Lee County property appraiser Matt Caldwell has released the estimated property values for municipalities that each of those communities will use to formulate their next fiscal budget. It was a very good year for property values on Fort Myers Beach.
Caldwell and his team estimate that Fort Myers Beach properties will jump from $4.6 billion in value last year to $6 billion in 2022. That’s an increase of nearly 31%.
The $6 billion figure is not the dollar amount that will be used to calculate the Fort Myers Beach budget once the town applies its millage rate. After homestead exemptions and other caps are calculated in, Caldwell estimates the figure for calculating the town’s budget will be $4.42 billion. That’s an increase of 14% from 2021. The tax base figure the town based its current budget on, after the homestead exemption and caps, was $3.9 billion.
If these numbers hold, the town of Fort Myers Beach will see an additional $539,664,257 added to its tax base. It will mean residents will pay more because their properties are worth so much more. That may not be something taxpayers want to hear, with inflation at an all-time high, gas prices averaging around $5.00 per gallon and grocery bills skyrocketing. The Fort Myers Beach town council is also considering raising its millage rate from .95 per $1,000 of assessed property value to .99 which would add another $660,000 to the town’s budget.
The value of properties on Sanibel shot up over 32% in the last year. In 2021 the final tax roll number on Sanibel was $6.5 billion. Lee County has estimated that number to be $8.6 billion in 2022. When the homestead and cap savings are calculated in, Sanibel will base its next fiscal budget on properties valued at $6.3 billion, up from the total taxable final figure of $5.6 billion in 2021.
Correction: an earlier version of this story noted that the $539,664,257 would be added to the town budget. We corrected that to state that amount will be added to the tax base to calculate the final town budget.
Revenue to the town will automatically increase 14% due to property values increasing 31%. Add to that tax revenue from new building and new businesses. There’s absolutely NO reason to increase the millage rate just to have the council piss it away on unnecessary lawsuits, electric charge stations, cost prohibitive street lights, clueless consultants and whatever other nonsensical bullshit they can find to waste our tax dollars on.
All of you are correct on all fronts. However, you must remember. That you have to have a council that really understands how to run a town. Unfortunately, we are blessed with a few council members that find it easy to spend your money on frivolous studies, lawsuits and pet projects. Remember, the election is coming. It’s up to you to fix this issue in the council. Your voice and your neighbors voices must be heard that you’ve had enough.
Why doesn’t Town Council ever talk about the “rollback rate” which would leave our taxes the same as last year-no increase!
To my knowledge, this has not happened since Larry Kiker was Mayor!
Every Town Council since then has increased taxes as the property values have increased. Leaving the mileage rate the same with higher property values IS A TAX INCREASE!
There is obviously no need to raise the millage rate unless greed has taken over.
We have an increase in value of existing properties and additional housing and business construction ongoing.
That 500k minimum increase will help cover the 500k cost of what the town has paid for court costs in our foolish beach access lawsuit