Charter school board approves FY 2027 budget
The Cape Coral Charter School Authority governing board approved its 2027 budget Tuesday, which includes a pay-with-cash option for the Athletic Facility.
Budget Administrator Nicole Reitler said Tuesday night’s meeting was the final approval for the fiscal year 2027 adopted budget.
The total budget for the municipal school system for 2027 is $50,428,245, which includes numerous changes from the budget presented in May. Key changes include the half-cent surtax, and transfers to the city for the Athletic Facility.
During a Cape Coral City Council budget workshop options were discussed for funding the Athletic Facility, which the council agreed was to be funded with cash from committed reserves.
Committed reserves identified during the board meeting Tuesday also included $1,492,500 for student laptops, and $1,833,00 for IT equipment for a total of $3,325,500. Reitler said the LCI funding every year will cover those expenditures, so there is no need to sit on those reserves.
The pay-with-cash option also includes $2,204,128 for restricted capital surtax for fiscal year 2026, $2,119,451 for 2027, and $2,174,147 for 2028 for a total capital surtax of $6,497,726.
Reitler said there is also an unassigned fund balance of $5,876,774.
The committed reserves, restricted capital surtax and available unassigned fund balance equate to $15.7 million.
The Athletic Field’s 100% design of probable cost is $15.7 million from Avalon Engineering.
Assistant City Manager Mark Mason said the project has not gone out to bid yet, and may come in a little higher, or lower.
“If we bid it to $15.7 million, it will come in at $15.7 million. It certainly won’t be over the bid price,” he said of the Athletic Field. “The cost of things keeps going up every day. I don’t know what the difference will be when you actually bid it.”
Mason said they should be going out to bid for the project within days.
“Avalon is working with our CIP group to put together the documentation to put it on the street soon,” he said.
The 2027 budget, from what was presented in May to June 23, was for the recognition of committed reserves, unassigned fund balance and utilizing surtax funds.
The operating budget of $50,428,245 represents a 32.99% increase over the adopted fiscal year 2026 operating budget of $37,919,940.
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