Great to see an Islamorada resident, a regular attendee at Village Council meetings, and member of the Village Budget Task Force participate in the 2025 Ernest Hemmingway Look Alike Contest!

Following the feedback received at the June 24 Draft Master Plan workshop, Miller Legg has requested additional response from the public regarding the plan proposed: what members of the community liked the most and what they liked the least.

Click here to complete the short survey.  The Founders Park Conceptual Plan can be found here.

Perhaps what needs to be mentioned are the implementation costs of the suggested improvements in the master plan draft…$78,922,864 over 11 to 15 years.

Council approved removal of previously approved conditions restricting outdoor amplified music and special events, at the Safari lounge.   Council approved 1st reading of ordinances before the draft of amendments to Comp Plan is released by Able City East. Council approved 1st reading of zoning change to allow storage and/or recreational use at former tennis club.

There are plans to make significant improvements to the high school baseball field at Islamorada’s Founders Park.   A survey aims to find out what residents of the Village think about the improvements. At the July 22 Council meeting there was concern that the survey is biased.   Click here to take the survey. You decide. At the last Parks and Rec meeting, committee members were tasked with addressing just two issues: 1. They voted 7-1, concurring with the Interlocal Agreement signed by Village Manage Ron Saunders with the School Board, with NO details spelled out as to cost, layout or building details. 2. They also voted 7-1 to support artificial turf. At last week’s council meeting, Village Manager, Ron Saunders, asked council if he could acknowledge the Village preference for artificial turf to the School District so they could move forward with the next step with baseball field plans. Was the vote legitimate? According to Village regulations, decisions of council must be noticed in the meeting agenda.  Votes, to be valid, must be by motion or resolution according to the Village Charter.  No thumbs up.

September Council Agenda will have a provision to protect the Old Highway Peacocks.  Mayor Mahoney announced the Village Attorney will present a law to assure peacocks will be protected and in exchange residents must no longer feed the wild birds.

Political issue or environmental issue?Councilman Steve Friedman introduced a resolution (Click Here) at the July 22 council meeting, stating “The Village Council opposes the construction and operation of the Alligator Alcatraz Facility in the Florida Everglades.”  The other members of Council thought the facility is not Islamorada’s concern.  Steve did not get a second.

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While we must provide services for more than just the residents of the Village, the dramatic increase in the general fund expenses since 2020 is extraordinary in a community that has strict rate of growth parameters.

Budget uncertainties are significant as concern about the future of FEMA grows. Will local governments see a reduction in FEMA assistance following natural disasters?   U.S. Rep.Daniel Webster of Florida is one of four representatives who have introduced bipartisan legislation to reform the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). As a Floridian, he knows how important effective preparation, response and relief is when tragedy strikes.

The FEMA Act, aims to streamline the bureaucracy. It would expedite permits, assessments, and relief efforts following disasters, saving money yet improving disaster aid efforts.

In a continuing effort to inform and educate the residents of current events, mandates and issues that affect the lives of residents and our unique environment, I submit the following:

The Village of Islamorada has not done an acceptable job of managing our tax dollars.

This has happened over time.

Current Village management has the ability and mandate to provide a much-needed solution to fix our faulty spending habits.

Programs established decades ago have survived at full funding and currently operate without regular analysis. It is a fact of life that programs and positions are overcome by events and can be run more efficiently.

In my experience, if you’re doing something for a decade or more, an analysis will result in financial adjustments to these programs. This quite often results in savings for taxpayers.

This isn’t political, it’s financial common sense.

Speaking of common sense, let’s talk Florida DOGE:

The Florida Department of Governmental Efficiency (FL DOGE) is a newly created state task force aimed at finding wasteful spending and improving government accountability.

In March, a two-page letter was sent to every local government in Florida, asking whether they have experienced any financial concerns in recent years. A second letter to local governments asked for more extensive documentation.

The FL DOGE initiative has prompted some local governments to scrutinize their own budgets and even take preemptive cost-cutting actions. As we all should.

