Sanibel Island Cinema has a new gig.

The all-new Sanibel Island Cinema greets film-goers
with a new face and a new roof.

The venerable Sanibel Island Cinema, lodged next to Bailey’s since the dawn of talkies, or so it seems, is all-new and all-improved. According to the new owners, Randy and Kim Bacik, it's more than a Hollywood facelift.The Baciks gutted the building. Everything, from projectors to box office to refreshment stand to carpeting and seats, was pitched. Even the old electrical system was jettisoned.

In their place are:

• 60 soft, leather-like rocking seats for each of the cinema’s two screens. The seats, 25-inches wide, also have reclining arm rests/cup holders.

• Two high-tech (digital) motion picture projectors.

• Each theater has nine digital surround sound speakers, buffered by acoustical walls.

• Each theater has three ceiling fans.

• New air conditioning throughout.• New box office, including a concession stand.

• New flooring throughout.

• Two removable seats per theater, providing wheelchair accessibility and headphones for those with hearing difficulties.

• Two new restrooms (men and women), plus a family bathroom.

The new facility was opened to the public on November 21, after months to complete the renovations.

We know the next question. Why would anyone go to the cinema on Sanibel when they can see videos or watch TV movies.?

• First, there is nothing quite like a cinema. And thats true in ‘spectracolor’ for the Island Cinema.

• More important, the Island Cinema will present ‘first-run’ films, not the re-runs available on DVDs or on cable. If you want to see a movie while it is still in first tier distribution, and you are on the islands, the Island Cinema is the place to do it.

• Third reason is the killer impact of ‘surround sound’.

• Fourth reason: No one will ask you to change the channel for a minute.

• Fifth reason: Real, movie-theater, buttered popcorn.

Prices are $9.75 for adult evening shows, $8 for adult matinees and $7.50 for children and senior citizens. Call 472-1701 for show schedules and coming attractions.

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Taxes in Paradise

Perhaps you already know that Lee County levies a 5% tax on rentals that are less that 6 months long.

That pretty much includes all tourist accommodations.

The 5% room tax is in addition to the State of Florida's 6% sales tax.

Therefore, any rental on Sanibel - Captiva should include an 11% surcharge on your rental.

That's a sizable up-charge, and no one likes to pay taxes anyway.

The 6% State tax goes to pay for state government and infrastructure.

The 5% County tax goes to pay for promotion of the County as a tourism destination, for beach and shoreline renewal and tourism related facilities such as construction of the Twins Spring Training stadium.

Now, you may or may not agree with the tax, the uses of it or the size of it. I personally think when it went from 3% to 5% that there was an unintended consequence lurking in there somewhere.

Clearly, all of the purposes to which the tax revenue is applied are legitimate in one way or another.

Promotion of the destination supports the tourism infrastructure by informing potential visitors about Lee County attractions (read Sanibel-Captiva as a large part thereof). The resulting business supports hotels, motels, attractions, restaurants, stores and vacation rental companies. Absent the business, these assets would wither. Coming here would be a lot less pleasant.

Similarly, tax revenue that restores the beaches and enhances the shoreline makes this a nicer place to live as well as to visit. And with crummy beaches, who would want to come here?

Even the Spring Training facility pumps millions of dollars into the economy. It now is also used to host national sports competitions, attracting players and families who bring their money, leave it and go home.

Let's get to the unintended consequence. As the total dollar amount of an 11% tax began to push the upper limits of acceptability, ie. how much extra are you willing to pay for a room somewhere, an incipient revolt is materializing.

It takes two forms. One is nothing new. Some private owners of condos or houses, who rent them directly to visitors, fail to collect taxes and/or collect them and fail to forward them in full to the county. I'm not an attorney, but it seems to me the former is misdemeanor stuff, while the latter may felonious.

Anyway, as a tempting as it may be to a visitor to cut a deal by not paying taxes, consider that once someone steps over the line in one part of his or her operation, when and where is the next step over the line? Health department inspections? Pest control?

I have a pretty good idea why any owner would do this, since he or she is not paying the tax out of his or her personal bank account. I think they believe if they can offer a cheap (tax-free) price, they will rent more weeks in their unit(s). Doesn't that put the people who are following the rules at a disadvantage to those who sidestep them? How fair is that? How constructive to the destination and industry, the same destination and industry the visitor relies on?

As for the newer revolt, a real estate company has proposed "unbundling" rents. That is, if an owner has baked certain costs such as association fees, cleaning costs, trash disposal, swimming pool maintenance, etc.
into the rent for the unit, that is the amount on which the tax is based. But what if those items are "unbundled" from the rent and charged separately, as fees? Theoretically, they would not be subject to the room tax under current law. The renter would receive two bills: one for taxable room rent, the other for untaxed "services." The real estate company claims to have a memo approval of the idea from the State Department of Revenue.

If this ruling goes through, I suspect room tax revenue will be reduced by at least as much, maybe more, than the additional 2 percentage points that it was increased last year.

Am I wrong?

It's turtle nesting season on Sanibel

According to the City of Sanibel, turtle nesting season runs from the end of May through October on the beaches of Sanibel Island. That is the season when turtles come ashore and build their nests. Over the course of the season, the hatchlings emerge from the nests and head for the water.

At least, that is nature's plan. The hatchlings are attracted by the moonlight reflecting off the Gulf water. It's been that way for centuries. It always worked.

These days, however, human activity threatens to alter the pattern - and destroy the hatch.

Beach lighting, from beachfront housing, can confuse the baby turtles and send them scrambling up the beach instead of down to the water. There, they become dehydrated and easy prey for birds.

As a result, City codes require that lights on the beach be doused or deflected during turtle nesting season.

Word to humans who visit Sanibel during nesting season is to be very careful on the beaches, don't walk in or disturb areas that have been identified as turtle nests, watch your step after dark, be cautious in any use of flashlights.

Let the turtles live.

Welcome to Sanibel Captiva for Travelers

This is the kickoff issue of this blog, which will have as its intent to offer information about Sanibel & Captiva Islands on the Florida Gulf Coast.

We will provide news about events, restaurant and attraction reviews, recommendations for accommodations and generally outrageous opinions about what works on Sanibel and Captiva and what doesn't but should.

We will entertain comments. Constructive ones will be allowed to stay for the edification of visitors to the blog. Destructive ones will end up in the blog dumpster.

Stand by. More blog postings will come in the near future.

And thank you for your pioneering interest.