the CCDA September 2015 newsletter:

10 Trends Occurring in the Collier Dental Space Market 

by Dr. Jay Crandall 

When asking the hockey great Wayne Gretzky how he always seemed to be at the right place at the right time, he re-sponded that he just skated to where the puck was going. Similarly, it is often more important to know where the commercial real estate market is going (trends) than where it was (comparables). 

For dentists looking to acquire or dispose of space, the importance of current and relevant information cannot be under-estimated. No different than practicing dentistry, one wants to be surrounded by a great team who is working with the best in-formation available. 

Ten Current Trends In Collier County 

1. The Commercial Markets are following the Residential Markets – Yes, the single-family home permits are on the rise but the bigger story is occurring in more dense residential growth – the geometric rise in Apartments and Assisted Living Facilities.

2. Dentists Coming Out of Retirement – There has been an increase of dentists in their 60’s starting new practices. Some because their investments have under-performed, some miss treating patients, and others in order to serve specialized populations in need. 

3. Cost of Constructing a Dental Office on the Rise – Naturally, digital equipment and the cost of the “latest and greatest” dental equipment/supplies comes with a price tag. What many don’t realize is that the actual hard and soft costs are on the rise. Trenching for a dental office has more than doubled in the last five years. Some offices are using $200.00/sq.ft. or more for their build-out budgets. 

4. Costs of Dental Rents/Purchases are on the Rise – Commercial Real Estate is being absorbed as this market rebounds from the recession. The rate of Commercial Construction has been limited relative to residential construction thus creat-ing an imbalance of the supply and demand. 

5. Barrier to Entry – As absorption occurs, landlords are raising rental rates. Raising rental rates leads to higher valua-tions. This is a great thing for existing practices but makes it tougher by the day for start-up practices. 

6. Accessibility (Main Road) and Exposure (Signage) are Huge – With the greatest increases in the population occurring in the aging Boomer base as well as a growing Millennial demographic, both looking for the timely delivery of ser-vices, dentists are focusing on making sure that patients can easily locate their practices. They are also putting more weight as to the ease of disposition when it comes to their locations. 

7. Retail Centers are Fast Becoming the Most Cost Effective Locations for a New Practice – The time it takes to build a patient base and the cost of marketing a new practice is a big investment. New practitioners need the best location possible in order to get the practice profitable as quickly as possible. 

8. Stand-Alone Dental Offices are Becoming a Rare Commodity – There remain very few stand-alone dental offices . . . with most offices now being built in retail centers or Medical Office Buildings (MOB). 

9. Sole Doctor and Corporate Dentistry is the Trend for Practices in the Future – The ideal dental spaces being ab-sorbed are approximately in the 2,000 sq. space range for sole practitioners and in the 3,500 sq. range for franchisors. Depending on the location of the practice, rents are ranging from $15.00 NNN – $30.00 NNN. 

10. Dentists are Leaving Money on the Table – It is not unusual for dentists to call us post-transaction: having done a deal themselves or hired a realtor with no previous dental office experience, or with problems they are having with a landlord or transaction. Seek advice from professionals who know and understand dentistry and the local commercial real estate market. 


While no one can ever know exactly what the future holds, assemble the best team with the best information . . . and your chances are high that Collier County is going to remain a great place to practice dentistry for years to come.