Proposed Cape Coral city budget for 2025 sees a 10% decrease

The proposed city budget for Cape Coral was just released, and it promises lower property taxes for its residents.

City Manager Michael Ilczyszyn’s budget comes in just under $1 billion, reflecting a 10.18% decrease from 2024, from $1.095 billion to $984.1 million.

The proposed budget was created using a millage rate of 5.3126, reducing the millage rate from the prior year which was 5.3694.

Ilczyszyn’s proposed budget also includes 66 new full-time positions.

The budget addresses a whole score of subjects, from public safety to parks and recreation to infrastructure improvements.

$3.5 million—the largest amount ever proposed in a single budget year—will be used to expand city sidewalks. 

The dollar amount for paving roadways also nearly doubled to $11.5 million.

Another big number on the budget is $10.4 million for the purchase of the old golf course property.

Both the Cape Coral Fire and Police Departments will also be given resources to meet the growth of the city, with money going towards fire station upgrades and additional staffing.

“The more people we can add, the more we’ll be able to help the city address all kinds of concerns,” said Mercedes Simonds, public affairs officer with the Cape Coral Police Department. “We can address car volumes, traffic and just kind of add to the different detective and special units.” 

Under the newly proposed budget, there will be twelve new CCPD positions: eight police officers, a 911 operator and additional staff for the Real-Time Crime Center.

If you’re interested in learning more about this budget, the city council will discuss it in a series of workshops starting with a town hall on July 25.

Following the workshops, the city council will host two public hearings on September 12 and 26 at 5:05 p.m.

After that, the council will adopt a final version of the budget.

Click here to view the entire proposed city budget for fiscal year 2025.