For the Florida House
The city is the extra bill.
Cape Canaveral does not need a city government of its own. About 10,000 people live there. Merritt Island, unincorporated and in the same Florida House district, has about 34,500, and Brevard County already runs that larger place. Florida law lets the Legislature dissolve a city by special act. The council can also send dissolution to the voters. It has not. Policing in Cape Canaveral is already the sheriff, paid through a city contract. What the city adds is a second property tax, a code book about what you may do on your own lot, and a hall built to be five times the old one.
The last five years were not quiet. In January 2025 the council fired the city manager 3–2, citing selective code enforcement and city-phone texts that were not kept. This year the savings account is reported at zero, the city is about $4 million short, and the sheriff is looking at the old finance office. No council member has been charged with taking that money. This month members accused one another of steering who gets the closed CAPE Center.
The record
Four places to read it yourself before you write.
- Florida Today · July 22, 2026Sheriff asked to probe a $4 million shortfallThe city manager said Cape Canaveral spent reserves for about 15 years to balance the budget, and asked the sheriff to look for wrongdoing. He did not name a suspect.
- Space Coast Daily · January 2025City manager fired, 3–2, over code and recordsThe council ended Todd Morley’s 23-year tenure “with cause,” citing selective code enforcement, permitting failures, and text messages on a city phone that were not preserved. That vote blocked about $61,000 in severance.
- Spectrum News 13 · August 28, 2026A reserve once put near $38 million is reported at zeroThe council weighed a higher property tax so it would not close the community center. Residents were asked to refill a savings account the city had spent.
- Florida Today · June 28, 2014A new city hall, five times the old oneThe city planned an 18,500-square-foot hall, at least $3.3 million to build, inside a $5.5 million loan with payments of about $600,000 a year.
Email Representative Tyler Sirois
Florida House, District 31 · Tyler.Sirois@flhouse.gov. This opens your mail app with the letter filled in. Nothing is sent until you press send there.
To: Tyler.Sirois@flhouse.gov Subject: Please file a special act to dissolve Cape Canaveral Dear Representative Sirois, Please file a special act under section 165.051, Florida Statutes, to dissolve the City of Cape Canaveral. The Legislature can revoke the charter. This council will not vote itself out of office. Cape Canaveral has about 10,000 people. Merritt Island, unincorporated and in your House district, has about 34,500. Policing here is already the Brevard County Sheriff, under a city contract. The city is about $4 million short after about 15 years of spending reserves. A reserve once reported near $38 million is at zero, and the sheriff is investigating the old finance office. In January 2025 the council fired the city manager over selective code enforcement and texts that were not kept. This month members accused one another of steering the closed CAPE Center. No one has been charged with taking the $4 million. Please introduce the act. Thank you for your time. A resident of Cape CanaveralEmail the Representative