Calls to the National Domestic Violence Hotline were up about 35% in 2018 vs the previous year. The hotline’s CEO says that this isn’t a bad thing, but a symptom of a good thing. She doesn’t think that there is more domestic violence happening; rather social movements against, and news stories of, domestic violence are helping encourage people to speak out and seek help.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition released an interesting, and very easy to navigate, report on rental prices for 2 bedroom homes across the nation. Their report is broken down by state and county. Alachua County’s is $950 which means that someone would have to make just over $18 an hour -40 hours a week- for their rent to be 30% of their income. Gilchrist is about the same as Alachua, Bradford is $700 and just over $13 an hour, Columbia is $800 and about $15.50 an hour. The harsh reality of the situation is that the average renter is making quite a few dollars less an hour then what they need, and some counties have it worse than others.
If you are running an Airbnb in Alachua County, the tax man wants his money. There is a 5% Tourist Development Tax attached to day-by-day rental agreements, and these broker companies don’t automatically deduct the taxes.
