Cape Coral council sets 'not to exceed' tax guidance, asks staff to find $1.6M in cuts while holding line pending referendum

The Cape Coral City Council met in a July 15 special workshop to review the city manager's proposed FY2027 budget and three options for funding proposed public-safety increases, and gave staff direction to return proposals to close an estimated $1.6 million shortfall.

Deputy Financial Services Director Nicole Raittler told the council the city manager's current service-level general fund budget for 2027 totals $285,012,674 and uses a rollback-based approach to millage. Updated July 1 taxable values trimmed some revenue and left an initial shortfall the presentation described as a little more than $4.0 million before adjustments; after recognizing shared revenues at 98%, removing duplicated items and other changes, staff said a balanced general fund of roughly $285 million could be reached.

The staff presentation also detailed requested public-safety program modifications: police additions that include new sworn positions and capital costs, and a fire package with an estimated general-fund share of about 19 percent. Funding all public-safety requests would raise the city's budget by an estimated $12.9 million, staff said, and offered three paths: (1) keep the manager's proposed current-service budget; (2) raise revenue (example: a millage change to about 5.6053 would cover the full $12.9 million, or raising the fire service assessment to 97 percent would generate roughly $13 million); or (3) reallocate or reduce departmental services and programs to free the amount from within the existing budget.

Council members asked for clarity on several points: whether bringing encumbrance rollovers into the adopted budget artificially enlarges the adopted total, whether interest earnings can be treated as recurring budget revenue, and how specific reductions would affect service levels. A pair of public commenters during the meeting urged fiscal restraint: Charles Crane criticized recent multi-hundred‑million dollar spending and larger funding gaps, and Tom Shadrach urged the council to consider budgeting interest earnings and to budget staffing/operating at 95 percent to reduce apparent over‑budgeting; staff and the city's finance team cautioned that interest earnings are variable and generally better used for one‑time expenditures.

On legislative context, staff summarized CSSP 4 (a July 1 change to property-tax administration), which makes the rollback rate the baseline and changes the voting thresholds for rate increases; staff also presented multi‑year forecasts showing larger potential deficits in 2028 and 2029 under certain homestead-exemption scenarios.

After discussion, a majority of council members favored a conservative approach ahead of a November referendum: they directed the city manager to prepare a proposed budget that holds the current millage (5.1471) as the working target while voting next week to set a "not to exceed" millage rate at the rollback figure of 5.1988 for purposes of TRIM notices and disclosure. Council instructed staff to return options that would generate approximately $1.6 million in reductions or revenues to support the 5.1471 scenario; suggested approaches mentioned during the meeting included reviewing and prioritizing open vacancies, a hiring freeze outside public safety, modest use of earned interest for one‑time needs, and evaluating red‑light cameras or other targeted revenue measures.

The meeting concluded without final votes on any substantive budget measures; council members directed staff to bring back detailed options in August and September, ahead of the statutorily required tentative and final hearings (tentative: Sept. 10; final: Sept. 24). The council then moved to adjourn.