Property values on Sanibel drop for fourth straight year
According to the Lee County Property Appraiser’s Office, taxable property values in Lee County decreased by 5.29 percent in 2010. Despite the fact that every municipality suffered a loss of some degree, the City of Sanibel was impacted the least.
On Wednesday, the report from Ken Wilkinson indicated that Sanibel’s property values last year were estimated at $4,162,362,000, down 1.16 percent from the previous year.
While the property valuation report cannot be considered “good” to any degree, those numbers could have been significantly worse.
“Our news was better than some of Sanibel’s ‘sister cities’ received,” City Manager Judie Zimomra said on Monday. “Although our numbers aren’t anything to rejoice over.”
In Fort Myers, for example, property values dropped 6.97 percent. Fort Myers Beach saw values decrease some 6.7 percent, Bonita Springs a 5.83 percent drop and Cape Coral a 4.87 percent drop.
Countywide, 2010’s total taxable value for Lee County was $55,727,980,232. The estimated 2011 value is $52,585,969,000, a decrease of 5.29 percent.
Zimomra credited the actions of the City Council with preventing Sanibel from witnessing an even greater decline in property values.
“At City Council’s direction, we have followed a specific path during this economic downturn,” she said. “We have constricted the size of our city government, focusing on lowering fixed costs. We have accelerated debt payoffs by looking at viable alternatives and we have increased our reserves by completing some capital projects when we’ve been able to take advantage of some lower construction costs.”
The city is currently operating with 110 full-time employees, down from a peak of 142 full-time employees in 2007.
For the fifth consecutive year, the city successfully reduced outstanding debt, from $17.8 million in 2006, to $15.4 million in 2007, to $14.7 million in 2008, to $14.0 million in 2009, to $10.8 last year.
In addition, the city has been able to maintain the lowest tax rate possible while maintaining a high quality level of services.
“We still have some belt-tightening to do,” added Zimomra. “But we approach the budget with a scalpel, not a hatchet.”
On July 19, the City Council is scheduled to set the millage rate for 2012. Zimomra predicted that, for the fourth year in a row, Sanibel will not see that rate increased. Last year, council introduced the millage at 2.3204 but reduced it to 2.161 when the municipal budget was adopted in September.
Local fire districts reported losses as well, with the Sanibel Fire District reporting a 1.17 percent loss (from $4,334,224,823 in 2010 to an estimated $4,284,225,000 in 2011). The Captiva Fire District saw a 0.48 percent drop (from $1,299,528,531 in 2010 to an estimated $2,282,838,000 in 2011) while the Upper Captiva Fire District witnessed a 3.40 percent drop (from $193,746,844 in 2010 to an estimated $187,403,000 last year).