Town staff is proposing to increase the annual parking pass for residents from $50 to $65 per year (a 30% increase). And, to increase hourly town parking space fees from $5 per hour to $7 for premium zones and $6 for standard zones. You will also be charged $6 per hour to visit the Mound House unless you have a membership.
The town is anticipating the new pool will be open in 2027. The residential membership to the pool is proposed at $150 per year, non-residents will pay $350. An annual family membership would be $300 and $550. Town staff is projecting $60,000 in revenue from the new pool which has not yet been approved to be built by the Town Council.
The town is also proposing an $8 per chair fee for beach vendors (in addition to the annual license of $127.31) and $15 per umbrella.
If the new fee schedule is approved, each watercraft vendor will have to pay $150 per vessel in addition to their $400 annual license fee. And, each parasail vendor will have to pay $400 per vessel in addition to their $400 annual license fee.
Staff is also reviving the $100 per bedroom charge for short-term rentals in addition to the annual $300 annual registration fee.
The fee increases will be discussed at tonight’s budget workshop along with a proposed 30% millage rate increase. The workshop begins at 5:01PM and we will carry that meeting live on our Facebook page and YouTube Channel. The 2027 budget goes into effect on October 1st.
My family has lived and owned property on Fort Myers Beach for over 40 years. I moved there full-time in 2020 and lost everything in 22 with hurricane Ian. I now live in Bonita Springs which beaches charge $2 an hour for parking, $8 for all day at Lover’s Key and all Naples beaches if you are not a resident are $10 for the day or delnor Wiggins State Park is $6 for the day for a car with two people. The water is much better, clear and it doesn’t have a bunch of people drinking everywhere. Keeping people off of Fort Myers Beach sounds great so Jack the price is up as high as you want but I don’t think the people that own businesses there are going to appreciate that because their fees have all increased dramatically as well. I miss living at the beach but I certainly don’t miss the expense of Fort Myers Beach on its own. If you go up the coast to Siesta Key they have huge parking lots that are free to the public most of those beach towns all want people to come there so they provide the parking, we apparently do not want people to go to Fort Myers Beach so we continue to raise the prices. Just seems like a ridiculous way of running a town.
Since Ian there isn’t really a huge draw to vacation in FMB so not yet worth going there to pay $7 every time you park. Maybe they should appreciate the people who do come and wait until they build back Times Square to make it worth it to pay increased parking.
Crazy to punish residents that pay taxes yearly and frequent the restaurants . You will be sorry when we all go off Island a few miles to other options
What’s going on on FMB? Is there any tax or fee that the town doesn’t like? Are we becoming a mini California ? If it walks,talks or stands still,Tax it. Ever consider cutting areas of redundancy, instead of hiring more employees? The population of under 7000 and not growing and putting the burden on them. Make the island more visitor friendly, they will support the local businesses and help boost the local economy. Free street parking would be a big plus ,not heard of on many Florida beach towns. It’s just good for business. We don’t need a community pool. We have the gulf. Moundhouse,let volunteers support it. BAY OAKS,how many residents use it? I could go on,but NOT. Is there anything FREE on FMB? Maybe the sun and air They haven’t figured out how to tax that yet
Wow, $7 an hour to park? I guess the Town figures they can get away with it since the $2 an hour County parks are closed for renovation!
Didn’t the parking fees just increase last year from 25.00 to 50.00? and now they want to raise it again? $135K to redesign the pool, just fix what’s broken and move on. Tourist don’t come here for the community pool, they come here for the Gulf. If the pool doesn’t get approved, does that mean the town spent 135K for nothing?
Looking forward to the November elections, hopefully we’ll get rid of some of these fools.
My wife and I had been coming down to FMB for 15+ years but after Ian and what your town board has done we have been traveling the rest of the gulf coast and seeing everything FMB used to be. This is just another illustration of poor choices for FMB. Good luck this Northerner wised up.
I am officially done with FMB. First FMB officials proposed an insane (which they could not do) idea of assessing a toll to enter FMB and now you want to raise the parking rate. Do you realize locals are the ones who support your causes, eat at your restaurants, attend and volunteer at beach events and clean your beaches at clean ups yet you want us to pay more to do so.
Well, no more for me. Sanibel’s restaurants have parking lots and they do not charge an extra 3 percent for credit cards. Their beaches are clean, have large parking lots and up to date bath houses. Plus, there are shells and wildlife and other things to do besides drink.
How about reducing expenditures instead of screwing your supporters?
Why should visitors be burdened with the town’s poor management???!!!
Parking is already the biggest reason locals won’t visit the island, they’ll probably hire Carmen to oversee parking.
Who’s idea was it for a pool??? Good lord, the first storm surge will cost taxpayers even more.
Wake Up People !!!!!!!
Every “Ground Level Pool” on FMB will eventually be filled up with Ocean water, sand, and debris AGAIN in the future ! Just look at Margaritaville, but we (FMB) don’t have the budget to keep repairing it after every seasonal water storm type surge each year, AND the other contributing factor, the islands storm surge drains are still plugged with past hurricane sludge / debris. Don’t waste our tax payer money fixing it every time it happens or the cost of maintaining a swimming pool pleasure that we can’t afford !!!
