Cape Council sets fees, assessments
Cape Coral City Council on Wednesday approved numerous resolutions for assessments and fees, each a part of the city portion of property tax bills.
Rates or fees set included the city’s stormwater user fee; solid waste assessment for trash and garbage collection; the fire services assessment to “recapture” 81 percent of the cost of operations; and the city’s lot mowing fee for keeping vacant lots mowed.
These all are non-ad valorem levies meaning they are not millage-based property taxes.
Solid Waste
The first that passed was Resolution 220-26 – Solid Waste collection rates for commercial establishments and large-scale multi-family units. The lone item on the consent agenda, the two components – collection and disposal – incorporates a 2.75% increase for the consumer price index (CPI).
Financial Services Director Crystal Feast said the city has a contract to provide waste hauling services with a built in CPI. She said the resolution adopts the rate before Oct. 1.
“The city does not administer the billing for commercial properties,” she said. “Waste Pro does that on their own.”
Councilmembers Rachel Kaduk and Keith Long voted against the resolution, which passed with an assessment calculation per dwelling unit of $384.25, the same as last year.
The 2027 highlights include a Waste Pro 2.75% CPI increase and Lee County Solid Waste Division approval of a 3.25% increase in disposal fees for MSW gate fee, horticulture, C&D and Class III.
“For fiscal year the total assessment remains the same as last year per dwelling unit – the components have changed,” Feast said, adding that there was a reduction in the city operating and personnel cost to offset the Waste Pro and Lee County increases.
There was a $4.80 increase for Waste Pro collection services, $6.80 increase for Lee County disposal fee and a decrease of $11.57 for Cape Coral operating and personnel costs and $.03 decrease for the Tax Collector cost. There was a zero increase or decrease for the statutory discount recovery.
Councilmember Bill Steinke said personnel and capital costs are something the city can control and those costs were brought down. He said they received low rates, which they know will not be the same for the next contract.
A hurricane debris cleanup fund was created.
Solid Waste Manager Terry Schweitzer said money has been set aside to cover cleanup costs after a major storm. He said after Hurricane Ian it took months to get reimbursed – August of 2024, after the storm made landfall in 2022.
Schweitzer said they needed a reserve fund to pay for the contractors while waiting for FEMA reimbursement.
“All the debris cleanup is eligible for reimbursement,” he said, adding the city needs money to cover that interim period.
Feast said although there is no defined number for the fund, the disaster recovery for Hurricane Ian was $60 million, which was more than other storms since.
“Where we are now is a good number,” she said, adding that it also includes two months of operating expenses to build a reserve for that as well.
At the rate that passed, it will create an additional surplus of about $8 million. Feast said they have a reserve of about $35 million.
She said they reduced the operating and personnel cost where the reserve elevation was built in, so increases were not passed on to the residents.
“We reduced what we were building for the reserve to offset the external cost,” Feast said.
Stormwater User Fee
Resolution 221-26, increases the stormwater user fee from $156 to $163.
Kaduk and Long voted against the resolution.
The fee is used to manage and enhance stormwater operations and maintenance capabilities; advance priority drainage, flood prevention, water quality, and canal maintenance; continue the city’s freshwater and saltwater canal dredging programs and advance major stormwater infrastructure improvements.
The proposed rate per “equivalent residential unit” has increased each year since 2022, according to the city’s stormwater fee update. In FY22, the fee was $130 per ERU increasing to $135 in FY23, $142 in FY24, $149 in FY25 and $156 in FY26. The increase year over year from FY26 to next year would by $1,089,195.
“At the proposed rate of $163, Cape Coral remains below several comparable communities including Naples, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa to name a few,” Feast said.
A citizen spoke during the public input portion stating that she and her husband moved to the area, as they thought it would be better for retirement, but got “smacked in the face” due to how much taxes have gone up.
“We are all here talking and asking you for help to do something about it. You guys don’t listen; you just vote yes on everything. It is not fair. I moved here to be in a citizen friendly, senior friendly community. It is really disappointing,” she said.
Councilmember Dr. Derrick Donnell said Cape Coral is a growing city, and everything is increasing. He said there is more demand for police, water, and everything is going up at the store.
“While everything is going up, you guys want us to cut even more. We are still growing. I love this city. It is going to cost to be here. Things are going to go up,” Donnell said.