FL DOGE is analyzing the data collected and will act based on their findings. This can take several forms:

Increased State Oversight

Mandated Financial Recovery Plans with state monitoring

Appointment of a financial emergency board or external administrator to guide (or even temporarily take over) the local government’s fiscal management.

At the Council meeting on July 22, the Council set a tentative millage rate of 3 mills that will be used for the August TRIM notices – projecting the maximum taxes for property owners this coming year. 

At 3 mills, along with Islamorada’s increase of $560 MILLION in taxable value this year, this rate would increase tax revenues for the Village by over $4.5 million.

Village Manager Saunders is working to implement cost reductions but explained that there are $1 million cost increases the Village will face that they have no control over.  And there is concern about whether disaster recovery reserves need to increase.

Saunders acknowledged the significant cuts being made by the County.  “It’s not pretty.  We hope to avoid some of the massive layoffs and decisions the county is making.”

 Changes in government spending are “never pretty”, but often necessary. We suspect our taxpayers think major tax cuts would be welcomed and celebrated!

FL DOGE? We think that Florida DOGE should be brought to Islamorada as soon as possible. We provide several factors in support of this recommendation:

One of the primary issues Florida DOGE is looking at is Chronic Deficits: Major fund balances in deficit for two consecutive years.

Our Enterprise Funds

An enterprise fund is a self-supporting government fund that sells goods and services to the public for a fee, intended to assure the long-term sustainability of infrastructure, without requiring tax from the general fund.

In Islamorada we have two major enterprise funds – Marina and Wastewater.

But these two major funds have not proven to be sustainable without added funds. Not even close. Not even with significant grant funding.

• Marina Fund: deficit of $1,279,000 over the last four years approved by Council in the annual budgets.

• Wastewater Fund:  deficit of $7,590,000 over the last four years, approved by Council in annual budgets, even with significant grant funding.

That is a total deficit of nearly $9 million for two major enterprise funds that are supposed to be self-sustainable without tax help.  Why have these deficits been approved?

Additional Oversight Critical: Who is responsible for oversight? For four years we have been allowing deficits in Enterprise Funds without considering ways to increase revenues and/or decrease expenses.

These deficits create the appearance that the Village cannot provide acceptable wastewater operations and maintenance.  

An oversight program would put fresh eyes on this problem. Let’s hope the Budget Task Force highlights this failure.

Stand up, residents, it’s OUR MONEY!

Elections have consequences and this is just another one.

As always,

Tom Raffanello

Reply to: ICA.in.Keys@gmail.com

Last week the Monroe County Commission approved a request by Islamorada’s  Friends of the Pool Inc. to extend three previously awarded Tourist Development Council grants for their lighthouse restoration project.  The grant was extended until Sept. 30, 2026.

The group’s engineering team recently finalized drawings for the permitting phase of the project estimated to cost $6 million to “restore it historically” with some upgrades.

The local “Synchro Sirens,” synchronized swimming team, placed 10th in the NATION at U.S Junior Olympics this year after finishing in first place at the State Regional Championships in Gainesville back in May. Congratulations to Coach Isla and the team! What a great honor.

According to Insurify.com, property insurance premiums have risen dramatically across the country in recent years, due to inflation, record-high home market values, increased cost of building.  But perhaps there is a more significant issue for the Florida Keys. Throughout Florida, dramatic  increases in average premiums are largely due to natural disasters! Here are the 5 most expensive states for home insurance premiums and how much homeowners pay per month for $300,000 in dwelling coverage: Florida: $916/mo Louisiana: $530/mo Oklahoma: $454/mo Texas: $371/mo Mississippi: $359/mo Note that 4 of the 5 are on the Gulf Coast.  Oklahoma - tornado alley.   Now think about workforce housing.  To cover the cost of property insurance, property taxes, and debt payments, how is workforce housing even possible without subsidies? An Islamorada home with $300,000 of taxable value would be charged $2,661/year in taxes based on current year’s millage.

Fair Insurance Rates for Monroe (FIRM) For more than 18 years, FIRM, a Florida Keys grassroots nonprofit, has saved Monroe County property owners more than $900 million. They have helped us tremendously.  Let’s support them. Click here.