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A controversial land-buying program in Lee County has spent $300 million of taxpayer money since it began in 1997.
Now, Lee County voters may finally have a say in whether to keep the land-conservation program in place.
Cecil Pendergrass, the chairman of the board of county commissioners, told a meeting of real estate executives recently that the county could put the issue on the 2016 ballot. “The voters have a right to vote on it,” says Pendergrass.
In 1996, voters approved a nonbinding referendum to create the taxpayer-funded program, called Conservation 20/20. The program came under fire last year as an audit by the Lee County Clerk of Court concluded that the county had overpaid for land during the real estate bust. Since that audit, the program plans to implement more rigorous evaluations for land purchases such as more appraisals.
But a panel convened to review the clerk's findings recommended the program be put before the voters for formal approval.
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