WEEk OF OCTOBER 4, 2023
VOLUME 61, NUMBER 46
City council approves final budget, mills By TIFFANY REPECKI
trepecki@breezenewspapers.com
The Sanibel City Council adopted the final millage rate and budget for fiscal year 2023-24 during its second and final budget hearing last week. On Sept. 27, it voted unanimously 5-0 to approve an operating rate of 2.500 mills, which exceeds the rolled-back rate of 1.7333 by 44.2%, but it is lower than the maximum rate set earlier of 2.9598. Included within the millage rate resolution, the council approved the voted debt service millage rates, including 0.0624 mills for the tentative sewer and 0.1305 mills for the tentative recreation center. The council also voted 5-0 to approve a final budget of $182,278,937 for the new year. The Lee County Property Appraiser’s Office certified that the gross taxable value for operating and budgeting purposes not exempt from taxation within the city of Sanibel as $4,217,281,792. See COUNCIL, page 21
Refuge opens annual photo contest for high schoolers
T
he 11th annual “Ding” Darling-Theodore Cross High School Photography Contest has kicked off with a deadline of Jan. 15. It invites high school students in Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Glades and Hendry counties to compete for prizes that include a Canon digital SLR camera package, oneyear subscription to Adobe photography software and an annual pass to the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel.
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Cross, who lived part-time on Sanibel, marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; advised the Johnson and Nixon administrations on anti-poverty programs; wrote the influential book “Black Capitalism,” among others; played a prominent role in See REFUGE PHOTO CONTEST, page 21 Chase Qurollo, of Cape Coral High School, won first place in last year's contest with “Nature's Bandit.” CHASE QUROLLO
CROW breaks ground on outdoor rehabilitation enclosures On Sept. 26, the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife on Sanibel held a groundbreaking ceremony for six, new outdoor enclosures. They will replace the ones completely lost during Hurricane Ian. CROW returned to its Sanibel campus in March, resuming regular hours in the poststorm renovated hospital space. However, it is unable to operate at full capacity due to the rehabilitation enclosures. Once the new structures are completed, pelicans, shorebirds, songbirds and large raptors will again be able to recover at the campus before being released to the wild. See CROW, page 22
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CLINIC FOR THE REHABILITATION OF WILDLIFE
The Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife on Sanibel held a groundbreaking ceremony on Sept. 26 for its new outdoor enclosures for patients, which will replace the ones lost in Hurricane Ian.
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