Lee County’s fiscal plan continues to work well for residents, taxpayers
The first eight months of 2022 have been filled with some bleak headlines coming out of Washington, D.C. Inflation is at a 40-year high and more government spending is on the way, it’s causing a lot of people to wonder what’s next.
Let’s look back, on Jan. 20, 2020 the price of gas was $2.54. Earlier this year, it peaked around $5 per gallon. The price of eggs has increased by 32% over the last 12 months. Many local residents have seen their monthly power bill increase. Rising costs are adding up and they’re straining all of our budgets. However, your county leaders have remained steadfast in producing a financial plan for next year that provides stability, while maintaining a first-class level of service and keeping our major infrastructure projects on track.
When commissioners began working on the budget for next year, we focused on three core areas; maintaining the level of service our residents expect from the county, moving forward on critical infrastructure projects to accommodate our growing population and using our surplus tax collections to lower your tax rate.
The countywide general fund budget pays for core services regardless of whether you live inside a city. It provides for things such as the Sheriff’s Office, emergency medical service (EMS) and all of the local constitutional offices.
Over the last two years, Lee County’s decision to remain open has spurred a tremendous amount of economic growth and Lee County is booming. In response, commissioners have planned for $504 million of road projects over the next 10 years. These projects include the Three Oaks Parkway Extension, Big Carlos Pass Bridge replacement and the 4-lane Alico Road Connector which will provide a new roadway from Alico Road to State Road 82 at Sunshine Boulevard. This project will help alleviate traffic flow in and out of Lehigh Acres and provide an alternative to Daniels Parkway and Colonial Boulevard.
Another project I’m extremely proud of is the adding of shade structures at all of our parks and playgrounds which should be completed next fiscal year. As we all know, these facilities can get extremely hot for our kids during the summer months and these amenities will go a long way towards keeping families safe while they enjoy our world-class parks and playgrounds.
We’re able to do all of this and still have money set aside in an emergency account called reserves. We have seen emergencies during my time in office. The Board of County Commissioners has guided the county through hurricanes, blue-green algae, and a global pandemic without severely impacting our budget. During our public hearings in September, Commissioners will discuss lowering the property tax rate by $.10, to roughly $3.76 per every $1,000 in property value. This is on the heels of a reduction in the tax rate last year as well. With everything our citizens are experiencing this year, commissioners felt it was important to provide some type of relief where we could.
Through a combination of good money management and sticking to our conservative principles, we can ensure that the entire county has the tools necessary to take advantage of our growing population and that Lee County remains a destination of choice for businesses and visitors. I am confident that we will continue to meet future challenges head-on and I promise that the steady leadership you have come to expect from your local elected officials will also continue. I am honored to serve as one of your County Commissioners, and if I can ever be of service please do not hesitate to contact me at dist4@leegov.com or (239) 533-2226.
— Lee County Commissioner Brian Hamman represents District 4, which includes portions of Cape Coral and North Fort Myers.