Another disaster for the residents of Cape Coral took place at the city council meeting on Monday June 8th.. The council passed the resolutions to move forward with SW-6 & SW-7 as well as Water First, North of Pine Island Road. I really have to wonder what the folks on the council are thinking. This is clearly a suicide mission we are on. There will be one more chance to pull up the stick and open the throttle in order to avoid crashing when the final resolutions are voted on July.
This is not a plan it is a jumble of disconnected ideas. It appears to be purposefully assembled this way in order to sway and convince council that this is the route we should be taking. Council has not thought this out nor have they thought about the repercussions that were not discussed. I believe that the residents will wind up deeper in debt than ever imagined if we go forward with this.
The point that council never discussed is the empty off water lot situation. I have to wonder why Gloria Tate did not bring that up since she is an expert in real estate ? The council was told some time back, that the city could recover the assessment & impact fee (capacity reservation fee) money by selling tax certificates. That way the city could recoup the utility money. That sounds like something from Fantasy Island.
I don’t believe this is possible. The unimproved (empty) off water lots are not worth the charges for assessments and impact fees. For example off water lots in SW-6 & SW-7 are worth around $7,000.00 to $8,000.00. It doesn’t take a great deal of foresight to see that unimproved lot owners will throw these lots back at the city/county when they realize the real value.
City staff has told the council that they will recover their assessments through the sale of tax certificates. I don’t believe that this will
happen. I don’t believe speculators/investors will be paying $17,000.00 plus for a lot that is worth no more than $8,000.00. If the lot owner goes on the 10 year no pay plan the lien on the property with interest becomes $34,000.00 on a 10,000 Sq Ft lot.. In fact I believe the investors/speculators will make the city "A deal that it can’t refuse". They will offer to take these lots off the hands of the city at market value with assessments waived. The city will own a great deal of real estate that is not
generating tax revenue. It seems logical that the city will jump at the chance to get these properties back on the tax rolls and will have no choice but to sell them without charging for the assessments and impact fees.
If this comes to pass the people who paid their own assessments will wind up paying for the assessments and impact fees on the lots that may be relinquished by the owners. What do you think this will do to the utility rates? It’s just a matter of time before this tree falls. It will not only be SW-6 & SW-7 but in SW-5, SW-4 and previous assessments areas and lots in the North that may not be worth $6,000.00 . The assessment is higher than the land value. The thing that will tip the boat will be the notices that the county assessor sends out. After this happens the lot owners locally and from out of town will understand the reduced value of their off water lots compared with the cost of their assessments.
Anyone who believes the utility rates will not go up 92% is going to be quite perturbed when it happens. I have no doubt that it will happen. In fact I believe the increase will be a lot more than 92%.
There are too many variables that city council has not taken into consideration before embarking on this Kamikaze mission.
John Sullivan
Mayoral Candidate
Political advertisement paid for and approved by John Sullivan Candidate for Cape Coral Mayor.
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