Cape Council sets fees, assessments
With the city required to ratify a budget by Oct. 1, Cape Coral City Council got to work on setting the fees and assessments for the 2023 fiscal year.
Most of proposed levies didn’t change from when they were first set in June. However, the solid waste assessments for commercial and residential did change Wednesday.
With the $416,394 customer service rebate Waste Pro is giving back to the city (as a result of its memorandum of understanding with the city that was approved earlier) and the $266,711 in bulk hauling, Council decided to give the rebate back to the residents over two years, resulting in a decrease of $5.80 for residents on their residential solid waste assessment.
That would drop the rate from $254.75 to $248.95. City Finance Director Mark Mason recommended the “half-now, half-later” approach as a way to smooth out billing and prevent a potential jolt next year.
As for commercial pickup, the requested rate of increase was dropped from Waste Pro’s request of 8.32 percent plus the 1 percent dictated in the Waste Pro contract to 5.16 percent, half of Waste Pro’s request.
Council also approved the lot mowing assessment, which provides for 13 mows of vacant parcels from January through November, as well as pepper tree removal and owl nest trimming.
District 1 residents will pay $59.67 per lot, $40.39 in District 2, $41.33 in District 3 and $39.01 in District 4. That will be an increase of 79 cents in districts 1 and 2, and 78 cents in districts 3 and 4.
Council also set the Fire Service Assessment at a 62 percent recovery rate. The Tier 1 rate per parcel will be $172.13, up from $157.16, and the tier 2 rate per EBU will drop from $2.54 per EBU to $2.32.
The assessment to offset the cost of providing fire services will bring in $33.7 million in FY 2023, about $3 million more than this current year.
The city also raised its stormwater assessment to $135, a $5 increase from last year. The rate will continue to rise $5 per year for the next several years.
The city of Cape Coral will hold two public hearing on next year’s budget at City Hall. Dates and times are Thursday, Sept. 8, at 5:05 p.m. for the first and Thursday, Sept. 22, at 5:05 pm.
The city will set the property tax rate at that time.
In other business:
– Council certified the results of the primary election and called for the General Election on Nov. 8.
– Approved for transmittal by the city to establish a Burnt Store Road District Future Land Use.
It is the first step of four to create this designation. It must transmit a Future Land Use Amendment, establish a zoning district and rezoning.
To reach CHUCK BALLARO, please email news@breezenewspapers.com