FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:  Pete Winton, Lee County Administration,
               (239) 335-2777

COMMISSION REDUCES COMMUNICATIONS TAX/APPROVES SUNTRUST BUILDING BUY

FORT MYERS, Fla. (August 26, 2003) - The Board of Lee County Commissioners today approved the following items during its regular weekly meeting. They are:

Communications Services Tax - Reduced the Communications Services Tax rate charged to residents from 5.22 percent to 3.61 percent. The tax is charged on communications services such as cable TV, phones, cell phones, faxes and pagers. It is a percent of a resident's monthly charges before taxes. Excess revenues collected since the state consolidated the tax two years ago (about $9 million) is proposed to pay for landscaping, and its continuing maintenance, of U.S. 41 north of the Caloosahatchee River to Del Prado Boulevard Extension and U.S. 41 south of the Fort Myers city limits to the Bonita Springs city limits.

SunTrust Building - Approved the purchase of the SunTrust Plaza in downtown Fort Myers for $16.925 million cash from Fort Myers Ventures I, LLC. The closing is scheduled for February 2004. The nine-story, 121,000-square-foot SunTrust Plaza is located in downtown Fort Myers on Heitman Street next to the Caloosahatchee Bridge. It also comes with a 400+-space parking garage and enclosed and elevated walkway from the garage to the building. The county estimates it will save $7 million by purchasing instead of building and $26 million in debt costs by paying cash. Eventually, Heitman between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Main Street could be vacated for future growth of the Justice Center if needed. Finding new space for the courts system is critical. New judges with corresponding support staff are expected to arrive in the next two years. In addition, the Clerk of Courts, State Attorney and Court Administration have all grown tremendously in recent years and have expanded into satellite offices in leased space. The county has a policy of trying to located offices in owned space instead of leased to eliminate ongoing rent payments. The move also would further solidify the county government's downtown campus approach to locating offices and employees and providing services.

State of Emergency - Extended a countywide State of Local Emergency until Tuesday, Sep. 2 because of continuing flooding issues, primarily in North Fort Myers.

Spoil Island Restoration - Approved $50,000 of West Coast Inland Navigation District funds for the restoration (removal of exotic vegetation) of a spoil island within the Miserable Mile along the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). The restoration will be done by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Roads Resurfacing - Approved a $1.3 million contract with APAC-Southeast Inc. for resurface/rebuild roads throughout the county.

Community Plan - Approved the Palm Beach Boulevard Community Plan. The plan aims to establish the Palm Beach Boulevard corridor as a revitalized vibrant commercial and residential community and specifically addresses development west of Interstate 75 to Billy's Creek, encompassing areas within both the City of Fort Myers and unincorporated Lee County.