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BOCA BEACON (Florida) 24 February 06 Janes: Beacon wrong on Iguana Tax
(The following is a letter sent to a Boca Grande resident by County Commissioner Bob Janes in response to the islander's email opposing the Iguana Tax).
Thank you for sharing your comments with me. However, I, along with a majority of citizens in Boca Grande, strongly disagree with the Boca Beacon weekly on this issue. I would be happy to work with the Boca Beacon if they would like to come up with some real solutions to solving this problem, but to date they have not.
Let me explain that the iguana problem is not a Lee County problem as suggested in the Boca Beacon. As on the flip side, the Captiva Erosion Prevention issue is not a Boca Grande problem and therefore, we are not asking you to pay for their beach renourishment project or their street lighting district, etc. The overabundance of the black spiny-tailed iguana is a Boca Grande problem.
It was Boca Grande residents that first brought the black spiny-tailed iguana to Boca Grande. It is the only location where they have been cited in Lee County. These animals are not native to the Florida ecosystem but, were brought to Boca Grande as pets and eventually released when the owner grew bored. It is a community problem. Boca Grande citizens have been seeking help for years with this problem with the state and federal governments.
After exhausting those avenues, I asked my colleagues if we could assist the citizens with this problem. As you may not be aware, iguanas have no known predator and are aggressive animals. They are harmful to the environment and to other endangered species.
When we first started looking at this problem the population was approximately 2,000. That number has now grown to 10,000. Female iguanas reproduce three times a year. Some large females can give birth up to 80 iguanas at one time. Dr. Jerome Jackson, a professor at Florida Gulf Coast University, Scott Trebatoski, director of Lee County Animal Services, Pete Winton, assistant county manager, and I met with citizens last week (note that this email was sent a few days ago, although the meeting was in January) in Boca Grande. Approximately 150 local citizens attending the meeting agreed that it was time to deal with this issue. It was determined that Dr. Jackson would assist in the removal of this invasive exotic specie. The current Gasparilla Lighting District MSTU would be amended to include the cost for the removal and control of this specie on Boca Grande.
The cost would depend on the committee's decision on how to contain this problem. The committee will be made up of Boca Grande citizens. The board will review this issue and a public hearing will be scheduled for input at a later date.
In closing, the removal of these animals are not a core level of service provided to the entire county such as law enforcement, transportation, parks and recreation, libraries, but is specific to your community.
In addition, contrary to what some citizens may think Lee County is not responsible for pest control. We do provide a core level of service for animal control service throughout Lee County.
However, this service is specific to domestic animals (cats and dogs) not wildlife or invasive exotic species.
Therefore, the Gasparilla Street Lighting MSTU District will be amended (emphasis added) to include "Invasive Exotic Animal Species Control and Removal."
(Bob Janes is a Lee County Commissioner.)
Beacon wrong on Iguana Tax

BOCA BEACON (Boca Grande, Florida) 03 March 06 Opposition to Iguana Tax grows
As the Tuesday, March 14 public hearing on a proposed Boca Grande iguana control taxing district approaches, island residents have continued to shower the Lee County commissioners with emails opposing the plan. In addition, a motor coach chartered by an island resident to provide Boca Grande residents with free transportation to the hearing is more than half full.
The bus will leave at 2:30 p.m. from the public parking lot on West Fifth Street just north of the Gasparilla Inn Beach Club.
County officials said this week that those wishing to speak at the hearing will be asked to fill out "comment cards." (See related commentary on PAGE 5.)
The departure time for the bus is designed to allow residents to arrive in Fort Myers in advance of the 5 p.m. start time for the hearing - and provide time for the cards to be filled out.
For the past few weeks, visitors to the Boca Beacon's website, BocaBeacon.com, have been sending emails to the county commissioners concerning the iguana issue.
Here is a sampling of these emails. The writers' names have been withheld, but the emails, because they were sent to the county commissioners, are pubic record:
The total tax bill for Boca Grande (or even just the county's portion) exceeds the cost of services provided by a large factor. $300,000 for four or five years to get rid of the iguanas is a drop in the bucket ... just authorize the expenditure and let's get on with it.
We are strongly opposed to the creation of the Gasparilla Island Municipal Service Taxing Unit to provide street lighting and invasive exotic animal species control. We pay taxes in excess of $20,000 per year. If you allocate five percent of those taxes to this problem, along with five percent of the taxes of our neighbors, you will have more than sufficient funds to control the invasive species and provide street lighting in Boca Grande. So, in fact, Boca Grande residents would be paying for the iguana removal. Clearly the residents of Boca Grande are providing a large portion of the taxes that Lee County collects. It is time that Lee County provide services for the taxes we pay.
We are tired of being taxed with more than 90 percent of our tax dollars leaving the island. Now that Lee County, which we are in, has an iguana problem, the county thinks there should be a special tax for just Boca Grande. This is just another misappropriation of our tax dollars. I wonder how many Boca Grande residents shower at that new Lehigh Acres recreation complex that our tax dollars helped pay for. So tell us why we must pay for this ourselves? We could just capture a couple of these adorable creatures and drop them in the center of Fort Myers. Then, I guess it would be everyone's problem.
I wonder how many resident taxpayers of Gasparilla Island are in favor of the proposed tax for eradicating the Iguanas? I wonder what the outcome would be if a poll were to be taken here on the Island instead of having to take the time and trouble to make the trip to Fort Myers? I also wonder what it would take to secede from Lee County and govern ourselves? That would certainly get the attention of quite a few on the mainland who contend that our tax dollars are not enough and want more to take care of a "local" problem. Do our tax dollars take care of problems that occur "off" island and are not any concern to us? The people who raised their hands in support of a $1 household payment when this was originally being discussed were misled like lambs going to slaughter. This Island is a jewel sitting out here and it gets more precious each year. If you plan to make the trip to Fort Myers for the hearing on this, make sure that your voice is heard loud and clear especially over the GICIA members. This is an unfair proposition and needs to be addressed. Do the county commissioners think that we don't vote?
