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