Southwest Florida FAQs

More than almost anything else on this page, because the county runs the services you are about to need.

Voting, driver licenses, property tax, Homestead, portability and emergency management are all county functions. There are only two here, and every city I work sits in one of them.

So when you read an answer below that says Lee County, that covers Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach, Estero, Bonita Springs, Cape Coral, Sanibel and Captiva. Collier County covers Naples and Marco Island.

I am Kris Asquith, Broker Associate at Premiere Plus Realty, and I work all nine of these markets. If a question here turns into a question about a specific address, ask me.

It depends on the beach, and this is one of the few questions here where the answer is genuinely city by city rather than county by county.

Collier County runs a resident permit. If you own property or live full time in Collier, an annual sticker covers parking at the City of Naples and Collier County beaches. That is the single most useful thing to know if you are moving here rather than visiting, and it is worth sorting out in your first week. Without it you pay daily.

The Collier beaches with parking include Lowdermilk Park, the Naples Pier, Vanderbilt Beach, Clam Pass Park, North Gulfshore Access, Conner Park, and Barefoot Beach Access and Preserve at the northern end. On Marco Island, Tigertail Beach and the South Marco Access.

Lee County is paid parking rather than a permit. On Fort Myers Beach the beach parks are Lynn Hall Memorial Beach Park and Bowditch Point Park at the north end. In Bonita Springs, Bonita Beach Park and the numbered beach accesses along Bonita Beach Road. San Carlos Bay and Bunche Beach Preserve sits between Fort Myers and Sanibel and is the one people miss.

Sanibel and Captiva charge at their public accesses and Sanibel residents have their own arrangement. Estero, Fort Myers and Cape Coral are not beachfront cities, so their residents use the beaches above. That is worth weighing when you compare an inland lake community against a coastal one: the beach is a drive and a parking space rather than a walk.

There are no prices on this page on purpose. Every city sets its own and they change yearly, so a figure here would be wrong within a year. Check the city or county's own site for the current cost, and ask about the resident permit if you are buying rather than renting.

Through your county Supervisor of Elections, and you can do it online.

• Lee County: Lee County Elections, Melvin Morgan Constitutional Complex, 2480 Thompson Street, Fort Myers
• Collier County: Collier County Elections

You will need Florida residency, and in practice a Florida driver license or state ID makes the process straightforward, which is why most people do the license first and the voter registration immediately after.

One thing worth knowing if you are coming from out of state: registering to vote here is one of the things that evidences Florida residency, which matters for Homestead further down this page.

Electricity is the one that surprises people, because there are two providers and which one you get depends on the address rather than the city.

• FPL serves Naples, Fort Myers, Bonita Springs and Estero. (800) 468-8243
• LCEC, a not-for-profit cooperative, serves Cape Coral, Sanibel, Captiva, Marco Island, North Fort Myers and Everglades City.
• Fort Myers Beach sits near the boundary between the two. Check the specific address with both rather than assuming.

Water and sewer is where the cities genuinely differ, and it is not organized the way you would guess:

• Estero and Fort Myers Beach: Lee County Utilities, (239) 533-8845
• Bonita Springs: Bonita Springs Utilities, (239) 992-0711. A member-owned cooperative rather than a city department, which catches people out.
• Naples, inside the city: City of Naples Utilities, (239) 213-4745
• Naples, outside the city: Collier County Public Utilities, (239) 252-2380
• Fort Myers, inside the city: City of Fort Myers Utilities
• Cape Coral: City of Cape Coral Utilities
• Marco Island: City of Marco Island Utilities
• Sanibel and Captiva: Island Water Association

Gas is TECO Peoples Gas, (877) 832-6747, where it is available at all. A great many homes here are all-electric and use propane for a cooktop or a pool heater, which is a different arrangement entirely.

Rubbish collection is by city or county and is usually contracted out. In unincorporated Lee County the number is (239) 353-8000; elsewhere it goes with your city. Cable, internet and phone are an open market across both counties.

Inside a gated community, some of this can be bundled into the association fees rather than billed to you, which changes what a quarterly figure actually covers. That is one of the things I read the documents for.

These numbers were correct in September 2026. Utility contact details change, so use the linked site if a number does not connect.

Portability lets you carry your Save Our Homes saving from your old Florida homestead to your new one, instead of starting again at full assessed value.

