To the editor:

Has the city of Cape Coral just stepped in a bear trap? No doubt the utilities will start up again in SW-6 and SW-7. I have to wonder why the council is so hell bent on doing this project without even looking for a better way to deliver the utilities. No attempt is being made to find a way to get this job done at a lower cost to the residents, as was done with the public safety building. The original price tag on that was $110 million and we wound up getting it done for less than $35 million. There is no reason we can’t do this with the utilities. It seems they will not even consider a different method. If we aren’t willing to look then it will never be found and our residents always seem to pay more then they should.

We know that Bonita Springs delivers gravity sewer and water for $8,720. That’s the full cost to the resident including hookup to the system. With hookup the residents on a two-lot site in Cape Coral will pay around $19,000 in SW-6 and SW-7. Empty lot owners will pay around $17,000. This is where the problem comes in to play.

The off water lots in SW-6 and SW-7 are worth around $13,000. Why in the world would anyone sink $17,000 into something that will be worth around $13,000 when all is said and done? In SW-4 after cranking $25,000 into the lots by installing utilities the off water lots are appraised at around $15,000 and the real value is around $13,000. More than likely they couldn’t be sold at this level and the real estate market hasn’t even bottomed out yet. What will the lots be worth next year? Your guess is as good as mine but I think I can safely say they are not saleable today at $13,000 and can only be salable at lower prices tomorrow.

There are 6,200 properties involved in the SW-6 and SW-7 assessment area. The density is around 57 percent. That would indicate approximately 3,534 improved properties. This would leave 2,666 unimproved properties or empty lots. Of the 2,666 unimproved lots maybe around 10 percent are on water. That would leave a balance of 2,399 dry lots which are worth less than the assessment and impact fee charges. If the city comes into possession of those lots and could sell them for $13,000 that would generate a loss of $4,000 each (the difference between installing utilities and market value) then we are looking at a loss of $9.6 million just on the off water empty lots alone. Then if you add into this mix all of the unimproved properties that are foreclosed on because of the utilities in SW-4 and SW-5 we are talking about a considerable loss of tax revenue with no way to recover. The city will have no choice except to come looking to the taxpayers to make up the shortfall. This means higher taxes.

In my opinion, most of this financial devastation could be avoided if we look to Bonita Springs and adopt a similar model to drive the cost down. Some members on the council have not been willing to look into this and just continue down the same old path. The comments are the that we heard two years ago in SW-4. “We have to do it now because the cost will be higher if we wait.” Since then the cost has been driven lower. If the cost can be lowered the result would be fewer foreclosures, lower utility rates and elimination of the extra tax burden because of abandoned properties.

John Sullivan

Cape Coral Minutemen