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County Receives Outstanding Audit on the Conservation 20/20 Program
May 24, 2007 Lee County Government has received an outstanding audit on one of its best known projects, the Conservation Land Acquisition and Stewardship Program (commonly referred to as Conservation 20/20). In 1996, by majority vote, Lee County citizens voted to increase property taxes by 0.5 mils (approximately 50 cents per $1000 of assessed value) to fund the purchase and protection of local environmentally critical lands. In response, the Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) created Ordinance 96-12, the Conservation 20/20 Program which also established the Conservation Land Acquisition and Stewardship Advisory Committee ( CLASAC ). Under this Ordinance, each of the five (5) Commissioners appoints three (3) citizen members to voluntarily serve who are then charged with making property selection recommendations to the BoCC . The overall objectives of the program are to acquire and protect land important for wildlife habitat, water supply and quality, flooding and resource based recreation. The recent audit, performed by the Clerk of Courts Internal Audit Department (note: Clerk of Courts is a separate governmental entity not under the Board of County Commissioners' authority), states the successful accomplishments of the program thus far have been the results of the coordinated efforts between CLASAC, Lee County's Division of County Lands Staff, and Lee County's Department of Parks and Recreation Staff. Since the inception of the project, almost 18,000 acres has been acquired, representing 31 preserves. The Division of County Lands is responsible for coordination of the environmental review process, and all associated real estate activities (e.g. title research, appraisals, negotiations, closings). Once purchased, the Department of Parks and Recreation is responsible for all Land Stewardship issues pertaining to the property (e.g. restoring lands to native environments, providing appropriate human resource based access to nature, etc.). To view the entire audit report, go to www.leeclerk.org/Audit_Reports/2007_Audits/ConservationLandAcqusitionStewardshipProgram.pdf.
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