In last week’s letter to the community, Village Manager Ron Saunders indicated he will include a few budget questions “to help inform the public.”  Butthe first question instead probably confused the public.

The Manager’s question: How much of the Village budget for the current fiscal year is from property taxes? Saunder’s answer – 20% of the $93 million budget.  It might seem reassuring for taxpayers to know they had to pay just 20% of the total budget. But are they distressed that a Village of 7000 residents has a budget of $93 million? Yes, the total dollar amount in the budget summary is $92,592,300, approved last September with only a handful of residents present for the vote. Click here for the one-page budget summary.   The $93 million represents the total funds the Village has available for the year.   Not all of the $93 million are funds the taxpayers are responsible for.   Included in the $93 million: …$23 million in Fund Balance/Reserves - we hope don’t need to be spent …$1.6 million in interest earned mostly from funds in reserve …$1.7 million income from the marina, a self-supporting enterprise fund …$15.8 million from the wastewater self-supporting enterprise fund   …$2.1million for the building department funded by building permit fees. …$9.3 million for canal restoration funded via grants. …Numerous other projects approved while funded from state, federal and TDC grants. The General Fund: The basic government services - these are the onesfunded by our property taxes. Current year was budgeted at $25 million of the $93 million total….$25 million for the main operating account that keeps our basic government running.  It covers Administration, Finance, Fire and Rescue, Law Enforcement, Legal Services, Public Works, Parks and Rec.   $18 million of the $25 million for general government services will come from property taxes.  So, 72% of the cost to run the Village government comes from our property taxes.  The Village Manager’s 20% figure was a bit misleading. The Manager could have asked a better question: How much have the property taxes paid by Islamorada property owners increased in the last 5 years?  The answer: Village property taxes have increased from $11.5 million to the current $18.3 million…  up 58% in 5 years.  Manager Saunders tried to suggest the $18 million in property taxes in Islamorada is minor. Just 20% of all the funds available. But the $18 million to run a town of 7000 residents results in a difficult expense for many of our citizens.   The $18 million in property taxes this year could have been worse. Last September, the Council approved an increase in total property taxes of $2.6 million.  To keep it at that level, they decreased the Fund Balances/Reserves by $5.8 million - otherwise the increase in property tax would have been significantly more. And to assure the reduction in fund reserves didn’t get us into trouble, council approved a $20 million line of credit for emergencies last fall.   We hope Saunders will again appoint a Budget Task Force to find ways to improve the process.  Let’s work to improve the costs for our residents most at risk - those whose income is at the lower end in our “wealthy village.”  For those who rent and may be at the mercy of landlords trying to make ends meet. We believe Village Manager Saunders has demonstrated he can find ways to reduce costs. Now with a year under his belt – we expect major improvements this budget season.  And we hope all Islamorada taxpayers watch the process with us.

We believe there are several ongoing issues that need special attention: The budget The Comprehensive Plan revisions Affordable Housing We plan to provide special newsletter editions to cover critical concerns.  Watch for them in the coming days!

Yours, Tom

The latest draft from Able City East was received on March 11 and is available on the Village website. Click here. If you care about the future of the Village, get involved.

A Public Workshop was held April 29, 5:30 PM and the revised Comprehensive Plan was presented. Comprehensive Plans are the backbone of any community planning effort. They outline challenges, identify solutions and provide guidance to staff and elected officials on planning-related decisions. The best Comprehensive Plans are those that have the support of the entire  community. There were approximately 20 Islamorada residents in attendance, 4 members of Council and 4 or 5 staff members.  The meeting lasted less than 2 hours. Hopefully many more were watching and will submit questions and suggestions. But clearly we need many more opportunities for public involvement.   Over the coming weeks and months the Islamorada Community Alliance will be issuing special editions of this newsletter to cover many of the concerns.  Please get involved.

Last week, Legislators were in Tallahassee and quickly approved the redistricting bill.  The budget for the coming year has still not passed..

Homestead Property Tax: Lawmakers plan on returning to Tallahassee later this summer to vote on a measure that could repeal homestead property taxes. The proposal would require 60% of members in both the House and Senate to vote to put it on the ballot, and the same proportion of voters would need to approve it to put it in the constitution.

