Should Golden Gate Estates get recognized as a new town? Residents are divided as some desire greater control.
Making Golden Gate Estates its own town with its own laws has been challenging and contentious, according to a recent article by Laura Layden of Naples Daily News
With petitions circulating in favor of and against incorporation as part of a frenzied drive to have it on the ballot in 2024, the topic could soon be put to a vote after years of discussion and study.
A community group called Save the Estates is fighting for a town. The Golden Gate Estates Area Civic Association gave rise to it.
Why is there a push for incorporation? Whom you ask and which party they support will determine that.
Both sides accuse one another of spreading false information and intimidation.
There is a perception among supporters that the Collier County government, which makes choices for them and around them, does not fully reflect Golden Gates Estates and frequently ignores them.
They demand better cell phone coverage, infrastructure, and municipal services for members of the working class because they are concerned about overdevelopment, traffic congestion, and pedestrian safety.
They want to protect their rural way of life and “oasis” against the impending expansion to the east, which includes a new town and several additional villages off Oil Well Road that the county has permitted since 2020.
“We currently live in a mature community. The neighborhood is beginning to feel that the county commission does not take us seriously because we are not incorporated,” according to Aaron Zwiefel, co-chair of Save the Estates and vice president of the civic organization.
He asserted that as a town, the Estates would have a more powerful, unified voice and greater control over its finances, particularly how its tax money is used.
“We are not receiving the money that we invested in the county,” Zwiefel continued.
Opponents
“A disaster in the making,” say the opponents.
Nadine Eubanks, a local, has a very different perspective.
She believes incorporation will cause more harm than good. She filed a petition against it on change.org because of this, and it has received more than 400 signatures so far.
She claims in her introduction to the petition that “a small group is attempting to incorporate Golden Gate Estates. This is going to be a catastrophe. Do research. Under the appearance of self-government, incorporation only increases your taxes. But all it amounts to is more government, more money, and more control. What it comes down to is more taxes and fewer services.”
Save the Estates started circulating a petition in favor of incorporation.
Jill Rosenfeld, co-chair of Save the Estates and treasurer of the civic organization, declined to say how many signatures were collected but said there were enough to advance the cause when asked.
“We’re doing great,” she said.
She recognized that the incorporation debate has polarized the neighborhood, making it difficult to gauge the degree of support because some individuals are reluctant to share their opinions or even pose questions out of concern for “attacks” on their person.
Before determining whether to sponsor a bill in favor of incorporation, which is necessary to move it, state representative Laura Melo of Naples requested a petition in order to gauge support.
Feasibility
One of the first things the state demands of regions thinking about incorporation is a feasibility assessment. The analysis must demonstrate the proposed town’s or city’s financial viability.
Incorporation is possible, according to a study for Golden Gate Estates that was most recently revised in July. To acquire a share of the county’s fuel taxes and state sales and use taxes, which would be one of the town’s main sources of income, would necessitate an increase in property taxes.
The region might have gotten between $4.2 million and $5.2 million in state taxes through revenue sharing last year if it were a separate town.
A town or city must have a property tax rate of 3 mills in order to take part in revenue sharing. For every $1,000 of assessed value, there is one mill of tax.
Estates residents now pay less than a mill for municipal services from the county (with a millage rate of 0.8069) as part of the broader unincorporated area. Following incorporation, they would pay 1.5 mills, bringing their total payment to the Greater Naples Fire District to 3 mills, satisfying the need for revenue sharing.
“It would be kind of foolish not to raise the tax rate because you would be foregoing a lot of other revenue that you could get, if you don’t do that,” said Steven Bourassa, the feasibility study’s author.
The trickiest element of the analysis, according to Bourassa, head of Florida Atlantic University’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning, was determining how much money the municipality might expect to bring in through property taxes. He predicted that the taxes may be collected in the first year for as little as $5.05 million or as much as $5.7 million.
A town or city must have a property tax rate of 3 mills in order to take part in revenue sharing. For every $1,000 of assessed value, there is one mill of tax.