This is the answer to a question sellers here ask constantly: if I have owned this house for fifteen years and my assessed value is far below market, do I lose all of that by moving? Largely, no.

The numbers and the clock:

• You can transfer up to $500,000 of your Save Our Homes benefit.
• You have three tax years to establish the new homestead.
• You file Form DR-501T alongside the Homestead application, Form DR-501, and the deadline is March 1st of the first year after you move.

It is not automatic. Nobody transfers it for you. If you do not file the DR-501T you simply do not get it, and people discover that a year later when the tax bill arrives.

It also works within Florida only, so it applies if you are moving from Miami or Tampa to Naples, and not if you are arriving from out of state.

• Lee County: portability at the Lee County Property Appraiser
• Collier County: Save Our Homes and portability, Collier County

If you are selling one Florida home and buying another, tell me early. The timing of the two closings interacts with that three-year window, and it is far easier to plan around than to fix afterwards.

Three systems cover this coast, and which one is nearest is worth checking against the address rather than the city.

Lee Health is the public system for Lee County, serving Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach, Estero, Bonita Springs, Cape Coral, Sanibel and Captiva.

• Lee Memorial Hospital, 2776 Cleveland Avenue, Fort Myers. (239) 343-2000
• Gulf Coast Medical Center, 13681 Doctor's Way, Fort Myers. (239) 343-1000
• HealthPark Medical Center, 9981 South HealthPark Drive, Fort Myers. (239) 343-5000
• Golisano Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida, 9981 HealthPark Circle, Fort Myers. (239) 343-5437
• Cape Coral Hospital, Cape Coral
• Lee Health Coconut Point, 23450 Via Coconut Point, Estero. (239) 468-0000. Emergency department, imaging, surgery and primary care under one roof, and the nearest full facility for most of the Corkscrew Road corridor.
• Bonita Health Center, 3501 Health Center Boulevard, Bonita Springs. (239) 468-8500. Urgent care, imaging and rehabilitation.

Those last two sit close together and are routinely listed in each other's city, including on sites that ought to know better. Coconut Point is in Estero. The Bonita Health Center is in Bonita Springs.

NCH Healthcare System covers Naples and Collier County.

• NCH Baker Hospital, 350 7th Avenue North, Naples. (239) 624-5000
• NCH North Naples Hospital, 11190 HealthPark Boulevard, Naples. (239) 624-5000

Physicians Regional Healthcare System also operates in the Naples area.

• Physicians Regional, Pine Ridge, 6101 Pine Ridge Road, Naples. (239) 348-4000
• Physicians Regional, Collier Boulevard, 8300 Collier Boulevard, Naples. (239) 354-6000

Two practical points that matter more than the list. Check drive time from the actual property, particularly on the islands, where a bridge sits between you and the mainland and traffic in season is not what it is in August. And check your insurance network before you move, because a plan that worked where you came from may not include these systems.

Addresses and numbers were correct in September 2026 and verified against each system's own site.

The Homestead and portability figures on this page were correct in September 2026. They come from the Lee County Property Appraiser and the Florida Department of Revenue, and they are the general rules rather than a ruling on any particular property.

Tax rules change, and one of these figures moves every year. The second exemption is indexed to inflation now, so the number published for one tax year is not the number for the next. Treat everything above as a starting point for the right question, not as an answer you can file on.

Before you act on any of it, check it with the people who can actually decide it:

• Your county property appraiser. Lee County or Collier County, depending on where the property sits. This is the office that grants exemptions and receives the forms, and the only authority on your specific address.
• The Florida Department of Revenue, for the statewide rules behind all of it.
• Your CPA or tax adviser, for how any of this lands in your overall tax position rather than in isolation.
• Your attorney, for how you hold title. Trusts, life estates and co-ownership all change Homestead eligibility, and that is the most common way a claim goes wrong for somebody who did everything else right.

One thing worth correcting, because people assume it: the city is not the place for this. Cities set their own millage rate, so they affect the size of your bill, but they do not administer Homestead and you cannot file with them. It is the county property appraiser, every time.

I am a REALTOR®. I am not a tax adviser, a CPA or an attorney, and nothing on this page is tax or legal advice. What I can do is make sure the question gets asked while the calendar still allows an answer.