Cape Coral scraps 80% fee hike for parks and rec programs

CAPE CORAL, Fla. — A proposal that would have raised Cape Coral's parks and recreation fees by as much as 80% is no longer moving forward after dozens of parents, coaches and youth athletes packed Tuesday's City Council budget workshop to oppose the idea.

The proposed fee increases were one of three options city staff presented to help close a projected $1.6 million budget gap while allowing the city to keep its property tax rate, or millage rate, at its current level.

Mayor John Gunter opened the workshop by making it clear the City Council did not direct staff to raise parks and recreation fees.

Instead, council members had asked City Manager Michael Ilczyszyn to present options that could avoid increasing the millage rate.

"I am not going to support the park fee increases," Gunter said. "If we were ever going to have any type of fee increases, I think it should be an incremental approach."

Cape American Baseball President Deanna Livingston said families were relieved after hearing council members reject the proposal.

"We put up the fight. We showed how much everything means to everybody," Livingston said.

She said concern spread quickly after organizations learned what the increases could mean.

"We got an email and my email specifically said that our (annual) fees would go from $2,000 to $24,000," Livingston said.

Several children and parents urged council members not to balance the budget on the backs of youth sports.

"Why make it harder for them when they got jobs and they got bills to pay and they gotta pay for our sports? Why make it harder? It just doesn't make sense to me," said youth baseball and football player Dennis Adkinson Jr.

Parent Ally Warman echoed the players' and parents' concerns.

"Why not invest into your children because that's what your community is going to be in the future," Warman said.

During the workshop, Ilczyszyn explained that staff originally proposed a balanced budget using the higher rollback tax rate. After a majority of council members expressed interest in keeping the current millage rate, staff was directed to find alternative ways to make up the difference. Because of state restrictions and the stage of the budget process, Ilczyszyn said user fees and interest earnings were among the few remaining revenue options available.

Still, several council members said they preferred exploring spending cuts or other funding sources before asking families to pay more.

District 7 Councilmember Rachel Kaduk said she'd rather use interest earnings from city funds to help fill the budget gap than increase recreation fees.

District 6 Councilmember Keith Long argued the city should first consider previously identified budget reductions before raising youth sports fees.

"There's no chance this passes," Long said. "Why bring this forward?"

By the end of the workshop, every council member indicated they did not support the proposed recreation fee increases.

"It's not an option for me. Never was," Gunter said before apologizing to families who came to the meeting. "That option is off the table."

Instead, the council directed staff to continue working toward balancing the fiscal year 2027 budget through a combination of spending reductions and other revenue sources while keeping the current millage rate. The parks and recreation fee proposal will not move forward or be mentioned at Wednesday's regular City Council meeting.