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 4 candidates’ answers:

Richard Carr (Incumbent)

VoteRichCarr.com

My first impression is a positive one. The city manager presented a reduced overall budget compared to last year. The city council further reduced it halfway to the rollback rate. The budget includes increased funding for public safety, ensuring the highest level of safety for residents. It also allocates funds for the purchase of the “old golf course” in District 4, a project I have been advocating for since my appointment to the city council in December. Acquiring this green space is essential as the South Cape continues to grow with new mixed-use developments. I will work to find opportunities to decrease the millage rate further before the budget is finalized.

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William Matthews

VoteWMatthews.com

My first impression is that the proposed budget was forced due to the election.

More time and consideration must be taken when addressing the needs of our city. There are many things to considered, including how to lower the cost-of-living. Just lowering the millage rate is not enough to lower the cost-of-living, especially if you’re increasing rates in other areas like water. We need to do a better job of controlling costs, stop wasteful spending, and driving revenue to our city. Properly managing the city budget will increase our quality of life and lower our cost-of-living.

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Jennifer Nelson

NelsonforDistrict4.com

The city’s budget is very comprehensive given that it’s reached the $1 billion mark. I’m grateful to see that the Old Golf Course in District 4 is included and will be paid for by the storm water fund of $8 million, CRA funds of $5.4 million, and remaining $3 million from the general fund.

I’m pleased that our UEP received $23 million in grant money to help reduce the cost to our residents affected by this project. My hope is that next year, we can lobby for more through the state and federal governments.

There are 130 open positions, 65 have been open for at least 6 months and 35 have been open for 12 months or more. These open positions could be transferred into utilizing those funds to increase our public safety or labor employees salaries or utilized to complete prioritized project.

Lastly, the rollback rate looks like it will still give the city $10 million so my hope is current council will consider this.

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Robert J. Sutter

Facebook (facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558157836677)

Prior to discussing my thoughts on the FY 25 budget, I want to thank everyone for their efforts in putting together this budget. As I read through the budget it appears to me that the city creates a list of wants and needs and then determines how they are going to pay for such items. I believe the city budget should start with an estimated revenue stream (based on previous years) and then determine what activities we can afford; this would allow the city to better control budget increases or create a ZERO budget increase by decreasing the desired wants.