Preliminary property valuation numbers point towards continued recovery
Preliminary property valuations show Lee County has recovered incredibly well as compared to overall valuation post Hurricane Ian.
There are still areas that have some challenges to overcome, such as Sanibel, which saw continued decreases, including a total taxable decrease of 1.80%.
Lee County Property Appraiser Matt Caldwell said at the countywide level, and citywide level of Cape Coral – higher projected valuations help stabilize tax revenues and so budget for taxing entities.
It also relieves the pressure for tax increases, the other way to maintain or increase revenue in growing communities such as the Cape.
Cape Coral saw its estimated overall just valuation dip 1.83%, compared to last year’s 7.28%. Total just property valuation went from $45,992,287,269 to $45,151,544,000, a total decrease of $840,743,269, according to the Lee County Property Appraiser’s preliminary report released Monday.
In terms of taxable valuation, overall property valuation, though, increased from $26,262,275,412 to $28,956,229,000, an increase of $2,693,953,588.
The estimate for new construction just for Cape Coral is $1,613,038,527 compared to 2023 final roll of $1,007,852,062. The estimate for new construction taxable for 2024 is $75,485,534 compared to 2023 final roll of $967,591,566.
Caldwell said for Cape Coral there is an interesting dynamic, as the total just is down. He said we will see how it plays out by July 1 when his office releases its valuations report.
“Almost $2 billion came back onto the tax roll – all the houses and businesses now back,” Caldwell said.
New construction taxable is almost $75 million, which is why there is a small decrease at the city-wide level compared to the overall tax base.
“Most of the construction activity is focused on recovery more than new construction,” Caldwell said.
The total taxable compared to the percentage change from the 2023 final roll is 10.26%, which includes properties that changed hands due to the hurricane. He said almost $3 billion of the property has been Homesteaded properties, meaning the owners had their tax increases capped through the years and the properties that were transferred are now assessed at their true value.
“In the Yacht Club area, (people have been) in those homes for more than 30 to 40 years have sold to new owners and are at the full value instead of the extraordinary low taxable gap because of the homestead,” Caldwell said.
He said the properties that were improved, torn down, you will see new construction – real construction numbers in 2025, 2026 as people build on the access lots of Cape Coral Parkway.
Cape Coral City Councilmember Tom Hayden said they knew values were not going to stay as high for various reasons – inflation, high interest rates. He said the statistics out there are home sales have slowed down.
“I told the city manager I am for keeping the mil the same – not looking for reduction, or increases,” Hayden said of the city’s property tax rate.
He said the city enjoyed two years of incredible growth and the fact that there is still an increase and not a decrease, is important to the city.
From a countywide perspective, there is a little less than a 2% increase in the just value, and an almost 10% increase in the total taxable, Caldwell said.
The total just estimate for 2024 is $207,056,218,000 – a value change of $3,051,540,686 from the 2023 final roll.
The total taxable – 9.65% change from the 2023 final roll stands at $132,214,496,000 for 2024.
The school taxable has a 3.86% change from the 2023 final roll. The 2024 estimate is $153,416,714,000 – a $5,701,431,125 value change from the 2023 final roll.
Countywide, there is a lot of the same effect, with a stronger increase on Fort Myers Beach, Caldwell said.
The Town of Fort Myers Beach saw a 36.37% increase from the 2023 final roll for total just with an estimated 2024 amount of $4,923,988,000. The total assessed had a 42.54% increase to an estimated 2024 amount of $3,991,587,000. The total taxable had a 45.36% change from the 2023 final roll of $3,754,553,000 for the estimated 2024.
That increase is due to all the properties that have been rehabilitated and reoccupied that had been taken off the roll because of Hurricane Ian, Caldwell said. At a countywide level, there is close to a billion dollars of property coming back on the roll of buildings itself with a lot on Fort Myers Beach.
“Hotels, condos, restaurants – everyone that has been able to get back in, and operating again, is back on the roll,” Caldwell said.
In addition, new projects, new construction across the board – such as Margaritaville on Fort Myers Beach, are all on the tax rolls now.
The changing of ownership is also part of the increase – countywide – as properties that have been in the same family for more than 10 years that were capped at a 3% homestead, are now at 10% non-homestead.
Property tax increases are capped in Florida, with owner-occupied residential properties receiving the greatest protection if taxing agencies do not adopt a rollback tax rate, the rate at which taxes remain level for exiting properties when valuations soar. Assessed value increases are capped at 3% homeowners with Florida’s Homestead Exemption. Annual assessed value increases for those without it are capped at 10 percent.
“Now that they have sold, not only do we have new land sales to look at for a totally new perspective – the cap is gone – the new owners are taxed at full value of 2024,” Caldwell said. “There are a lot of changes and all of that is going to a positive tax roll for most jurisdictions.”
Caldwell said July 1 final numbers will be released.
“You may see some revisions to these,” he said, adding that the Property Appraiser’s Office tries to be as conservative as possible with the preliminary estimate. “We don’t want to have a scenario that the local government wastes a month to radically be off base.”
A massive shift is not predicted, although there will be some changes.
Caldwell said once they deliver the jurisdiction numbers, they will work the next six weeks to finalize the individual property numbers, which will be ready in the middle of August.
To reach MEGHAN BRADBURY, please email news@breezenewspapers.com