Cape Council talks budget priorities
UEP, Yacht Club, employee wages and public safety at the top of the list

Expediting the city’s Utilities Expansion Project 6 design, the Cape Coral Yacht Club rebuild, making sure city employee wages hit at least the minimum target goal, and public safety needs are Cape Coral City Council’s top goals for the next budget year.
Other priorities include expanding transportation needs with the multimodal plan, median improvements, sidewalks and streetlights, revenue generating opportunities, resiliency measures, as well as increasing arts and culture opportunities in the city, according to discussion between city staff and Cape Coral City Council during last Thursday’s budget workshop.
“We would like to have a general discussion on some general funding priorities and what you all would like to see moving forward,” City Manager Mike Ilczyszyn said. “It helps us in understanding where to first focus. We get two types of new money into the city. We have money that comes from the 3% increase in Save Our Homes and new growth money that is meant to pay for keeping up with the growth in the community.”
Understanding the needs and priorities helps the budget process, he said.
Mayor John Gunter was the first to give his priorities, which include meeting requests from the Cape Coral Fire Department and the Cape Coral Police Department to keep up with the pace of the growth of the city.
“That is extremely important. Public safety has always been a priority for previous councils,” he said, adding that he hopes this council will continue to move in that direction. “Police and fire are definitely areas where we have to make sure we keep up with the growth and not find ourselves falling behind.”
Councilmember Jennfier Nelson-Lastra agreed that public safety is very important for service times and response times to stay where they need to be and hopefully improve as the city grows.
The design for UEP 6 was also at the forefront in moving forward, as well as accelerating the north water plant.
Gunter said he would also like to bring the conversation home regarding getting employees to the 75th percentile of comparable employees in city-benchmarked government positions.
“We need to bring it home and finish that discussion. General and fire (union) contracts are still negotiating, and the police are getting ready to start any day,” he said adding that nonbargaining employees need to be included.
Nelson-Lastra said she would love to see the city move past discussions of the 75th percentile. She said she would like to find a way to stay ahead of the Council-approved benchmark.
“How do we get people to the 75th percentile and maintain them there?” Nelson-Lastra said.
She also would like to look at revenue-generating opportunities, so the city can bring back the Cape Coral Yacht Club, the city’s historic park complex, which was razed following Hurricane Ian and is set for up to $150 million in new facilities, according to the most recent estimates.
“Amenities is what brings people into our city. We seem to be lacking in terms of amenities,” Nelson-Lastra said, adding that she would like to see the Yacht Club expedited.
Councilmember Bill Steinke said nature took its course and “we are where we are.” He said they need to go full speed with the design that was created and use “other people’s money” – a P3, or public-private partnership, to help bring the Yacht Club back to life.