While the temperatures haven’t dropped significantly, our fall season is certainly here! This month, we have something interesting planned for couples that love pumpkin spice, fall colors, and Halloween. Appointments are now open for couples to get married in the Collier County Courthouse Chapel this Halloween. The Chapel will be decorated for the fall season and couples are welcome to say their ‘I Dos’ while in their best Halloween attire to fully embrace the holiday. Interested couples are encouraged to sign up ahead of time since slots are limited.
Fall also brings the beginning of our fiscal year ‘23-’24 budget cycle. The Board of County Commissioners held public hearings to discuss and finalize the annual budget for the county as well as the Constitutional Officers. At the final budget hearing in September, the Board moved forward with tax cuts, moving to a rollback rate in the general fund millage. In this issue of my newsletter, I wanted to provide a few details.
Another budget related item in this month’s issue is the $7.9 Million budget amendment from the Infrastructure Sales Tax Reserve Fund to fund the Career and Technical Training Center. On June 29, 2023, the Infrastructure Surtax Citizen’s Oversight Committee validated funding of $7,965,000 for the Career and Technical Training Center. However, the total estimated building costs, renovations, furniture, fixtures, and future operations were not presented, nor were the ongoing operations and maintenance costs that are expected to be covered by Collier County Public Schools.
Each year, our office joins in observing October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month with a commitment to raising awareness in the community and providing safe, confidential services for survivors to regain control of their lives. We have held a long-time partnership with the local Shelter for Abused Women & Children, to give victims support in filing protective orders, and obtaining services for those displaced due to violence.
We have several more articles that we hope are of interest and useful in this month’s issue including filing for an injunction for protection of a vulnerable adult, identifying instruments that are recordable, and more. If you need help in accessing any of our services online, we have available instructional ‘How To’ videos on our YouTube channel. We regularly update the information and continue to add videos for areas to assist users. Lastly, I want to again encourage you, if you have not already, to sign up for our Risk Alert Notification program. Fraud continues to be a problem in our community and routinely becomes more of a problem as we approach the holiday season, take this free step to help avoid being a victim.
I wish everyone a Happy Halloween!
