When the Fort Myers Beach Town Council meets to approve its final 2026 budget Wednesday night, a 26% tax increase is no longer on the table. Apparently the Town Attorney has changed her mind as to whether the council can go back up to that higher increase after the conclusion of the first public hearing.
On September 11th, the Town Council voted to approve a new tentative millage rate of 1.15 per $1,000 of assessed property value. That was less than the tentative millage rate of 1.25 that was set in August and higher than the current rate of .99. At the September 11th meeting, Town Attorney Nancy Stuparich told the council, if needed, they still had the flexibility to go back to 1.25 (a 26% increase). Apparently, that is not the case.
Over the last week town council members were told that not only could they not go back to the higher rate, approving a 1.15 millage rate, according to state law, would require a 5-0 vote because it is considered a significant increase. If the council approves the 1.150 millage rate, it will generate approximately $720k in additional revenue in 2026 for the town.
At their September 11th hearing, town staff presented a budget that included enough cuts to keep the millage rate at the current rate of .99, which would still increase the tax residents pay, and increase the town’s revenue slightly, because property values are higher than in 2025. If the town council went with a millage rate of 1.0294, it would result in just over $177,000 in additional revenue in 2026 and require a 4-1 vote to approve.
Vice Mayor Jim Atterholt and Council member John King have been against any tax increase. Atterholt needs solid convincing from Finance Director Joe Onzik that any increase would go directly into the town’s reserves and that there is no other way to move money into that account. King may not be able to be moved at all on a tax increase.
The final budget hearing is Wednesday, September 24th at 5PM. At that public hearing, the budget and millage rate must be approved.
Town Manager Will McKannay told the Town Council on September 11th that he would not be comfortable if all the cuts went through but, “you give us the guidance and we’ll make it happen.”
The town’s overall budget will be about $53 million.
I was at the budget meeting last week. The councilman John King.The one who .Our town voted to recall.was totally against a tax increase. He was looking out for tax payers.He also mentioned it would be beneficial for the town to sell the property where the old town hall was situated on.Maybe that is the direction our town government should take.