“Indian Rocks: No More Free Parking” This is Something to Think About 02.12.26

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“Indian Rocks: No More Free Parking”

Bill Bunkley’s “This Is Something to Think About”

Air Date Thursday, February 12, 2026

If you are planning a day at the beaches along the Gulf of America, you might want to avoid Indian Rocks Beach.

Why, you ask?

Because soon it will cost you $36 to spend an 8-hour day at the beach.

That’s right. The City of Indian Rocks Beach will require you to pay $4.50 per hour to park in spaces that were previously free.

They want their local visitors to make up a $13 million deficit for stormwater, infrastructure projects left over from Hurricanes Milton & Helene. I guess they didn’t have an adequate rainy-day fund for an area that's subject to hurricanes every year.

I understand incorporating a modest tax. But to go from 0 to $4.50 per hour is ridiculous.

Many can’t afford a hotel, so they commute, especially seniors.

I'm sure they’ll learn to look elsewhere.

Bill Bunkley is a 20-year veteran Salem Media talk show host based in Tampa. The Bill Bunkley Show airs on weekdays from 3 to 5 pm across central Florida. Bill is also President of the Florida Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and the legislative consultant to the Florida Baptist State Convention (Southern Baptist Convention Churches), among other churches and entities. He has served as the legislative consultant to the Florida Baptist State Convention for the last 30 years at the state capitol in Tallahassee. By the Grace of his Lord Jesus, he is a cancer survivor diagnosed in 2018 with AML Leukemia, having successfully undergone a bone marrow transplant that same year. In 2025, he underwent successful open-heart surgery to repair a heart valve. His wife is Toni, his son is Zac, and he attends Idlewild Baptist Church.

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