The drain system they installed in the ground along Estero Blvd was the stupidest design they could have come up with.
This is another example of why the decision to restrict large real estate developers from building on the island is a bad and unproductive idea.
The pool is a waste of money, you have an entire gulf to swim in. The mound house should be self supported or shut down. $7 an hour parking will kill the downtown businesses. Bay oaks could be self supported if you charged a minimal rate for pickle ball and other services. Tighten your belts and get fiscally responsible, you can have everything. Just imagine the shape the town would be in if the average assessment was like the rest of the world and not a million dollars a property!
100% agree!
(I think you meant “…you CAN’T have everything.)
Counting $60,000 revenue from a pool that is unlikely to be finished until at least the 4th quarter of 2027 is Blue state budgeting, and the reason blue states are always in debt. Counting revenue that is highly unlikely to be received to balance a budget is unacceptable and highly suspect
You got that right. Blue states like nyc raise everything. So the locals can’t afford to go anywhere.Parking 7.00.less people will come here.start letting the big guys build on their lots.You will collect more real estate taxes.
How much money do you people need to operate a 7 mile long, 1000 ft wide piece of land? You’re pissing away money somewhere. How about those Miami salaries you’re giving away? Turtle lights? Oy. They need to watch “ The Money Pit” at the next town hall meeting. Everyday there’s a story about how they need more money. Here’s that familiar pain in my ass again. Oh, that’s my wallet pocket….
When is the council going to stop spending money they don’t have. $60,000 is the projected income for the pool. Well if people don’t use the plans there’s no $60,000 but u still have employees, cleaning supplies, pool maintenance etc to pay for it. The increase in parking is ridiculous. This will hurt local businesses. It will not help with traffic because the traffic is mostly gaulkers and people who don’t know how to drive, and they will still be around. This council needs to learn how to say no. The people of FMB are a bank and council is applying for a loan. The bank says sorry, u don’t qualify. No loan for u
The $5 per hour rate has already run former beach regulars off the island. This won’t affect me. I’m done with The Town of FMB.
This is what all public officials do when the money is running out !
Gouge the residents and tourists for more money.
Shame on them !!!!!!
Interesting fee hike for non-islanders.
The county built the pool with money from all Lee County property tax payers, meaning all Lee Countians could use it.
Seems this fee hike proposal for those non-island residents would be discriminating against those investors.
Why can’t they just repair and open the current pool? Why spend that kind of money on a new pool just to lose more dollars? Would they run their own business that way?
It’s become a resident funded island. No developer will pay those fees. Just hurting the very residents that voted these clowns into office. Wait until the election period occurs. They will all be out of a job, starting with the mayor promise!
As a former beach resident I still used to frequent beach restaurants. Lynn Hall park charged $2 per hour which I considered reasonable. It is closed for a year. $5 an hour to park for the privilege of also paying for dinner is a no go for me. I rarely come anymore. Look at other beach towns. They have free parking. Something is wrong here.
Wow!! It just keeps getting more more difficult for residents!! You didn’t even mention the 30% property tax increase the town Jerks want the residents to pay next year!! This town is going to Hell and pretty soon. No one is going to want to come here!!! You can keep your stupid Public pool I have my own!!!!
As I read the info about the pool, only people who have a membership are allowed to use the pool. If you are banking on my $300, your revenue is projected to be $59,700. I believe the pool is a non-priority at this time.
You are mistaken. Anyone can use the pool. Just pay daily admission fee. Memberships are provided for those of us who want frequent daily use.
I love the short term rental increase. Key West’s rental/visitor taxes are ridiculous, but people still go, they’ll still come here. Also, like all the overgrown properties, the Town needs to start investigating whether these rental properties are even registered and paying those fees. We have 3 of 5 rentals on our street alone that are not registered with the Town. One even advertises they DO NOT have working CO/smoke detectors.
Hmmmm. FMB just keeps shooting itself in the foot.
Yes it does!! They are not approving any new projects and rather have the residents pay for their supposedly budget deficit!!
. What exactly are the benefits to residents, and how do you propose we continue staffing and operating entities like the Mound House, Bay Oaks and the mooring field that collectively lose the Town more than $2 million annually?
Everyone wants taxes to stay low. Everyone wants these amenities to remain open and fully staffed. But apparently raising fees on the tourists who use and help support these amenities is now considered “gouging.”
So which is it?
Maybe the Town should just keep cutting staff and resources from Planning and Building services, the departments actually helping improve the Town’s financial position, so we can continue subsidizing more than $2 million a year in losses elsewhere.
You can’t demand lower taxes, oppose reasonable user fees, insist every service remain fully funded and then complain about the Town’s suggestions for discussion.
At some point, the math still has to work.
The increased parking fees are a great idea to keep traffic down. A free shuttle from and to Walmart should be funded with all the increased tourist activity fees. What is the reason for increasing all the fees? Is this just gouging the tourist? Where are the benefits for the residents?
There is already a shuttle bus that travels from the Beach Park and Ride terminal that is behind Walmart. The cost is 75 Cents each way under age 62 and 35 Cents if you are 62 and above.