Jeff Kottkamp brings Florida TaxWatch to Southwest Florida

Jeff Kottkamp once represented part of Lee County in the Florida House. Now, he’s invited members of Florida TaxWatch there for a spring meeting, the first since he took over as the organization’s President and CEO.

The 2026 Florida Policy Forum will bring together followers of the process for expert panels on state budget process, property tax changes and combatting fraud.

“We really wanted to be able to inform the people who come here what work was done during the Session and what work remains to be done,” he said.

The event at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort & Spa will touch on a series of critical topics for state and local government. Kottkamp expects property tax proposals in Tallahassee to tackle up serious attention, especially with a state budget still in the air.

“The whole goal is to be that nonpartisan voice of reason, where we talk about, not only rising property and taxes, rising local government budgets and the need to fund for government functions. All this needs to be put into consideration, not just one piece of it, because you can’t do that,” he said.

“With 32 fiscally constrained counties, one size doesn’t necessarily fit all. We’ve got to figure out not only how we fund core government functions in all 67 counties, but what do we do about these poor counties.”

Featured speakers at the three-day event, which features most panels and speeches on Thursday, include Alliance for Global Security Founder Josh Burgin, Foundation for Government Ability Data and Analytics Director Hayden Dublois, Duke Energy Florida President Melissa Seixas, TECO General Counsel David Nicholson and Florida Power & Light Executive Director of External Affairs Don Kiselewski.

In addition to the speakers and panels, the event will also host the Gov. Bob & Mary Jane Martinez Citizen Institute, led by the former Governor and First Lady.

Local leaders will also talk about government needs including storm recovery, a topic Lee County knows plenty about after Hurricane Ian struck in 2022.

For Kottkamp, it also marked a chance to bring TaxWatch to a place he called home for years, and where many in his family still live.

“I actually had an event here when I ran for Speaker all the way back,” Kottkamp recalls. “I had a number of events over the course of my career here. This is where my wife and I were married. Our son was born here. My wife was born here. We love being home.”