To: "Webster" <web-ster@capecoralwatchdogs.org>
Subject: Utility assessments in the Cape are higher than in other areas
Date: Saturday, February 17, 2007 5:28 PM

Does the city of Cape Coral have a clue?

Cape Coral has subjected its residents, in assessment
areas, to a financial disaster because of a lack of
knowledge about the pricing in the utilities area. In
fact, it appears that the verbiage in the contracts
with Montgomery Watson Harza are so convoluted that
the city auditor cannot tell if we are being billed
the correct amounts for labor.

Last week I stated that residents could save tens of
thousands of dollars if we take the utilities
in-house. Our city manager took exception to that
comment so I thought I would enlighten him.

If one looks at an assessment for a 15,000-square-foot
site in Cape Coral, the initial payment numbers jump
out at you like a lightening bolt. Initial payment is
defined as a cash payment which is the lowest price to
be charged.

Water is $6,324. That’s more than water and sewer
would cost in Bonita Springs, according to their Web
site. If you look at the wastewater charge on the Cape
Coral assessment, it shows a price of $15,759 and a
charge of $4,905 for irrigation. When you add in
$6,200 for impact fees and hook-up charge, then you
get a total of $33,200 rounded. If that same home was
sitting in Fort Myers the total charge would be
$8,500, or if it were located in Charlotte County then
the total charge would be $10,245. If this same home
on the same size lot was built in Charlotte County
then the home owner would have paid $20,000 less than
in Cape Coral.

If you look at another assessment from Cape Coral and
the lot size is 19,204 square feet, you get hit with
two lightning bolts. Water is $8,010.40, sewer is
$19,961.40 and irrigation is $6,213. Combine that with
the old impact fees and hook-up and you have a total
of $40,400. The cost to the home owner for this
installation on the same size lot in Fort Myers would
be $8,500. and the cost in Charlotte County would be
$10,200. If this same home on the same size lot was
built in Fort Myers, the home owner would have paid
$31,900 less than in Cape Coral.

If you look at one more assessment from Cape Coral for
a home on a lot size of 22,190 square feet, you get
hit with three lightning bolts. Water is $9,275.20,
which is more than water and sewer in Port St. Lucie,
which is $8,053. The sewer charge for this property in
Cape Coral is $23,113.20; the irrigation charge is
$7,194. The total charge in Cape Coral including
impact fees and hook-up is $45,800 rounded. The cost
to the home owner in Fort Myers would be $8,500 or the
cost in Port St. Lucie would be $8,053. So if this
house on the same size lot had been built in Port St.
Lucie then the owner would pay $37,747 less than in
Cape Coral.

Within the Southwest 4 assessment rolls there are 387
properties with assessments totaling $25,000 or more.
All of these properties would have been assessed at
least $20,000 less than they were assessed in Cape
Coral had they been built in Bonita Springs, Charlotte
County, Port St. Lucie or Fort Myers.

If our administration can’t deliver the same services
at the same price as other communities in Florida by
taking these projects in-house and/or by getting rid
of manager at risk, then the utilities need to be
privatized in order to curb the financial destruction
brought on by these projects as they exist today.
There is a very efficient company close by that is
delivering sewer and water at a much lesser price. I
would suggest we should look toward a company such as
Bonita Springs Utilities Inc. to take charge of our
utilities and manage the upcoming projects.

If the city refuses to take these projects in-house,
then there is only one other alternative and that is
to privatize the utilities. The cost of the utilities
is breaking the backs of the residents financially and
this is going to affect the economy in Cape Coral for
many years to come. If there is little or no
disposable income because of the money being sucked
out of the residents, then the city has managed to
defeat the plan to bring business into Cape Coral.
Business will study demographics and if they look at
this situation they will stay away from Cape Coral
like there has been an outbreak of the plague.

John Sullivan