FMB worried over loss of funding after recent vote

FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla.- A recent vote may have stripped up to $200,000 from Fort Myers Beach’s budget, town leaders said on Monday.

Fort Myers Beach was made up of three taxing districts. Town leaders asked voters to eliminate those districts not knowing doing so could strip the beach from $150,000- $200,000 worth of state funding.

“When you cut out $200,000 before we even had a chance to start, that’s not helpful,” said Fort Myers Beach Mayor Dennis Boback.

“The research that I did made it clear that we would no longer be able to meet the revenue-sharing criteria that’s in the Florida statute,” said Dawn Perry-Lenhert, the town’s attorney.

The town council will be sending a letter to the attorney general, asking if the funding cannot be recovered.

Town leaders could ask voters to fill out a mail-in ballot that would fix the problem but if nothing works, “we will need to seek reimbursement from the part that advised us to do this,” Boback said in a meeting on Monday.

Boback says he is considering legal action against the town’s former attorney.

Council members did not comment on why they were unaware of the possible loss of funding before placing the question on the ballot to voters.