Lehigh Acres, FL – Vacant Land

The Lehigh Acres Fire Control and Rescue District could avoid layoffs of its firefighters because taxable property values did not fall as much as originally estimated.

The district experienced a drop of 16.3 percent, according to assessments released Monday, which are on their way to the state. A month ago, original estimates from the Lee County property appraiser suggested a 23 percent drop, but also a possible drop of just 17 percent.

“We were planning on 17.33 percent. That’s what we built our budget on. It’s still going to impact us drastically,” said Don Adams, fire chief.

Nearly every major taxing authority throughout Lee County is facing budget cuts that can affect emergency medical, fire and police services. At least one official said the decline is probably the worst decline in property values since the Great Depression.

Overall, the county saw little change from the estimate released a month ago, a 12.4 percent drop that ended up at 12 percent. Cape Coral did not see much change either, with a 26.6 percent fall that improved to 25 percent, and the city remained the hardest hit major taxing authority. The Bayshore Fire and Rescue District had a slightly better improvement than Lehigh – a 12.3 percent drop to a 4.8 percent fall, for a 7.5 percent upswing – but Bayshore’s tax base is only one-twelfth of Lehigh’s.

Read the full story…

Read Full Post »