Leading Question

Looking at the multimillion-dollar pie, several recipients are getting a slice. But the one with the biggest appetite is public education.

In Lee County, nearly 42 percent of the $969-million property-tax roll goes to the school district. Collier County's share runs higher at roughly 46 percent of its $246.5-million total, according to its Web site. With thousands of new families arriving in Southwest Florida each year, it's certain that education's appetite will remain voracious.

That's where apples-to-apples comparisons between the counties end, because each divides the revenues among differently named categories.

For example, Lee gives 11.4 percent to the sheriff's office, 19.3 percent to the board of county commissioners, 10 percent to cities and 14 percent to independent special districts, including the fire department, mosquito control and libraries. The remaining 3.5 percent goes to two smaller county and city units.

Collier, on the other hand, puts 11.3 percent into fire control, 3.9 percent into water management, 7 percent into municipal taxing units (lighting sewer, etc.), and 30.9 into county government, which covers the sheriff's office, tax collector and other units. Mosquito control gets 0.7 percent.

Those shares are bound to fluctuate a bit over the years, but the big changes always will be in the amount collected; growth and increased property values have fueled skyrocketing tax rolls. In five years, Lee County's taxable property values have about doubled to $50.3 billion for fiscal year 2005, and Collier's total has jumped from $24.4 billion to $51.3 billion.

In some communities flush with property-tax revenues, tax rates are known to go down. But even if the rate drops, when property values go up, so does the amount you pay on your bill.

-Phil Borchmann