Residents Will Most Likely Pay More For Growth

After another failed vote to invoke “extraordinary circumstances” in their attempt to approve mobility fees Thursday night, the Cape Coral City Council voted to change from impact fees to mobility fees with a maximum increase of 12.5% per year over the next 4 years.

The 50% increase over  a 4-year period is the maximum allowed by state law unless a municipality invokes extraordinary circumstances. The City attorney advised council they did meet the criteria for extraordinary circumstances. Impact fees have not been raised in Cape Coral in nearly 2 decades and the City has $2 billion worth of infrastructure projects to try to accommodate future growth.

By law, to invoke extraordinary circumstances, 6 council votes were needed. In several meetings, and after several votes, the council could only muster up 5. Those in favor of extraordinary circumstances wanted to allow future council’s the option to move the fees higher than the state regulated 50% over 4 years if needed. By simply adopting mobility fees at a flat rate of 12.5% that guarantees the increase can never be greater than that amount. Because of a change in state law any future council that wants to invoke extraordinary circumstances has to now vote unanimously to do so. 

So why will residents likely pay more? 

Because the city has not raised impact fees in nearly 2 decades it’s short the money it needs to pay for the infrastructure wish-list projects. By not allowing the possibility to levy higher fees on new development, residents who already paid their impact fees will most likely have to cover the cost of future growth through a higher millage rate to make up the difference.  

The mobility fee on a new single family home, starting January 1st, will go from $3,347 to $3,765, then in year two to $4,184, and year three $4,602. Some council members were hoping to get that number closer to what Lee County charges, which is $10,000. And, that fee is from 2018. Mayor John Gunter objected to the extraordinary circumstances because he was worried that in the 5th year a future council might decide to allow the fee to double, getting the city closer to that $10,000 number. 

Representatives from the Real Estate and building industries have been lobbying council members to keep any increases relatively low and the Chamber of Commerce has asked the City Council to only raise the fees by 12.5% per year for both residential and commercial.

Some believe that if the city raised the fees too much business owners and developers would balk on building and decide to take their business to Fort Myers or elsewhere where the infrastructure is ready to roll. Cape Coral is in desperate need of additional commercial business.