Baseball: Where’s the transparency? Who can we trust? Years ago the Village and School Board agreed to a license and use agreement, a contract where the property owner (Islamorada) granted a user (School District) permission to use their real property at Founders Park for specific purposes, times, and other requirements.

Yes - Baseball again!

The original agreement, to provide a field for the Coral Shores baseball team has terminated and needs to be renegotiated. And now the field is in need of improvements.  The School District has allocated funds for improvements similar to the improvements at the other county schools. The School District owns the other baseball fields. The school needs Founders Park space! And the Village provides the  space at no cost.  

The first step should be to approve a new license agreement to spell out specifics.

The Village Council approved an agreement by a 5-0 vote at the January 8, 2026 council meeting. They later confirmed they were sticking with that agreement. The school board seems to want total control. They have their own version of the agreement. And they haven’t wanted to have a joint meeting requested by Council.    

Unauthorized negotiations. Last week we learned that Village Manager Saunders and Mayor Horton have been negotiating with school personnel on behalf of the village without the knowledge and consensus of the Village Council and public.

It should be a simple process to provide a ballfield for kids that put their hearts and talents into the game. The School Board and the Village should meet together in public to work out a solution.  Surely both groups have very similar goals - a quality field, finally with ADA compliance, proper insurance, with maintenance and replacement responsibilities determined and shared dates and times clarified.  

It seems like some School District and Village officials have forgotten the concept of the Sunshine Law … the statutes designed to ensure transparency, accountability, and public participation in government operations.

Bypassing the public process can result in lack of trust.

Parking on Village Right of Way in front of Anglers Reef POA progress

Anglers Reef Parking; more missing transparency? Another “License and Use” Contract, quietly slips through! Unlike the baseball field agreement that has created widespread concern, this Village license and use agreement has gotten virtually no attention.

This agreement allows Anglers Reef Property Owners Association (POA) to place angled parking on Village owned right of way along the Old Highway, adjoining their complex.  

The Village has applied for site plan approval and Anglers Reef is the applicant for the building permit to develop non-exclusive PUBLIC parking. Thus a “License and Use” agreement is needed for the POA to provide parking on Village owned property.

If this parking is truly “public” and critical to the Village, why isn’t the Village the applicant?

The Village Manager has already signed the license and use agreement.  We could find no evidence this agreement was approved by Village Council at a public meeting, as should be required. The agreement confirms it will be PUBLIC parking and limits the POA cost to $25,000. Unlike the baseball field, Anglers Reef will pay $1000/month for the use of the public parking until parking meters are installed by the Village. Who pays if the cost of the parking spaces exceeds $25,000?

While we could find no evidence the Council discussed or approved this license and use agreement, the agreement does state that any amendments must be approved by council.  

The Village has applied for site plan approval and Anglers Reef is the applicant for the building permit to develop non-exclusive PUBLIC parking. Thus a “License and Use” agreement is needed for the POA to provide parking on Village owned property.

Click here for license and use agreement.

Miss Coral Shores Scholarship Contest, sponsored by the Chi Sigma Sorority, is a pageant for students at Coral Shores High School. The competition showcases participants through interview, stage presence, and scholarship. The winner: Natalie Goodwin Tom Raffanello - proud dad of contestant, Gabriella

Congratulations Susan! Last week,Gov Ron DeSantis announced the appointment of Susan Raffanello to the College of the Florida Keys District Board of Trustees. Raffanello works at Coffey Burlington, P.L.  Active in Islamorada, she is President of the Voices for Florida Keys Children, Inc. and has served on the Islamorada Land Planning Agency and Charter Review Committee. Raffanello earned her bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard University and her juris doctor from the University of Michigan.

Boaters need to familiarize themselves with the updated regulations for the Wheel Ditch on the bay side of Lower Matecumbe Key. The narrow waterway has been the site of numerous highspeed boating accidents. Be aware -  it is now a minimum wake area with new markers.

We received an interesting suggestion last week: Instead of idle speed ..make the ditch non -combustible only. Any boat over 25 feet cannot idle through there at low tide so they’re going to be forced to go out to the outside anyway. It just makes sense to turn the wheel ditch into a tranquil water nature trail. And it would become a great fishery for kayakers not having to worry about getting run over.

I think we can all agree that our Village has a unique environment that is an integral part of our lives and worth protecting.

