It’s time to FIX our Wastewater problem! At the Tuesday October 7 Council meeting, few taxpayers were present to get a bird’s eye view of the problems with wastewater. 

The Wastewater Fund is an Enterprise Fund, that is, it is required to be self-sustaining through revenue generated by the users.

Unfortunately decades later we still use taxpayer money to keep it solvent. (10’s of millions of dollars over time). This needs to stop!

At the Village Council meeting on October 7th, some of the problems were on full display

The Stalemate: There has been a 5-year stalemate between Islamorada and Key Largo experts. They have been unable to agree on a fix for the MM92 wastewater pipe breaks.  Islamorada sewage is pumped to Key Largo for treatment.  Village Manager Ron Saunders stated that Key Largo and Islamorada are finally talking to each other in an effort to solve this long-standing problem. Let’s hope so.

In the consent agenda: Without discussion,Village Council approved almost $2 million for wastewater costs, some by ignoring competitive bidding requirements. Competitive bidding is intended to provide taxpayers with the best service/products at the best price. This $2 million on top of $4.5 million approved last month to fix leaks at MM92 that have continued since 2019.

How is this possible and considered business as usual. We elect people to solve problems, not to feed the problem our tax money.

Let’s talk about EDUs (Equivalent Dwelling Unit) - the measurement used to bill users for wastewater. It was first calculated in about 2006  - as a means of distributing wastewater costs for residential and commercial uses. All residential dwellings that are individually billed (single family homes, mobile homes, etc.), no matter the size, are assigned 1 EDU.  Commercial properties and others are assigned a number of EDUs as a multiple of 157 ga//day of water usage.  Some EDU counts for commercial uses have not been adjusted for the last 20 years and need to be.

The Oct 7 Village Council meeting had what they call Quasi Judicial hearings for two property owners appealing the Planning Director’s analysis as to the number of building rights on their properties.

Our Planning Director’s research indicated there were no “building rights” for existing homes the Village has been billing based on EDU counts.

“Howell’s Trailer Park” is one of the properties that appealed the decision of the Planning Director, the property at MM82.9, a 1940s mobile home park, a bit north of the Islamorada Post Office. The Planning Director ruled they have 2 residential building rights and 3457 sq ft of nonresidential space.

This property has been billed over $300,000 in wastewater charges for 17.21 EDUs  since 2013.  The Council partially approved the landowner’s appeal – granting him 8 residential building rights.

But how can the Village bill for multiple residential EDUs for a dozen years at a cost to the taxpayer of over $300,000 and not recognize the building rights that created the EDUs? That does not meet the common sense test.

 Look at the inequity between the 70-year-old trailer park and Sun Community, 5 miles north.

Why the break for Sun Community? Anyone can look at the comparison between annual assessments for wastewater costs being billed at the huge Sun Community project ($7500/year) and what the tiny 70-year-old Howell Trailer Park is charged ($4400/year) and know we have a huge problem.

Do you think that with all the unfettered development and vacation rentals that have overwhelmed our village and the huge wastewater deficits every year that the EDU counts and analysis needs to be updated? Of course it does. We are excluding significant revenue that needs to replace the tax money we feed this monster. And we need fairness.  It took over a year for a tiny trailer park and their expensive attorney to get a “slight improvement” through an appeal - not what they are undoubtedly entitled to. And no correction to the faulty EDU costs.

Add to that: The Village should be contesting the fact that Sun Community pays $88/year for vehicle registration for 55 stilt homes on their property instead of paying property taxes for homes selling for over half a million dollars.

And why should 90 transient RVs be exempt from sales and bed taxes? And apparently no EDUs for wastewater billings.

Taxpayers of Islamorada should not be subsidizing Sun Community’s responsibilities. We have elected state officials to change faulty legislation.

We urge the Village to utilize our lobbyists and elected state officials to make this right for its taxpayers. We urge the Village Manager to proceed with his analysis of our wastewater debacle and promote good ideas, regardless of where they come from.

It is time!  We include a list of issues with wastewater EDUs. Click here.

Remember, elections have consequences.

Tom