No! No! No iguana tax. You have got to be kidding! Boca Grande is a cash cow for Lee County, but gets zippo in return. Enough is enough!
I have been a "year-round" resident for 15 years and have seen the devastation these rodents have caused. How dare you tax us. It is Lee County's problem, so do what we elected you to do, and don't try and sneak an Iguana Tax in on us. I'm tired of your hollow words. We should be helped by you, Mr. Janes, not hindered. It's time you and the other board of commissioners step up to the plate and take responsibility on this issue. If you tax us, you just lost my vote.
I've been a resident of Boca Grande for 40 years or so. Why the GICIA, a conservation group (?) is calling for the eradication of an entire species is puzzling. Conservation of what? Some residents consider killing iguanas a competitive sport. Remember Commissioner, there were only about 150 hands raised at the Community Center for yet another tax. Most of them couldn't vote for any tax because they vote in other states. I object to a small homeowner group attempting to become the pretenders to the throne and compose self absorbed laws. Odd how most complaints about iguanas stop after Easter isn't it?
Mr Janes, before you try to impose a tax, come up with a plan. The lizards outnumber the residents. We lose. And it's the rats that are the problem, probably caused the condo fire in Charlotte County. Speaking of Charlotte County, a lot of the lizards reside in Charlotte County. My plan is this: Encourage the residents to purchase Have-a-Heart traps, trap the lizards and have a number to call for someone to come and dispatch the lizard. Let the island figure out the details - not the county.
As a Lee County taxpayer, I believe that property taxes in Boca Grande are already disproportionately high when compared to other county communities. Boca Grande's iguana problem is a Lee County problem and I oppose any new taxes on Boca Grande residents. All Lee County taxpayers should share in the cost of bringing the county's iguana population under control.
There is no need for a tax and a bureaucratic solution to the iguana problem. Just implement a two-week open season in late August or early September with a bounty of $1 for each iguana. I'd rather pay the bounty than contribute tax dollars to a new, uniformed Lee County Varmint Control Engineer tasked with capturing and rehabilitating wayward iguanas. An annual best iguana recipe contest could be instructive and nutritious. If we need a tax to get rid of the iguanas, take it from all the services we pay for and do not currently receive.
Here is just one more example that if Gasparilla Island were independent and incorporated under Gasparilla County instead of Lee and Charlotte we would be able to determine for ourselves the appropriate course of action. We are already far overtaxed for services received. I hope the Lee County commissioners take note and determine the iguana problem is the entire county's problem not just Gasparilla Island. I say no to the iguana tax.
I'm frustrated with Commissioner Janes' proposal to install a tax to deal with the supposed iguana problem. Boca Grande residents pay taxes much greater than the support from Lee and Charlotte counties. If this is the vision of our politicians, I believe we must investigate the process of separating Boca Grande from Lee and Charlotte counties.
You politicians have been sucking millions and millions of dollars out of Boca Grande for years with little or no money coming back to our community that I am aware of. To suggest we taxpayers now pay more in the form of an "iguana tax" is not only insulting, it shows a total disregard for how government should work
There is no doubt that it is grossly unfair to expect Boca Grande taxpayers to meet the cost of iguana control on their own. However, the real reason they take this position is that they know that Boca Grande residents will refuse to agree to such taxes, which in turn will excuse them from attempting an eradication or control program which is doomed to failure thereby incurring the blame for such failure. Effective control is ongoing and can only be carried out by the residents themselves. A small bounty should be paid per head. Meanwhile I have found that tethered, modified rat traps baited with melon or tomato together with the occasional long range shot with an air rifle helps to stem the tide.
Our property taxes have more than doubled since we purchased our property on Boca Grande in 1996. Situations like ours must have been a huge windfall for Lee County, and we certainly don't get twice the value in county government services. The average property tax in Lee County per the 2005 budget is slightly less than $1,000 per person; ours is $6,000 per person.
There are probably areas of Lee County that get many types of services that are not received nor required by Boca Grande, but our taxes help pay for them. That's sort of the idea of property taxes; i.e., you don't pay for the specific services delivered to your neighborhood, but share in the greater pool.
I believe it is fiscally irresponsible (although a current worrisome trend) to sidestep equitable taxing principles by invoking "user fees" or "special use taxes" like, for example, something as absurd as an "iguana tax."
In case it hasn't been obvious by now, we strongly oppose an "iguana tax." We pay much more than our fair share of county expenses already, and it certainly must be the county's responsibility to deal with the control of potential public health hazards, even though they happen to currently be on only one small island.
By the way, in keeping with the principle of "payment from only those who get the service" (ala: the iguana tax), it seems only right that those Boca Grande residents not concerned about iguanas should have the option of not participating in the tax.
We think you should leave the iguanas alone. Man's intervention has already made a mess of this issue. If our island becomes known for being a place where animal slaughter is a public issue, then we are really going to look sad and stupid. If you put any tax on for iguanas it had better be countywide. Further, in over 15 years as a visitor and over two as a resident, it doesn't appear to us that the numbers have gone up. If you want to do something reasonable, do some research to find a substance that will repel them from the houses they bother. No killing, no bad image and no aggravation.
Opposition to Iguana Tax grows