Estates residents now pay less than a mill for municipal services from the county (with a millage rate of 0.8069) as part of the broader unincorporated area. Following incorporation, they would pay 1.5 mills, bringing their total payment to the Greater Naples Fire District to 3 mills, satisfying the need for revenue sharing.
“It would be kind of foolish not to raise the tax rate because you would be foregoing a lot of other revenue that you could get, if you don’t do that,” said Steven Bourassa, the feasibility study’s author.
The trickiest element of the analysis, according to Bourassa, head of Florida Atlantic University’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning, was determining how much money the municipality might expect to bring in through property taxes. He predicted that the taxes may be collected in the first year for as little as $5.05 million or as much as $5.7 million.
He projected total revenue between $13.3 million and $16.1 million by the fiscal year 2026. With a small workforce and the county or outside contractors continuing to deliver some of the town’s most important functions, he initially anticipates administrative costs to be less than $1.47 million.
In fact, based on revenues and expenses, there will be a sizable surplus, according to Bourassa.
With property values rising over the past year, the anticipated surplus has increased since the original analysis. That enhances its appeal in the eyes of supporters.
It looks great, Zwiefel remarked. The community would be shielded from the effects of municipalities to our east in the future because the figures truly make sense.
A release is necessary to incorporate
The area meets three out of the four requirements to become a town.
Supporters ask the state for a waiver because the density requirement isn’t met.
The average population required by state law to incorporate is 1.5 people per acre, while the Estates’ density is far lower at 0.63 people per acre. The neighborhood is anticipated to have more than 54,000 residents when it is fully developed, with a population density of roughly 1 person per acre.
Supporters hope the state will consider the waiver to be appropriate. It has already been given, most recently to Indiantown in Martin County, which incorporated in 2017 and has 6,000 residents.
The goal of our incorporation, according to Rosenfeld, is to maintain our low density. “To maintain the current state of the entire residential area.”
She pointed out that the region, which is primarily residential, is currently around 55% built out.
The region has 23,900 lots totaling 53,500 acres, the majority of which are occupied by or intended for single-family houses.
A tax increase is required.
In exchange for having more influence over local choices like zoning, land use, and planning, residents would typically pay less than $200 more in property taxes in the first year of the town’s existence, according to Rosenfeld.
We are attempting to solve the local difficulties at this time, she stated. Not in 20 years, please.
According to Rosenfeld, this involves keeping up with neighborhood roadways with the intention of responding proactively rather than reactively to address and stay on top of neighborhood requests and requirements.
We don’t want them to be unable to pay it, she said.
A few years after relocating to the area, in December 2020, Rosenfeld joined the incorporation process. Others have been at it even longer, like Zwiefel.
Try to make a “personal deal”
“We have spent a lot of time on it. We wanted to be absolutely certain that it was. It’d be possible, therefore. We didn’t want to endanger the neighborhood, he continued.
The group promoting incorporation as well as the feasibility study are not seen favorably by opponents. That includes longtime resident Mark Teeters, who said that the civic organization had rejected the concept in the past—under different leadership—many years before this most recent attempt.
He portrayed the most recent attempt as a “personal deal,” with the leadership of the civic organization dissatisfied with recent county commission moves, particularly those of Bill McDaniel, who represents Golden Gate Estates.
They no longer want anything to do with him, according to Teeters, and they don’t like him.
He views the endeavor as pointless and does not want to pay more taxes or deal with what he perceives to be merely an additional layer of the government, which would be of no use to him.
Everyone is going to suffer here in the end, he remarked. There are those with meager salaries.
The opposing viewpoint contends that inhabitants should have the opportunity to cast a vote on incorporation before it is implemented.
Everyone has the right to cast a ballot, according to Zwiefel. “The right to vote on the direction of the community is all we are asking for.”
Supporters expect to receive approval to proceed and a promise from Rep. Melo to sponsor the bill required to do so when they go before the Collier County legislative delegation in September. In November 2024, they intend to put a referendum before the people.
The original article can be found on Naples Daily News