CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Folks in Cape Coral will see a slight increase in their monthly bills.
The city council will use those additional dollars to help pay off debt for the city's charter schools.
That increase will be in your electricity bill. The Cape Coral City Council decided to include the first 500 kilowatts of electricity in the public service tax.
They also voted to add the seven percent public service tax on metered natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas and manufactured gas. You could see this seven percent tax if you buy a propane tank.
All to help pay off the debt of the Cape Coral Charter Schools.
It will cost you about $27 each year or around $2 per month.
“I don’t think that is a lot especially because that is over a year," said Kristin Hideg, a Cape Coral resident.
She said she doesn't mind the extra couple of dollars to help fund the charter schools.
The increase will bring nearly $2.8 million toward the charter school system.
The schools lease their building from the city, according to the News-Press. That lease is about $3 million a year.
A spokesperson for the City of Cape Coral said in a statement:
“The Oasis Charter Schools are a K-12 Municipal Charter School System and are part of the City of Cape Coral. No other single action taken by a City can improve property values as much as successful Municipal Charter schools. Municipalities with their own Municipal Charter School(s) typically have higher property values than surrounding communities.”
Hideg said she believes the schools add to her property value especially being minutes away.
“I know the property value by the school is a lot higher and people want to live in the communities by the school," she said,
The next step is sending the ordinance to the Florida Department of Revenue for implementation on April 1, 2022.
According to News-Press, Mayor John Gunter and Councilwoman Florida Tate will also meet with the School Board of Lee County on November 2. They will discuss the half-cent sales tax. They hope to get the board to provide a portion of the sales tax to the charter schools.
