COUNTY SPOTLIGHT: COLLIER COUNTY
7
Fall 2013 Newsletter of the FCIAAO
Collier County, along with a dozen other counties was established during the
great Florida land boom of the 1920s. Originally part of Lee County, the Florida
legislature established Collier County on May 8
th
1923. It is the 62
nd
named
county and the largest land mass county in the State, comprised of 2025.5 square
miles. Approximately 70 % of the land is owned by state and Federal Govern-
ments and is tax exempt.
The County is named for Barron Gift Collier, a New York City advertising mogul
and land developer who moved to Southwest Florida and bought large tracts of land. He agreed to
complete the Tamiami Trail through the Everglades to Miami in exchange for being considered by the
state legislature to have a county named for him. After this he was quoted as saying, “When I first
came here on holiday with Juliet, I never expected that I would buy a whole region of it, nor did I ex-
pect to pay for the new Tamiami Trail, or half the things I have done. But I really didn’t expect to have
a whole county named after me. “To this day, the Collier family is still active in the development of the
county.
In the early days of Collier County the economy was primarily from agriculture, commercial fishing
and the timber industry. The county’s economy boomed along with its population after World War II
from 6,488 in 1945 to 85,971 in 1980. Today the population of the county is in excess 340,000 and the
economy is sustained from agribusiness (205,512.55 acres), tourism (78 golf courses) and real estate
making Collier County one of the fastest growing areas in the country.
Naples, Everglades City, and Marco Island are the county’s three municipalities, with Naples serving
as the county seat. Other unincorporated settlements in Collier County include Chokoloskee, Caxam-
bas, Carnestown, Copeland, Corkscrew, Goodland, Immokalee, Jerome, Miles City, Ochopee, Sun-
niland, and Collier City; some of these names are rooted in the past while others retain their Seminole
names.
Hon. Abe Skinner was appointed in 1991 by Gov. Lawton Chiles | 46 total service years in
CCPA | Number of Positions: 60 | Website:
Hon. Abe Skinner, CFA
2013 Preliminary Tax Roll At-A Glance
Real Property Parcels
263,886
Tangible Accounts
28,376
Just (Market) Value
$74,231,496,898
Taxable Value
$60,722,857,859
