Week of June 12, 2024 FLIER INSIDE
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Volume 48, number 6
Celebrating Pine Islanders: Julia Gaylor By PAULETTE LeBLANC
pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com
Julia Gaylor has ties to Pine Island that span almost the entire duration of her life. She originally moved to Pine Island when she was just 11 years old. She attended Pine Island Middle School for half of her sixth grade year as well as her seventh and eighth grade school years. She is currently the site manager at Jug Creek Marina & Fish House and is currently a member of the Matlacha Hookers organization whee she has been a madam and vice madam, and on the board for nearly a decade. Gaylor admits she appreciated the island more after high school was over. “When I went away to college and then I came back, I started working on the island and I just loved everything
about it. I love the people out here. I’ve done everything from waiting tables to doing books,” Gaylor said. Gaylor said when she was pregnant, she lived in Matlacha, so she had her daughter while living here, and raised her here as well. Having a child on Pine Island, it was easy to get involved in everything related to kids, Gaylor said, explaining her role with F.I.S.H (Fellow Islanders Sending Help) and the Basket Brigade Fundraiser. “That was my favorite thing. The amount of support I received from
that organization when my child was younger was the reason that I became so active and involved in volunteering and helping others,” Gaylor said. The act of supporting one another, she said, is the whole culture of Pine Island, and the reason she continues to find herself enamored with it. Something which, in part, defines her love for the island, she said, was her commitment to helping islanders post Hurricane Ian. For someone who has never heard Julia Gaylor with her mom.
See JULIA GAYLOR, page 17
Preliminary report shows property valuation increase on the islands M/PIFCD figure up 5% over 2023 Staff Report
news@breezenewspapers.com
Manguson and Nelson say farewell to Pine Island Elementary Both teachers retire at end of 2023-24 school year By PAULETTE LeBLANC
pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com
Pine Island Elementary said goodbye to two teachers at the end of the 2023-24 school year. Both Mindy Manguson and Jeff Nelson retired when the year ended. Manguson has been teaching at Pine Island Elementary School since January 1990. Unbeknownst to her when she started at PIE, it would also be the place from where she would retire one day. “My husband’s job brought him over here and a position opened up on Pine Island and I thought, ‘Wow, let me try’ and I got a position. The year I first started here, they were doing the Calusa Indian dig and
I thought, ‘This place has history,’ there’s so much on this little island,” Manguson said. Within the first half of her first year at the school, she said she knew there was nowhere else she wanted to be. After 34 years, she said PIE has become like a second home, complete with an amazing community. See FARWELL, page 17 Jeff Nelson and Mindy Manguson, far right above, prepare for the end of school year parade at Pine Island Elementary. PHOTO PROVIDED
The Lee County Property Appraisers Office last week released its preliminary property tax valuations. Lee County Property Appraiser Matt Caldwell said at the countywide level, higher projected valuations help stabilize tax revenues and so budget for taxing entities. Countywide, there is a little less than a 2% increase in the just value, and an almost 10% increase in the total taxable, Caldwell said. The total just estimate for 2024 is $207,056,218,000, a value change of $3,051,540,686 from the 2023 final roll. The total taxable 9.65% change from the 2023 final roll stands at $132,214,496,000 for 2024. For the Pine Island and Matlacha communities, the Matlacha/Pine Island Fire Control District preliminary property valuations are also up. The 2023 final roll was $2,007,867,634, while the estimate for 2024 is $2,111,820,000, a 5.18% value change of $103,952,366. The school taxable has a 3.86% change from the 2023 final roll. The 2024 estimate is $153,416,714,000, a $5,701,431,125 value change from the 2023 final roll. Property tax increases are capped in Florida, with owner-occupied residential properties receiving the greatest protection if taxing agencies do not adopt a rollback tax rate, the rate at which taxes remain level for exiting properties when valuations soar. Assessed value increases are capped at 3% homeowners with Florida's Homestead Exemption. Annual assessed value increases for those without it are capped at 10%. Caldwell reported that the final numbers on property valuations will be released on July 1.
Cat of the Week...............16 Local Tides......................17 On the Water......................8 insidetoday Dolphin Tales.....................6 Mahjongg Scores............10 Worship Directory.............6 Classifieds & Obituaries