If voters approve a property tax measure on the ballot in November it will cost Fort Myers $8.4 million in 2027 and $14.3 million in 2028.
Nevertheless, the Fort Myers City Council stuck with plans to build a new police headquarters on Fowler Street and a new fire station on Treeline Avenue.
Police HQ cost lower – but low enough?
The new police facility would come with a construction cost of $110 million. That’s good news for a project that had been estimated to cost as much as $160 million. A guaranteed maximum price has not yet been negotiated, and Assistant City Engineer Ayoub Al-Bahou said it may yet come down a little more.
The new fire station would cost $5.2 million and bring with it the need for staffing to the tune of $1.4 million annually.
“Holding off is not going to make anything any cheaper,” said Councilwoman Teresa Watkins Brown. We can’t stop operating because they want us to.”
‘We can’t stop operating’ – ‘State penalizing city’
That echoed a statement from Councilman Fred Burson about the referendum.
“The reality is exemptions don’t save taxes,” Burson said. “It moves responsibility to another party.”
Burson said the state is “penalizing” counties and cities while exempting school boards.
“Look at your tax bill. The majority of what you pay goes to the school board,” he said. “I don’t know where these people are coming from.”
City Finance Director Christine Tenney explained that it’s not just the expansion of the homestead exemption that could impact future city budgets.
Exemption expansion is just the start
If the referendum passes, it includes a cap on the growth of non-homesteaded property, such as commercial property and rental properties.
Under current law, the taxable value of those properties can increase as much as 10%. In 2027 that cap would become 5%.
There would also be restrictions placed on how local governments can spend the revenue they do receive. Public safety functions such as police and fire are on that list, as are infrastructure needs such as roads, bridges and stormwater management, natural resource projects for flood control and environmental reasons, debt and pension obligations and what it calls “core government operations”.
Then there is the second bill the Legislature approved during the 2-day special session. To be implemented upon passage of the referendum are limits on property tax millage increases.
The maximum rate that a simple majority vote of council would be the roll-back rate, which is the millage that would produce the same revenue next year that was received this year. To raise that rate up to 110% it would take a two-thirds council vote. Raising it more than that would require a unanimous vote.
The bill also creates a budget exercise that calls for a look at what a 10% budget reduction would mean. It also requires the publication and posting of a budget calendar and other budget information to increase transparency.
Importantly, Tenney said, the legislation contains no mechanism for the replacement of lost revenue.
Tenney also explained that the “core government functions” restriction could leave the city grasping for revenue.
New fees and tax rate increases on the horizon
The 2026 city general fund budget of $183 million is fueled by just more than $87 million in property taxes. The current police budget is $64.5 million. The current fire budget is $36 million, with $21 million coming from property taxes.
The city is also considering a police impact fee. A fee on new construction of $838 would generate around $1 million a year to help pay for the new station.
The city also funds fire services with a fire assessment fee that produced just under $15 million this budget year.
When you add the almost $16 million the city will pay in debt service this year the cost exceeds $100 million. So the allowable expense would exceed available revenue by almost $15 million.
“Clearly once we get public safety we are tapped out of uses in the ad valorum (property tax) budget,” she said.
Just paying for the new police station, Tenney said, could add somewhere between $8 million and $12 million to annual city debt payments.
That, said Tenney, would cost around 0.85 mils, or 85 cents for every $1,000 of taxable property value.
Burson said it seems local governments could be backed into a corner and forced to raise tax rates.
“It’s nothing but a scam to make the people think they’re doing something,” he said of the referendum. “If they want to legislate for the city of Fort Myers, they should just get rid of the City Council and work directly with the city manager.”
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Charlie Whitehead covers Lee County and Fort Myers. Reach him at Cwhitehead@gannett.com
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This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Fort Myers stares down revenue loss, advances police, fire projects
Reporting by Charlie Whitehead, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Fort Myers News-Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Charlie Whitehead, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News | USA TODAY Network
