Give property owners the option to pre-pay for UEP
To the editor:
To all, I sent this suggestion to the members of the City Council last week, I have not had a reply from them to my suggestion.
As concerned citizen of the Cape I think that the residents in SW 6-7 and North 1-8 should be able to lock in a guaranteed price for the utility assessments now and as property owners in the afore mentioned areas. We should have the option at this time to prepay our assessments on a monthly basis. Each owner should set their own payment amount and make the payments when ever they can afford them. The city should allow the owners to take advantage of the discounts offered providing the remaining balance is paid in full when the assessment is finally approved or make other arrangements.
As stated in my letter to the city council, the city would benefit from the monthly revenue producer thus relieving the citizens already on city sewer and water the burden of the increases the council wishes to impose on them as a result of the failed approval of the utility expansion. This is divisive and will have the affect of splitting the citizens of the Cape. We all have a stake in this city and we all should endeavor to correct the problems created by this issue.
As we know, anyone can succeed in good economic times, maybe now is the time to find a creative thinker in this time of “recession” who can maneuver their way and help the city through the mine fields of financial responsibility.
My letter to the City Council follows.
My wife and I have been a property owner’s in the Cape for 9 years and residents for the last 2 years.
We have been well aware of the Utility assessments since we purchased our properties. With that said,
We would submit for your collective considerations the following proposal.
For the property owners in the SW area and North Cape who would have been impacted by the latest assessments, be given an opportunity at their discretion to voluntarily prepay for their future utility assessments.
We would suggest that each property owner be allowed to make monthly payments as and when they can afford them in increments of $25.00, $50.00, $75.00 and $100.00 per month depending on their financial abilities and not be tied to regular monthly payments.
These payments would assist those who are unable to take advantage of the prepayment discount offered by the City, and reducing the financial impact when the assessments are approved, the property owners will be able to build a reserve on their account.
They would then have the choice of either a final payment for the assessment, or financing the resulting balance. Either way the property owners would be faced with a lesser financial impact to their family budgets.
The benefit for the City is, it would show consideration to the property owners during these trying times and would produce a monthly revenue stream, to pay down the bonds for the utility infrastructure already in place.
There should be one stipulation and one stipulation only to this proposal.
The advanced Utility payments are to be only used for the Utility Assessments and not added to the General City Fund.
Please do not tell me this would be an accounting nightmare keeping track of all the payments, the payments can be made any time during the month and mailed to a lock box address, who ever operates the lock box for the City must provide a full account of money and credit each property. This could be achieved with a software program that will interface with either the City or County computer system. After all said and done it would not be that much of a financial burden to produce the revenues and operate the system.
Peter M Kolthammer
Cape Coral