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SANIBEL (LEE COUNTY) · LOCALDecisions publishedPartial coverage

City Council - First Budget Hearing

Monday, September 8, 2025 · Government meeting record

The 30-second read

Recorded outcome

Adopt Tentative Operating and Voted Debt Service Millage Rates

The Sanibel City Council held its first budget hearing, formally adopting a tentative $216 million budget and a property tax millage rate of 2.5000 mils for the 2026 fiscal year. The council also discussed potential new reserve funds for bridge loan repayments and the hiring of a federal lobbyist.

Why it matters

Sanibel property owners will see their city property tax rates set at 2.5000 mils for the 2026 fiscal year, while the city manages a $216 million budget that includes potential new spending on federal advocacy and storm-related financial reserves.

What happens next

No later meeting or follow-up date is stated in the reviewed record.

An official outcome record - an action agenda or minutes - is published for this meeting.

Captured actions

2

Recorded outcomes

2

Source artifacts

1

What changed

Other key decisions

2 captured items have a publicly linked outcome.

Search all 2 meeting actions

Recorded votes

2 recorded votes0 split

Split votes (0)

Every recorded vote passed unanimously.

Unanimous votes (2)

approved

Adopt Tentative Operating and Voted Debt Service Millage Rates — unanimous

approved

Adopt Tentative Budget for Fiscal Year 2026 — unanimous

Money

People and votes

Holly Smith

Present at this meeting

The reviewed record lists this person as present but does not attribute a motion, statement, or individual vote to them.

See all 2 roll calls with named votes

Record text

No recording or transcript is held for this meeting.

Minutes textCity Council - First Budget Hearing — Minutes

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## Page 1 of 3

800 Dunlop Road City of Sanibel Sanibel, FL 33957

Meeting Minutes - Final

City Council

Monday, September 8, 2025 5:30 PM MacKenzie Hall - 800 Dunlop Road

First Budget Hearing

1\. CALL TO ORDER

The meeting convened at 5:30 p.m.

2\. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE (Councilmember DeBruce)

Councilmember DeBruce led the Pledge of Allegiance.

3\. ROLL CALL

Mayor Mike Miller, Vice Mayor Holly Smith, Councilmember Laura DeBruce,

Councilmember John Henshaw, and Councilmember Richard Johnson

Present: 5 -

4\. SET THE AGENDA

The agenda was set as published.

5\. PUBLIC COMMENTS FOR NON-AGENDA ITEMS

There were no public comments from the audience.

6\. BUDGET DISCUSSION

a. Tentative Budget Presentation by Steve C. Chaipel, Deputy City Manager/CFO

b. Fiscal Year 2026 Tentative Budget

Deputy City Manager Steve Chaipel provided a brief PowerPoint presentation

summarizing the budget process and status of the tentative budget.

Council inquired if the residential taxable valuations included condos or lots

that were vacant due to storm related demolitions. Mr. Chaipel advised the

vacant lots were based on parcel statuses as of December 31st and would find

out about the condominiums. City Manager Souza advised that the number of

vacant lots had been reduced by 12 due to homes being built.

Council inquired as to perceived consequences due to a proposed reduction of

"reserves for operational support". Mr. Chaipel spoke to not expecting any

consequences, advising the number to be aware of is the "reserve for 17% cash

City of Sanibel Page 1 Printed on 10/23/2025

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## Page 2 of 3

All meeting actions

Source coverage incomplete

2 meeting items captured. The published sources do not prove this is the complete docket.

Showing 2 of 2

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Official record

ArtifactSourceState
AgendaNot published in the sources we holdunavailable
Agenda packetNot published in the sources we holdunavailable
BudgetNot published in the sources we holdunavailable
Action agendaNot published in the sources we holdunavailable
Transcript or captionsNot published in the sources we holdunavailable
AttachmentNot published in the sources we holdunavailable

Coverage and corrections

Records considered

  • City Council - First Budget Hearing — Minutes

Not claimed by this page

  • Item-level plain-language summaries are not available; this page does not infer individual agenda items.
  • Item-linked, attributed deliberation
  • A source-grounded next meeting date
  • A transcript is not available.
  • No audio or video recording is linked.
  • Speakers have not been reliably matched to public profiles.
  • Named people and places have not been reliably resolved.
  • An individual roll-call roster is not available.

No source correction or revision history is recorded for this meeting. A corrected artifact will appear here as a new version rather than replacing what is shown above.

Canonical record: 616ceba3c1a369688c6d34d865e8308f. This page changes as stronger artifacts are published; it never overwrites an agenda with minutes.

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