Cape Coral City Council has set the not-to-exceed millage rate and assessment levels for the next budget year.

The property tax rate was capped at the current level on Wednesday while various assessments are looking at possible jumps as the not-to-exceed rates bumped higher.

For the second time in three years, Council appears ready to again increase the number of cuttings the city’s empty lots will receive.

Mayor John Gunter suggested the city increase the number of mows to empty parcels from 10 to 12, which would raise the rates significantly, particularly south of Pine Island Road.

Gunter and Councilmember Gloria Tate suggested that during summer when the grass grows much faster, it makes the need to cut grass at a faster pace necessary, especially when neighbors on improved lot are keeping their lawns mowed.

Council set the not-to-exceed rate at the level it would take for 12 cuts; $120 in District 1, $83.64 in District 2, $85.40 in District 3 and $81.04 in District 4, pending further discussion.

It is believed that if they approve the 12 cuts, the contractor would ask for a contract extension, as happened the last time.

In 2018, the city council approved an increase from seven mows per year to 10.

The solid waste assessment was presented to Council with four options, the built-in 1 percent increase and/or the 3.68 percent CPI increase Waste Pro is requesting, either with a one-time rate reduction of $8.63 or without it.

The rate with the 1 percent increase and reduction would be $215.34 and $224.33 without. Adding the CPI increase would raise the rates to $220.72 with the rate reduction, $229.71 without.

Council chose the option with the 1 percent increase and the 3.68 CPI increase sought by Waste Pro, with no one-time rate reduction of $8.63 the city proposed, which is $229.71.

The city also approved the fire protection assessment at a 62 percent cost recovery. The Tier 1 rate per parcel would be $157.16, an increase from $147.42, while the Tier 2 rate per unit will be $2.54, up from $2.51 in 2021.

For stormwater, the proposed fee is $130, in increase of $5 from 2021.

Finally, for the millage, Council agreed to cap the rate at 6.375, the current rate. The General Fund, or operating, budget for FY2022 is set right now at $303,596,335, which is up from the $297,235,534 budget in 2021.

One mill is equal to $1 for every $1,000 of taxable, assessed property valuation.

The entire budget, which surpassed $1 billion in 2021, will slip below that in FY2022 to $978,861,235, as enterprise spending will be greatly reduced and capital projects will increase.

By staying with the 6.3750 millage, the city would raise an additional $11 million for the 2022 budget, as well as $112.5 million for the General Fund if 96 percent is collected. This is due to the increase in overall taxable property valuation in the city, which saw a jump of 10.88 percent, the largest single-year increase since 2007.

The rollback rate, which would presumably bring in the same money as last year’s budget, is set at 5.9962 and would still increase the general fund by $4,356,859.

The city council will hold three budget workshops on Thursday, Aug. 10, 17 and 24 at 2 p.m. in council chambers.

The first budget hearing will be Thursday, Sept. 5, at 5:05 p.m., at City Hall, where the millage and budget will be set, with the second hearing on Thursday, Sept. 19, at 5:05 p.m. where the budget and millage will be adopted.

Both the workshops and hearings are open to the public.

City Hall is at 1015 Cultural Park Blvd.