The following are excerpts of a letter from:
The Florida House of Representatives
Government Accountability Committee, Local, Federal and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee
September 25, 2017

to: Joseph M. Mazurkiewicz, Jr., BJM Consulting, Inc.

The study for the proposed municipality in Matlacha-Pine Island appears to comply with 11 of the 22 statutory criteria required for incorporation. The study appears to be deficient in the following areas:

1. . . .clarify the current county zoning designations and present land use characteristics of the proposed area of incorporation.

2. . . .provide a breakdown of current costs for all services provided within the area proposed for incorporation, including law enforcement.

3. . . .provide documentation or other support for the presumed continuation of law enforcement and other services by the County together with cost estimates for each such service.

4. The five year plan does not discuss debt issuance, which may be necessary to finance capital project obligations of the municipality depending on the impact of law enforcement services on the municipal budget, assuming tax rates stated elsewhere in the feasibility study are not increased.

5. the study contends that the Florida Constitution requires the Lee County Sheriff to continue providing the present level of law enforcement services to the newly incorporated area. . . . As such a requirement is not included within . . .the Constitution, please explain this contention.

6. . . .provide additional support and clarification of the financial feasibility of the proposed municipality as well as clarification of the contradictory statements provided in the narrative of the study. (and) clarify why the municipal service taxing units currently created by Lee County are insufficient to meet the area's needs.

7. (a) clarify how two discrete areas joined only by a waterway crossing meet the compact and contiguous requirement of the statute.
(b) provide additional support for the waiver of the population density requirement to incorporate area municipality that ostensibly intends to retain large agricultural areas.
(c) Florida Statutes, requires that any part of the area proposed for incorporation be a minimum of 2 miles from the boundaries of an existing municipality within the county or have an extraordinary natural boundary which requires separate municipal government. . . . explain why an exception to the statute should be made. . .
(d) clarify the necessity of conducting these municipal elections at a time other than the dates for statewide primary or general elections.

8. (. . . if one was adopted.) Clarify whether Lee County has adopted a municipal overlay.