LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. — There is a petition going around to incorporate Lehigh Acres. Right now, it's considered an unincorporated area of Lee County. This means the county repairs roads, maintains the parks, and handles most issues.
This petition could change this in the future by allowing Lehigh Acres to have its own local government and use tax dollars to improve the area for people living there.
Ali Harden is a local landscaper who has called Lehigh Acres home for the past 6 years and one thing he keeps noticing is, "It's growing fast out here!"
Currently, more than 120,000 people reside in Lehigh Acres. Ali isn't the only one noticing the growth in population, which is why a petition was started to make Lehigh its own local government.
Derek Felder, the President of Unite Lehigh, says the lack of infrastructure is causing the lack of service Lehigh needs. Road maintenance and code enforcement come from Lee County.
Derek says, "Many people don't necessarily understand that once we become a city, we are going to need our own police. That's not true — most of the things we need we will still contract through the county."
But with the incorporation, Derek says Lehigh will be able to oversee the budget to make sure those services are met, which is another concern he's hearing from residents. "A lot of the push-back is that people think the taxes are going to go up and things like that," adds Derek.
When it comes to the taxes it can't be determined at this time. Derek says a study has to be completed first. The next step for Unite Lehigh is to start a fundraiser for that study to determine the city budget and whether or not taxes will need to go up or stay the same.
Unite Lehigh has been in talks with Lee County District 5 commissioner Mike Greenwell. They plan to meet more in the future. However, at this time the county says they have no comment. We will wait and see what the state will do with the petition.
