The Council must consider an appropriate level of salary plus benefits in order to retain a quality staff while working to keep the taxes low for property owners struggling to pay for the high cost of living.

A majority of employees cannot afford to live in Islamorada. Many come from the mainland because of the extremely high cost of living in the Keys.

This week, the Council will consider a budget that includes 113 Village employees at a cost of almost $14 million… an average cost of almost $124,000 per employee.

That is the average cost of an employee - not the amount on the paycheck the employee takes home to cover food, housing, vehicle, etc.  A significant taxpayer cost for Islamorada employees is their medical insurance for both employees and their family and retirement funding with the Florida Retirement Services (FRS).  

All employees pay 3% of their salary into FRS. Taxpayers contribute 13.59% of salaries for most employees to FRS.  Firefighters (we have 43 firefighters) get 37.74%. The Village Manager gets 32.60%.

Cost of benefits can be significant. For a $200,000 salary for Village Manager - add $65,200 for retirement funding, $48,000 for housing allowance.  And an extensive insurance plan too.  

Click here to see the FRS rates paid by Village taxpayers for employees in 2026-2027.