District 3 Newsletter - Republican Men's Club of Collier County

Welcome to District 3
On April 27, at our regularly scheduled commission meeting, the County Commission unanimously voted to initiate negotiations with Club Corp for the development of a 12-hole golf course and family entertainment and dining facility at the old Golden Gate golf course. It is the stated goal of the County Commission to have appropriate agreements ready for the Commission to consider at our meeting on May 25.

Greens Fees for County residents will be set by the Collier County Commission and will be substantially less than fees charged at other public golf courses in the county.

The County Commission purchased the existing Golden Gate Golf course and has endeavored to re-establish public golf on a course to be redesigned for the benefit of all Collier County golfing enthusiasts looking for a great course at an affordable price. If successful in developing this course, this will be the culmination of decades of efforts to bring affordable golf to Collier County as part of the County’s park and recreation program.

Collier County will own and control the course. Club Corp will develop a family entertainment and dining venue as part of the golf course development and will pay substantial concession fees to the County.

Your input is important in all decisions made by the County Commission. Don’t hesitate to call me if you have any questions or concerns about this project.

Thank you for helping to make Collier County a great place to live, work and play.

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Collier County FY 21/22 Budget

Collier County is preparing to review budgetary needs for FY 2022 during the next few months. The annual budget document is considered a single use tactical financial plan which appropriates dollars toward one-year initiatives, activities, and projects in furtherance of longer-term policy objectives. Reserves designated for future asset maintenance and replacement, vehicle and equipment replacement, natural disasters and unforeseen risks are considered critical strategic positions and emphasize the need for careful resource allocation among competing short term and long-term funding priorities.

The economic landscape for the January to December 2020 period ranged from a pre-pandemic thriving economy, to complete economic shutdown, to economic recovery. Prior to the pandemic, Collier County’s economy was thriving with employment at record highs; bell weather industries performing well; median income remaining one of the highest in the State; strong real estate market; robust new construction permitting and; increasing taxable values for the ninth consecutive year.

From March 2020 until May 2020 when the pandemic induced economic shutdown occurred, unemployment skyrocketed when businesses were ordered to close and non-essential personnel remained at home. Local hospitality and restaurant sectors were devastated when tourist visitation to the destination dropped 92% year over year and direct visitor spending dropped 94% from April 2019. There were similar impacts to local government revenues with declines in sales tax revenues, state shared revenues, gas taxes, tourist taxes and local option infrastructure sales taxes.

As we ushered in 2021, all economic indicators point to a continued gradual recovery with employment increasing, aspects of the restaurant and hospitality industry re-opening and local government sales tax, gas tax and state shared revenues stabilizing.

The County’s current General Fund millage rate of $3.5645 has been levied for the past twelve (12) years or since FY 2010. There are no plans to increase that millage rate. Property taxes comprise 67% of total General Fund recurring revenue.

June 24, 2021 Budget Workshop, 9:00 am, BCC Chambers (Televised)
July 13, 2021 Adoption of Tentative Maximum FY 2022 Millage Rates (Televised)
September 9, 2021 Public Hearing Date, 5:05 pm, BCC Chambers (Televised)
September 23, 2021 Public Hearing Date, 5:05 pm, BCC Chambers (Televised)

Board of County Commission Meetings

Second and fourth Tuesdays of each month – The meetings begin at 9:00 a.m. and are broadcast live with closed captioning on Collier Television channel 97/98 and via live streaming at www.colliercountyfl.gov/ctv.

Individuals who would wish to participate in person must complete and submit a speaker form prior to the beginning of the discussion about the item. Individuals who would like to participate remotely must complete and submit the online speaker registration form prior to the beginning of the discussion about the item. The agenda will be available on the Collier County Government website at http://colliercountyfl.iqm2.com/Citizens/default.aspx.

Call for Artists

Collier County continues to display a rotating exhibit of local artists’ and photographers’ work in the Board of County Commissioners Chambers, third floor, Collier County Government Center, 3299 Tamiami Trail E., Naples, Florida.

Artists must be residents of Collier County, at least on a part-time basis. The artwork must be appropriate imagery for a public space and should have a broad appeal to people of all ages, backgrounds and cultures.

Those interested in being considered must submit a brief letter of interest describing their level of expertise, training and experience along with digital images of seven art pieces proposed to display. For more information, please call Aimee Trochessett, Communication and Customer Relations Division at (239) 252-8075.

Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland at Collier Museum at Government Center

For more than 150 years, Coney Island, a strip of sand at the mouth of New York Harbor, has occupied a singular place in the American imagination. From a beginning as a watering hole for the wealthy, through its transformation into an amusement and entertainment mecca for the masses, to its struggle for renewal in recent decades, an extraordinary array of artists have viewed Coney Island as a microcosm of the American experience. The exhibition brings to life the excitement of Coney Island, showing visitors how its magnetic world of attractions has become a touchstone for American mass culture and popular recreation.

Throughout the exhibition, artifacts display how the modern American mass-culture industry was born at Coney Island. The exhibition investigates the rise of American leisure and traces Coney Island’s influence on amusement parks and popular culture throughout the country. Photographs, ephemera, film clips, and hands-on interactives immerse visitors in the experience of Coney Island. The exhibit is open now through May 25, 2021. Hours of the display are Monday – Saturday 9:00 am – 4:00 pm.

When Emergencies Happen in Collier County, We Can’t Alert You if We Can’t Reach You

Collier County encourages all residents to sign up for Alert Collier, the County’s new mass notification system. When you sign up with Alert Collier you can enter up to five addresses within the County boundaries that you would like to receive emergency alerts about. Enter your home, work, relative, school or any other address that’s important to you.

Should an alert be issued for that location, you will receive a notification.
You can sign up with your cell phone to receive calls and/or text messages, your email address(es), home phone, business phone and hearing impaired device. Collier County encourages you to also download the Everbridge Public Safety app (free in the iOS, Android and Windows app stores), this app will allow you to see all public notifications issued across the State and Country by other Everbridge users. Live in Lee county but work in another County? No problem you can receive their emergency alerts just by having the app installed.

So, create a contact on your phone for Alert Collier: the caller ID our alerts will come from is 239-252-8000, and the short code our texts will come from is 89361 and 87844. Save Alert Collier as a contact today!

H O T L I N E
866-779-6121

The best sources for clear information on the pandemic are our state health department or the CDC. The Florida hotline above is staffed 24/7.

Vaccine Report
(updated daily)

Florida Department of Health

Florida COVID-19 Dashboard
(updated daily at mid-day; contains county-specific data)

Centers for Disease Control COVID-19 site

World Health Organization

Our mailing address is:
Collier County Commission District 3
3299 Tamiami Trl E Ste 303
Naples, FL 34112-5746