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Residents urge caution as Lee County holds public hearing on five‑year capital improvement plan
Summary
At a public hearing on the manager's recommended five‑year Capital Improvement Plan (FY2026–2030), residents urged commissioners to scale back projects or put nonessential items to a bond referendum; the manager's recommended scope presented $291,025,282 in proposed projects across five years.
The Lee County Board of Commissioners held a public hearing on the manager's recommended Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 and heard public comments urging the board to prioritize projects and consider bond financing for nonessential items.
County finance and management staff presented the manager’s recommended CIP; at a previous April meeting the manager had shown more than $306 million in requested projects and presented a recommended scope of $291,025,282 across the five‑year plan. The board scheduled and opened a public hearing on that recommended CIP at the meeting.
Resident David Smoak (96 Northridge Trail, Sanford) recommended three options for commissioners: reject the plan and request a plan that does not raise tax rates; adopt the plan with a specific property‑tax increase (he referenced a 10¢ example the manager included to show cost); or approve the plan but defer payment (which he called the worst option). Smoak urged the board to identify priorities and consider placing nonessential projects before voters in a bond referendum. He said the county manager “is only responding to the guidance given by you commissioners” and asked commissioners to give clearer direction.
The board also read into the record an email from James K. Womack Jr., who urged prioritizing school facilities and delaying certain county projects so the Southern Lee High School expansion could be funded sooner. The submitted comments included the line, “Why are you modernizing the old library? Sell the doggone thing,” which Womack asked the board to consider as part of citizen priorities.
After public comment the hearing was closed. Commissioners and staff noted several upcoming budget meetings and a planned CIP work session; no formal action to adopt or change the CIP was taken during the public hearing. Staff said more detailed budget and funding discussions will follow in the budget process and at scheduled workshops.
Members of the public who spoke called for clearer project prioritization, consideration of bond referenda for large nonessential projects, and more transparent trade‑offs during the board’s budget deliberations.
