City Utility Assessments Cape Coral

For quite some time in cities like Cape Coral  there was no city water available due to the history of its development.  When finally this project started in the first areas, each and every lot owner got charged for the expansion through the assessments.

These costs which climbed up to more than $20,000 during the construction boom in 2005 can be paid in different ways. While the owner of the property can of course pay the whole amount at once including a discount, the city also offers payment in installments or a simple financing with them.

If you choose to finance, the city will charge you on a yearly basis and add this amount to your property tax. The amount is split into 3 different connection types: city water, city sewer and irrigation. The latter does not necessarily have to be connected, however the city will still charge the assessments and the monthly basic fee.

The first area that got connected to the city water supply was the southeast section of Cape Coral. Because of the direct proximity to the water the first homes in 1956 have been built there.

In the coming years the water network was expanding towards the southwestern areas while the northern ones still  are not connected as of today. The homes in those areas are being supplied through a well in the backyard. The well water will be pumped to the house, transported through a cleaning system and then supplied into the house. The  sewage exits through a septic tank and a drainage field under the lawn in the front yard. The disadvantage of the well supply is that the water quality is slightly inferior to the city water and that you have to maintain the cleaning system. The advantage is that the well water does not cost anything. However these areas are designated for the utility expansion project and it is a matter of time when it will take place. In any case you should bear these costs in mind when you plan on buying a house in the northern area.

The southern sections are more or less all connected to city water with some exceptions. In general you can say  that  SW and SE addresses are connected while NE and NW addresses are not. The difference between the SW and SE areas is that lots in the SE often do not have any unpaid or open assessments, whereas lots in the SW usually carry a remaining assessment on them. Your Realtor can find out the exact amounts of any open assessments by placing an inquiry with the city. This of course will be done before an offer. Due to the different points in time when the southern sections got connected the owners accordingly started paying their assessments (6 months after the expansion is done you have to be connected and start paying). The majority of these lots still have assessments unpaid. Standard practice for the Americans is to assume these unpaid assessments and continue to pay them until they in turn sell the property to someone else. They do consider the costs as not that much due to the fact that they are charged with the property taxes once a year. Nonetheless it is a financing and includes additional charges beyond the actual amount. In Cape Coral it is customary to assume these assessments, however everything is negotiable. Europeans sometimes do not understand why they are supposed to assume these assessments and try to negotiate the complete payoff before closing. Any way - each payoff, either the complete amount at once or the yearly one with the property taxes increases the value of the lot.