\n\t\t\t\t\t\tResidents in Cape Coral say rising utility bills are already straining their budgets as city leaders look to go over water and sewer rates. \u201cI think it\u2019s theft,\u201d said Danny Pool, a Cape Coral resident. \u201cI\u2019ve lived in Florida all my life, and bills have gone up there too, but nothing like here.\u201dPool said costs have climbed significantly since he moved to the area.\u201cI feel like since I\u2019ve been here, it\u2019s gone up probably about 50 percent, if not more,\u201d he said.Other residents share similar concerns. Larry Zoltek said current rates are already too high, even when he is not home. \u201cYeah, it\u2019s too high,\u201d Zoltek said. \u201c$70 a month just to maintain the service without using it, that\u2019s a lot.\u201dCity officials are expected to discuss potential rate adjustments during a meeting Wednesday. Officials say the increases would help cover rising operating costs and expand access to city water in northern parts of Cape Coral through the Utility Extension Project.Some residents say the rising costs are forcing difficult financial decisions.\u201cSome people have actually been forced to move because they can\u2019t keep up with the rising costs,\u201d said resident Sandy Genter. \u201cIt\u2019s hard on families. even our adult kids can\u2019t afford things.\u201dThe city said it is evaluating multiple long-term options for funding water and sewer infrastructure. One scenario uses traditional long-term debt and includes larger rate increases projected for 2028 and 2033, along with steady annual increases of about 5% in other years.Another option relies more heavily on a commercial paper program, which could avoid an additional increase in 2028. Under that approach, rates would not rise beyond levels previously approved in 2024.City officials emphasized that these are planning scenarios and no decisions have been made. Wednesday\u2019s meeting is expected to be discussion-based, and any future rate changes would require formal approval by the City Council, along with advance notice to residents.For now, some residents say they are bracing for what could come next.\u201cIt\u2019s the people who are here all the time who are really going to have to pay for it,\u201d Pool said.DOWNLOAD\u202fthe free\u202fGulf Coast News app\u202ffor your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tCAPE CORAL, Fla. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Residents in Cape Coral say rising utility bills are already straining their budgets as city leaders look to go over water and sewer rates. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s theft,\u201d said Danny Pool, a Cape Coral resident. \u201cI\u2019ve lived in Florida all my life, and bills have gone up there too, but nothing like here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pool said costs have climbed significantly since he moved to the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like since I\u2019ve been here, it\u2019s gone up probably about 50 percent, if not more,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Other residents share similar concerns. Larry Zoltek said current rates are already too high, even when he is not home. <\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, it\u2019s too high,\u201d Zoltek said. \u201c$70 a month just to maintain the service without using it, that\u2019s a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
City officials are expected to discuss potential rate adjustments during a meeting Wednesday. Officials say the increases would help cover rising operating costs and expand access to city water in northern parts of Cape Coral through the Utility Extension Project.<\/p>\n
Some residents say the rising costs are forcing difficult financial decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people have actually been forced to move because they can\u2019t keep up with the rising costs,\u201d said resident Sandy Genter. \u201cIt\u2019s hard on families. even our adult kids can\u2019t afford things.\u201d<\/p>\n
The city said it is evaluating multiple long-term options for funding water and sewer infrastructure. One scenario uses traditional long-term debt and includes larger rate increases projected for 2028 and 2033, along with steady annual increases of about 5% in other years.<\/p>\n
Another option relies more heavily on a commercial paper program, which could avoid an additional increase in 2028. Under that approach, rates would not rise beyond levels previously approved in 2024.<\/p>\n
City officials emphasized that these are planning scenarios and no decisions have been made. Wednesday\u2019s meeting is expected to be discussion-based, and any future rate changes would require formal approval by the City Council, along with advance notice to residents.<\/p>\n
For now, some residents say they are bracing for what could come next.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the people who are here all the time who are really going to have to pay for it,\u201d Pool said.<\/p>\n
DOWNLOAD\u202fthe free\u202fGulf Coast News app<\/a>\u202ffor your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app<\/a> to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Residents in Cape Coral say rising utility bills are already straining their budgets as city leaders look to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241039,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210,15005,6025,82927,106596,104,1179,16288,213,106597,73924,2171,106598,106595,4103],"class_list":["post-241038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news","tag-city-official","tag-cost","tag-current-rate","tag-danny-pool","tag-entertainment","tag-gulf-coast-news-app","tag-increase","tag-late-news","tag-meeting-wednesday","tag-northern-part","tag-resident","tag-scenario","tag-sewer-rate-option","tag-water"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}