Changes Continue for Conservation Collier Ordinance

Collier County Commissioners unanimously approved an ordinance on Tuesday reiterating their power to use Conservation Collier funds for other expenses. 

The change is not popular among residents and voters. The Commission voted in fall 2023 to take as much as $60 million from the Conservation Collier Trust Funds that had accumulated due to a tax that voters approved specifically for purchasing conservation land.

“When they took the funds previously, they said it was a one-time event,” said resident Gaylene Vasaturo.

“It truly should be an extraordinary circumstance or an emergency,” Vasaturo added.

The amendments to the Conservation Collier ordinance include measures expediting the process of acquiring conservation land and explicitly allowing Commissioners to approve the sale of Conservation Collier land, among other changes. 

The ordinance is likely to be amended again in the near future in order to allow for County retention of development rights and transfer of development credits to the County upon purchase of Conservation Collier land, which will require amending the Growth Management Plan and garnering State approval, said Jamie French, head of Collier’s growth management department.

Commissioner Chris Hall has said he approved using $53 million in Conservation Collier funds last fall for other general expenses to give taxpayers a break. His decision echoed that of the board with the exception of Commissioner Burt Saunders, who had voted against taking the money.

The Commission has yet to decide if returning the funds will require yet another tax or continued tax; whether it will be returned to Conservation Collier when FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, reimburses the County for Hurricane Ian recovery; or, if as Audubon Florida policy official Brad Cornell suggested, the County will choose to keep the money that is currently in the Conservation Collier Trust Fund with at least $38 million remaining there. 

In addition to residents’ previous ballot votes, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, League of Women Voters and dozens of residents have spoken publicly about their opposition to using Conservation Collier money for any purpose other than conservation. And, if there is a true emergency, such as occurred following Hurricanes Irma and Ian, then the money should be returned promptly, they have said. 

Cornell suggested adding an amendment to the ordinance that Conservation Collier money could only be used for non-conservation purposes if there was a local, state or federal declared emergency. Commissioners preferred to choose how to use the Conservation Collier money without such restriction, per their discussion and votes on the ordinance amendments Tuesday.

The most contentious part of the ordinance amendments are those that explicitly give rights that the Commission is arguing they already have— to sell Conservation Collier land, to retain development rights and to use the money elsewhere. 

Most of Cornell’s suggestions to soften the blow of these amendments didn’t garner support. He warned these revisions give the impression that the Commission does not support Conservation Collier which will then prevent participation from land sellers as well as voters, and thus voter approval of tax payments, in the future. People are losing their trust in the Commission, they have said. 

“It’s obvious this came forward because people have sour grapes over what happened last year,” said Commissioner Hall. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you can have control or you can have growth, but you can’t have both,” said Hall of suggestions to restrict future use of Conservation Collier money to conservation uses.

Commissioners and public speakers also disagreed about whether Conservation Collier funds were meant to be spent quickly or meant to be saved should a large parcel of land worthy of conservation become available in the future.

“One of things lost in all this discussion is that the biggest problem we had over Conservation Collier the past two years was we were putting money in the fund and it was not being spent as quickly or as soon as it should have been,” said Collier County Commissioner Rick LoCastro. 

We had $60 million collected and only $5 million spent in a two year period, LoCastro said.

“This wasn’t about stealing money,” said LoCastro. “It was about money sitting dusty,” he said.

Saunders has suggested collecting large sums can be helpful to acquire larger tracts of land, which have particular conservation effects. Several people have agreed. 

“We need available deep reserves for unexpected conservation opportunities,” said Naples resident Gordon Brumwell. 

“Finally, please restore any monies borrowed,” Brumwell said. “We are behind on purchases that could make Collier County a great place to live,” he said. 

In 2020, approximately 77 percent of voters in Collier County voted to be taxed specifically for the acquisition of conservation land to be maintained by the county government forever in Conservation Collier. It was the third time voters approved to tax themselves for this specific purpose in the past 20 years. Voters approved the Conservation Collier ad valorem millage rate of up to 0.25 mills or $25 per $100,000 of taxable property value paid each year.

The ordinance allows Commissioners to adjust the tax rate annually up to that amount. 

The Commission will review approximately $20 million in potential Conservation Collier land purchases at a meeting scheduled April 23, French said. These are likely to include at least three potential properties on Marco Island which could replace a last-minute back out by a seller of an approved Marco Island Conservation Collier purchase in late 2023.