Each week through the Primary, The Breeze will ask the candidates for Cape Coral City Council an issue-related question. In the interest of fairness, each candidate is limited to the same amount of words, about 100, for their response.

This week’s question:

What is your first impression of the city’s working budget for the next fiscal year?

District 2 candidates’ answers:

Laurie Lehmann

I was at the Budget Town Hall on July 25. I listened to the video and received the paperwork. I am concerned that though the city is lowering the millage rate I could not get a straight answer that they won’t reassess our homes at a higher value thus increasing our property taxes as they have done in the past.

There are many details that need to be explained such as what is the special revenue fund and what is the enterprise fund.

Citizens need to be informed of about every detail of the budget that comes from our tax dollars BEFORE it is adopted.

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Dan Sheppard (Incumbent)

The best part about this budget is purchasing the abandoned golf course that has crushed the spirit of the community and declined values of homes in the surrounding neighborhood for 20 years. Turning this green space into a beautiful botanical gardens and wildlife preserve will lift community spirt, add tremendous value to our homes, and catapult the downtown CRA. Because of proper budgeting in the last four years, and right decisions making, we were able to invest in public safety/quality services, encourage more medical facilities, and enhance/build new parks. Our city staff managed all this through a pandemic, hurricane, and hyperinflation. We are truly blessed as a community.

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Craig Unroe

SaveCapeCoral.com

Shockingly expensive. Raising property taxes $18.2 million over last year’s record-setting increase, increasing all three assessments again, raising water/sewer rates 37% over the next three years and adding 67 more people to the city staff, quite unbelievable. This excessive spending and over taxing the residents must stop. This council is not listening to the residents and they are making Cape Coral unaffordable.