Kaduk asked what the city has done with funds collected.
City Manager Michael Ilczyszyn said the city has the largest canal system in the world. He said when you think about the catch basins, outfalls, pipes, dredging programs, and swales there is no city anywhere that has the amount of stormwater assets that the city has.
Ilczyszyn went into an explanation of the programs – swales, catch basins, and concrete structures into which the stormwater goes. He said they have to repair and replace any damage and maintain those that are old.
Currently the longest waitlist is for swales. To regrade a swale when no homes are built is easier than those that do have homes. Ilczyszyn said when there are multiple driveways at different elevations someone has to design, and survey the area.
“By not adding crews but adding the workload and volume that same crew is accomplishing less,” he said.
Ilczyszyn also touched upon catch basins, outfalls, and weirs.
“We are producing that at a rate that 90% of the cities are striving to get to,” he said.
The 2027 highlights include program funding for environmental and water quality improvements at $1.8 million; flood prevention at $500,000, drainage improvements at $1.7 million and adding one heavy equipment operator, one service worker III and a swale crew.
Capital projects include weir improvements at $3.3 million; Trafalgar drainage improvements at $7.728 million; 83 catch basin replacement at $2.625 million and Rotary Dog Park Stormwater System retrofit at $1 million.
Fire Services Assessment
Resolution 223-26 approved the fire services assessment at 81% recovery of the cost of operations for the Cape Coral Fire Department.
Kaduk and Long voted against approval.
The assessment, which uses a two-tiered methodology, provides a dedicated funding source for the cost of fire protection services and facilities.
Ilczyszyn said the tier one is assigned to every parcel regardless of whether they are improved or unimproved. The tier one cost is the need to have the fire department ready and available to take a call.
The second tier goes to the level of protection that the structure on the property obtains – an additional benefit. Ilczyszyn said it is based on the value of the structure on the property.
“We get that certified from the property appraiser – what the land and structure value is,” he said. “We divide the structure value in $5,000 increments – the cost divided out by the total number of EBU.”
According to the presentation, the assessment for an average single-family home would be $515.43, compared to last year’s $540.17, a decline of $24.74.
The total assessment revenue is a decrease of $1.6 million from last year.
Feast said what they are doing with the budget is assigning a fund balance of fiscal year 2026 encumbrances estimates to carry forward. She said what they have done in future years is to plan pay as you go with $10 million for construction then $5 million each year after that to construct the next three fire stations.
“We thought that was the better approach – the desire to reduce the city debt capacity – a pay-as-you-go plan for the next three fire stations,” Feast said, which was built into the assessment calculations.
Key projects to be funded by the assessment include the replacement apparatus schedule, station facility maintenance, hazmat materials analyzer, and HVAC Replacement at multiple fire stations.
Lot mowing
Resolution 224-26, non-ad valorem assessment roll for lot mowing services received a unanimous approval.
The lot mowing program is provided to 31,000 participating vacant parcels in four districts that are mowed 13 times a year from February through December.
The lot mowing rates to be voted on include $75.89, an increase of $5.41, in district one; $52.99, an increase of $4.94 in district two; $56.95, an increase of $5.51 in district three and $48.43, an increase of $3.80 in district four.
The annual assessment is $151.78, an increase of $10.82 in district one; $105.98, an increase of $9.88 in district two, $113.90; an increase of $11.02 in district three and $86.86, an increase of $7.60 in district four.
These fees are for an Equivalent Lot Unit of 5,000 square feet. A typical building lot in Cape Coral is two ELUs.
Deferred Assessments, Hardship Deferrals & Delinquent Loans
Resolution 225-26 also passed unanimously, which sets the rate resolutions for delinquent deferred assessments and delinquent hardship deferrals. The total delinquent deferred assessments is for $59,385.76 and the total delinquent hardship assessments is $46,658.36.
Feast said there was one property with a deferred assessment account and 11 properties – eight properties no longer enrolled and three properties that have changed hands for the delinquent hardship assessment.
The final public hearing, which was approved was Resolution 226-26, the annual assessment roll resolution for various tax billed assessments at $44,692,570.74. Long dissented.
Feast said the resolution authorizes the certified rolls to be added to property tax bills.
To reach Meghan Bradbury, please email news@breezenewspapers.com