Marco's property taxes could be going up

Marco Island City Council made at least three big decisions Thursday evening, but all of them may only last a week. Marco Island City Councilors set up a fire assessment district with 6-1 vote with Councilor Ted Forcht being the only councilor to repeatedly vote against the fire assessment. Councilors also showed commitment by a 5-2 vote to fund the fire assessment up to $2 million this year. City Manager Steve Thompson said that if a fire assessment is to go through this year, he recommends it be funded at less than $1 million to make up for a loss in property taxes. Fire Chief Mike Murphy said it is also still possible for the Council to opt out of the fire assessment completely. Thompson is required to provide Collier County with the maximum property tax rate by August 1 and that rate as decided unanimously by Council is... [read full story]