The Florida Price Level Index (FPLI), established by the Legislature as the basis for the District Cost Differential (DCD) in the Florida Education Finance Program, is used to represent the costs of hiring equally qualified personnel across school districts.
This brief includes a county FPLI comparison table of past years and a review of the FPLI methodology.
Hurricane Andrew was not the deadliest storm ever to strike South Florida. It was not the costliest, even though the damage estimate of $45 billion in today's dollars puts it very near the top.
The population in Lee and Collier counties is estimated to have increased since 2010, likely due to an increase in baby boomers looking for second homes, retirees moving to Florida, people taking advantage of lower housing prices and a slightly stronger job outlook.
The population is estimated to have grown 3.1 percent in Lee County and 2.6 percent in Collier County from 2010 to 2012, according to census data and preliminary population estimates from the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida.
The number of Floridians on food stamps continues to hit record numbers -- with South Florida having an increase of more than 1.5 percent in May, said a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Children & Families that oversees the federal food program.
The number of serious violent and property crimes -- or at least the ones tracked by state and federal law enforcement -- dropped slightly in Alachua County from 2010 to 2011, while the Gainesville Police Department's load of such cases dropped by more than 9 percent, according to data released this week.
A growing number of couples are acquiring living room furniture rather than wedding rings, as the traditional household headed by married spouses continues its retreat.
In Broward County, the number of unmarried couples living together rose by 24 percent in the past decade, from 41,638 to 51,644, new Census numbers show. They make up 7.5 percent of all households.
An unexpected outgrowth of the worst recession in 70 years: Sarasota has quietly become more cosmopolitan.
While hard times discouraged Midwesterners and New Englanders from moving here, more Peruvians, Italians, Brazilians, Ukranians and many others made the Gulf Coast home.
