On Monday the Fort Myers Beach Town Council voted 4-1 to set the tentative 2025-2026 millage rate at $1.25 of $1,000 of assessed property value, an increase of 26%. That rate can be reduced over the next two months as the council meets and digs deeper into the budget. They cannot vote for a higher rate. The current rate is .99. The town has not raised the millage rate since before Hurricane Ian.
Councilman John King voted against the proposed rate increase.
Finance Director Joe Onzik reported that the town is facing a $1.2 million budget shortfall heading into the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
The millage increase to 1.25 will bring in an additional $1,191,486. The town has been using a $12 million loan from the state of Florida to fill in yearly budget shortfalls. That loan also restricts what the town can do, like capital projects, because any additional revenue the town brings in must be used to pay back the loan. While there is hope the loan will eventually be forgiven that has not happened as of yet. As of now the loan must be paid back by 2033 and the interest rate is 10%.
The beach will see more revenue from higher property tax values. Last month Lee County Property Appraiser Matt Caldwell reported that property values on Fort Myers Beach increased 12% over the previous year. Caldwell says the taxable property value total on Fort Myers Beach is $4.6 billion, $514,240 more than 2024-2025. That surpasses the total property value number from 2022, before Hurricane Ian. Onzik said the higher property values will bring the town an additional $670,000 next year. The town will also see an additional $617,000 in non ad-valorum revenue. Where the town is seeing less money include from the public service tax ($300,000), the state commission tax ($260,000), the half-cent sales tax ($120,000) and state revenue sharing ($60,000).
A tentative millage rate must be adopted by the Town Council and submitted to the County Property Appraiser prior to today. Once the tentative millage rate has been set it cannot be increased, only reduced.
The town has to hold 2 budge public hearings after 5PM before approving a final budget, in addition to discussing the budget at upcoming Town Council meetings. The first budget hearing is September 11, 2025 at 5:01 pm, and the second budget hearing is September 24, 2025 at 5:01 pm. The budget public hearings will be held in the new town hall building at 6231 Estero Boulevard.
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