When developments don’t or can’t follow the restrictions in place, the Village allows them to “mitigate.”

 I want to explain the concept of mitigation. Dictionary definition: “making something less severe, dangerous, painful, harsh, extensive, or damaging.”

Using mitigation as a land use tool is one of the most critical elements of our Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Regulations. Its purpose is to ensure development activity minimizes the negative impact on community character, the environment, traffic, and affordable housing in our Village.

So mitigation is intended to make development “less severe, dangerous, painful, harsh, extensive, or damaging.”

I believe mitigation regulations are outdated, insufficient and often have been ignored.  Too often mitigation in place is not achieving its intended purpose.

 

If required restrictions are not feasible, the developmental activity must include a mitigation plan to ensure a minimal impact to the community.

Examples:

Many owners/builders cut trees in a hammock property without a permit:

You can see numerous examples of this driving through town. Many hammocks are bulldozed, ignoring the habitat protection intended.

Some owners/builders do not get caught. Some do and get penalized…but is the penalty effective? What is the current penalty?

The penalty is often inconsequential to the wealthy property owner. It does not discourage the cutting down of hammocks thick with native trees when the property owner plans to build an estate home from setback line to setback line. The resulting fee may be a minuscule portion of the cost of the $10 million mansion being built.

inappropriate clearing is a regular occurrence in the Village.

Nuisance impacts on surrounding residential properties:

Restaurants and bars with outdoor seating are a perfect example.  Is limiting the seating, parking and hours of operation sufficient as a requirement to mitigate the harm to the neighbors?

Ask residents who live near a local brewery/restaurants. Mitigation is not reducing the noise.

Traffic: Islamorada is the ONLY government jurisdiction in Monroe County, that does not require the Level of Service (LOS) on U.S. 1 to be maintained at an acceptable level for each traffic segment within the jurisdiction.

WHY IS THIS?

In every other area of Monroe County when development adds more trips to any individual traffic segment within their jurisdiction and the County LOS Traffic Study shows the segment below the acceptable level of service, mitigation is required for new development. But not in the Village.

Currently the only County traffic segments that are not at an acceptable level are the traffic segments through Islamorada.  Yet Islamorada code allows our municipality to ignore the problem unless the entire county is below the accepted standard.

Affordable Housing:

When a development generates a need for additional workers, the developer must mitigate the demand for housing for the workforce created by the proposed development.

A majority of the developments approved by the Village pay an in-lieu fee intended to be used to help mitigate the workforce housing shortfall… instead of providing  housing for the new employees.  

 

The in-lieu fee for a new tourist business is $25/sq ft of the new business property.   

A 5000 sq ft business would therefore pay $125,000 to the Village to support housing projects to accommodate additional employees being adding to the workforce.

What would the $125,000 from a new 5000 sq ft business buy in Islamorada? Maybe a used mobile home.

 

“Mitigation” criteria is extremely critical. And perhaps totally out of date.

Comprehensive Plan Workshop  

There will be a presentation Wednesday April 29 at 5:30 PM at the Islamorada Community Center. The draft of the new Comprehensive Plan will be presented following 18 months of efforts by Able City East. 

Go over every issue. Do not let someone tell you that we are in a hurry because we should not be. It is better to get it right! Be thorough. We have waited 18 months for this document, and it must not be flawed when it becomes the new law.

Mitigation is just one issue, of hundreds, outlined in the proposed Comp Plan. Each issue will be critical in Islamorada’s future. 

Be a part of the process and ensure a bright future for our friends and families. Attend the workshop and participate!

This is our Constitution!

Residents! Pay attention!

 Yours,

Tom

Special Sessions are just beginning.  This week, Legislators are in Tallahassee  for the Special Session on redistricting, AI restrictions and “medical freedom.”

Lawmakers will convene on May 12 for a Budget Special Session since they were unable to finalize a state budget during the regular session. Recently the House and Senate have reached a deal on budget allocations. Of particular interest, during the regular session, neither chamber's draft budget honored the Legislature's 2023 commitment of at least $100 million a year for Florida Forever. The funds that were considered were for leases of conservation lands not purchases. A Homestead Property Tax Special Session is being considered. Governor DeSantis promises there will be a Special Session to consider a constitutional amendment to get rid of some or all homestead property taxes.