Cape Council approves FY 2020 budget
Cape Coral City Council passed the city’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget Thursday while rolling back the millage rate more than a quarter point.
At the second of two statutory-required public hearings, Council approved the rollback millage rate of 6.4903 mills, down from the 6.75 mills it had been the last three years and lower than the 6.55 mills City Manager John Szerlag first proposed.
One mill is equal to $1 for every $1,000 of taxable valuation and the rollback rate is the rate at which the city would receive the same amount of revenue as the previous year.
The city council set the budget and millage during its Sept. 5 meeting.
Council also approved the separate parks millage rate to repay the $60 million GO Bonds parks plan at a pro-rated 0.06 mills.
The General Fund budget, which funds city operations, was set at $233.4 million, up from last year’s $211.64 million as approved and $221.46 million as amended. The tentative total budget is $897.49 million and will go into effect when the fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
As for the money the city is expected to get from FEMA and the sale of surplus property, in an addendum to the passing of the preliminary budget, Council also agreed to look at two revenue sources that could bring the city additional funds: FEMA reimbursement related to Hurricane Irma and the sale of surplus property the city purchased in 2012 in a then-controversial $13 million land buy. None of those proceeds are included in the budget.