Cape Coral's proposed 2027 budget holds the tax rate flat and raises water bills 11 percent

Cape Coral's proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins October 1 holds the city's operating property tax rate at 5.1471 mills, unchanged from the current year, while raising several utility charges. Meghan Bradbury reported the plan for the Cape Coral Breeze on July 8.

The requested budget totals about $1.5 billion across all funds, with a general fund of roughly $279 million. On the utility side, the proposal raises water and sewer rates by 11 percent, stormwater rates by 4.49 percent and solid waste rates by 5 percent, and sets the fire service assessment at 81 percent of the cost of operating the fire department, according to the Breeze.

The rate is flat on paper. Whether it stays flat in practice depends on assessed values, which have kept rising even as their growth slows. Gulfshore Business reported in June that Cape Coral's taxable value grew about 2.3 percent this year, down from 7.4 percent a year earlier, and that a proposed statewide expansion of the homestead exemption on the November ballot could cut the city's revenue by tens of millions of dollars a year once fully in effect, according to Evan Williams.

The city has set a town hall on the budget for 4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 23, followed by council budget workshops on August 4, 11 and 18. The two statutory public hearings and final adoption come in September, and TRIM notices reach property owners in late August.

Cape Coral has not posted the proposed budget document where we could reach it, so this brief rests on the Cape Coral Breeze and Gulfshore Business rather than on the filing itself. Council has not yet set a maximum millage rate, which is the number that caps what the August notice can show.