Budget workshop Day 1: Debt service
The Cape Coral City Council kicked off its two-day Winter Budget Workshop Thursday morning with an overview of forecasted adjustments to the Fiscal Year 2027 budget.
Budget Administrator Nicole Reitler said the economy continues to grow at a slow pace with housing, shelter, dining, recreation and other services continuing to be high, a key driver to inflation.
She walked council through a 2027 budget preview, which did not include any requested new positions.
Based on requested budgets for 2027, staff had to remove certain modifications – $8,822,172 for staffing and $6,360,690 for debt services for a total of $15,182,862, Reitler said.
To fund the additional $15.1 million, the millage rate would need to increase by 0.4734 to 5.8200 from 5.3466 in fiscal year 2027.
The debt services includes the Emergency Operations Center at $2,157,161, the fleet building at $2,265,512, the property management building at $1,087,466 and the Yacht Club reconstruction for the seawall at $850,571.
She also highlighted $93,218,552 in total existing debt payments forecasted for FY27, which included both government debt and enterprise debt. The total existing debt forecasted through 2030 is $328,599,100.
The total future debt service payments forecasted for FY27 is $16,312,597. This includes governmental funds for the Emergency Operation Center and Station 5 rebuild, as well as numerous enterprise projects.
The debt service payments forecasted through Fiscal Year 2030 is $169,823,746. Some of the governmental projects include the Cape Coral Sports Complex Expansion, North 1 East, Bimini East, Jaycee Park improvements, Yacht Club Reconstruction.
Those are additional projects that need to be considered for debt.
Once the presentation concluded, Councilmember Rachel Kaduk asked numerous questions as many residents reached out with inquirees. Among those was the Yacht Club Reconstruction seawall.
Assistant City Manager Mark Mason said the seawall for the Yacht Club was approved after the current fiscal year. He said there was no discussion of the seawall prior to Oct. 1, the day the fiscal year begins and the approved budget goes into effect.
“It wasn’t approved as part of the Fiscal Year 2026 budget. Now we are talking about 2027. It was taken out of the 2027 forecast, ’28 and ’29 forecast. The city council approved the seawall, yes – long-term debt, no,” Mason said.
Reitler said the first budget amendment was not in forecasted numbers because the budget was completed and developed.
“We are not proposing a Fiscal Year 2027 budget. We are showing what we forecasted in September last year,” Mason said. “When we get a better understanding of priorities, and develop a ’27 budget based on priorities, the seawall will be included.”
There were eight items listed as potential future debt – the Emergency Operation Center expansion, Yacht Club design and construction, Charter School athletic facility, old golf course, Santa Barbara buildings remodel and parking, fleet facility, property management facility and Bimini East land acquisition.
“My hopefulness is to take away our priorities as a group and figure out how to adjust all of this without increasing the millage rate,” Councilmember Jennifer Nelson-Lastra said.
The remainder of the day included discussions about the fund balance, house changes recap, fire growth model, police master plan and revenue forecast. The City Council’s budget workshop continued Friday.
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