Florida enacts law helping the super rich — including Ivanka Trump — dodge $10 million fee

Billionaires including Jeff Bezos, Tom Brady, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner will reap unexpected benefits from a newly enacted Florida law. This legislation, quietly tucked into a transportation bill, blocks Surfside’s attempt to charge Indian Creek Village — an exclusive island enclave — $10 million for sewage access, the New York Times reported Monday.

The report noted that Indian Creek, known as the “Billionaire Bunker,” has long relied on outdated septic systems that threaten Biscayne Bay’s fragile ecosystem. With properties fetching astronomical prices — including a vacant lot that recently sold for $110 million — its ultra‑wealthy residents were desperate to switch to municipal sewer lines.

"The village comprises only a few dozen properties on a private, man-made island where a vacant lot recently sold for $110 million. Mr. Bezos has properties on the island. Down the street is the retired N.F.L. superstar Tom Brady. A little farther is President Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, who now sits on Indian Creek’s village council," the report said.

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Under the legislation, Indian Creek can bypass superficial negotiations and send sewage through a half‑mile pipe under Surfside to connect with Bay Harbor Islands’ system. Village attorney Stephen J. Helfman told the Times that testing and preparatory work will start in July.

Originally, Surfside town officials requested a $10 million fee from Indian Creek to offset decades of infrastructure costs. But after Indian Creek lobbied state leaders, the new law now prevents Surfside from imposing such requirements, per the report.

Surfside’s mayor, Charles Burkett, called the legislative workaround “creative” in his comments to the Times, and expressed a desire to be a “good neighbor." But former Surfside mayor Paul Novack criticized the process.

Novack lamented the lack of transparency and said that Indian Creek should have negotiated a fair payment instead of leveraging influence in Tallahassee. “Florida’s government is frequently manipulated by special interests," he told the Times.

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“This is just another day in Tallahassee."