New Incentive for Business Growth

March 2013

City Council recently unanimously approved an economic development incentive sure to please area investors and developers in Cape Coral. This action is expected to promote larger developments to come to Cape Coral by way of saving BIG DOLLARS in previously assessed rates and the means used to assess them.

The incentive is based on a major change to the CIAC fees charged upon development when properties are not in an assessment area but have access to City services. CIAC is the short, more familiar name of fees termed Contribution in Aid of Construction rates.

Perhaps the biggest change to this ordinance is that the previous assessment method was based on a per square foot charge while the new CIAC fee is based on the meter size used. The following chart shows the previous rates per square foot.

Previous CIAC rates were:
Water CIAC = .32 per square foot
Sewer CIAC = 1.05 per square foot
Irrigation CIAC = .33 per square foot

The example below outlines just how sizable a savings that developers can realistically expect with the new CIAC Fee Structure.