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.

Monroe County’s Freebee transportation service between Stock Island and Key West began as a pilot project to provide an alternative mode of transportation to encourage ride sharing. The County charged $2/ride to reduce taxpayer cost. With the recent cost cutting in the County, the service is being discontinued.  Click here for story.

At the June 12 Village Council meeting, the Council voted to retain Freebee service in Islamorada at taxpayer’s expense until June 30, 2026, when the Village planned to have Monroe County take over the operation and cost of the service, saving Islamorada taxpayers $276,700 after receiving an FDOT grant for 50% of the cost.

Founders Park was purchased by Village taxpayers over 25 years ago. It serves as the centerpiece of Islamorada.  The Coral Shores High School baseball team plays at the park.  Plans are underway to make significant improvements.  The Village is doing a survey to better understand what the taxpayers of Islamorada want. Please complete the survey, click here.

At the last Parks and Rec committee meeting, the committee voted to recommend approval of the preliminary plans. Do you agree?

The School District will pay for the upgrades. The Village taxpayers will pay to operate and maintain the upgrades when the field is not in use by the school.