Finally - the Village Council will sit down with the Monroe County School Board at 1:30PM Tuesday July 21 at Marathon High School. They are holding a 2 hour workshop to attempt a finalization of the terms of a license and use agreement necessary before work begins on upgrades to the Coral Shore High School baseball field at Founders Park in Islamorada. Click here for the agenda.

A special call Council meeting is scheduled for July 27 with hopes that the July 21 workshop with the School Board succeeds and a Baseball Agreement can be finalized.

In order to speak at the workshop, members of the public must register BY CALLING 305-293-1400 EXT. 53392 in advance of the meeting.

Reminder: Lobster Mini Season starts July 29, but starting July 26 some restrictions begin.

In Islamorada, it is unlawful to dive or snorkel in any navigable canal or marina or within 300 feet of an improved residential or commercial shoreline beginning three days priorto the opening of and during the entirety of the lobster mini-season and for the first five days of commercial lobster season.

 

The Chain: Connection in the Florida Keys… A book featuring the writings of 19 local contributors and 3 winners of the Palmheart Press Kids' Poetry Contest. The collection offers a diverse range of voices and perspectives inspired by the local environment. The book was created to foster environmental stewardship through storytelling and community engagement. Proceeds support Florida Bay Forever, helping to protect and preserve one of the region's most vital ecosystems. Click here to order your book.

One Reader suggests: “We are going to need new solutions, instead of doing the same old things to promote development/tourism without a defined goal, while giving exemptions that make zoning a joke.”

Chesapeake Restaurant and Lighthouse C 1960. Florida  Keys History Center-Monroe County Public Library Wright Langley Collection. Click here to see the Monroe County Library Collection of over 24,000 photos.

Last week my editorial was about the Council treating the budget as if they are spending monopoly money. Not those paper bills printed at the print shop – real money locals worked hard to earn.

The Council did reject the 3 mills starting rate the staff wanted, lowering the maximum millage to 2.8, still a significant tax increase of  approximately 12%.

Let’s hope it goes down a whole lot more. We will certainly give the Council their standing ovation if they get down to the 2.4756 mills: the rollback rate - the rate needed to generate the same tax revenue in the coming year as what we got this year.

We surely could find surplus funds we could cut – if we really want to. But then, when we do find ways to cut costs, we just seem to keep the excess for new things we don’t really need.

•       We are saving about $200,000 per year, now that we don’t send two employees down to the Fill to earn overtime every weekend monitoring the “No Parking” signs 8 hours a day.

•      We are anticipating significantly less tax dollars will be needed for Ridesharing with $2 ride fees and promised credits for Freebee ads.  

•      We hired Langton, a grant consultant, expecting to find opportunities to get significant grant help.

•      We hired Bishop, Rosasco And Co, at $111,000, government finance consulting services to assist with oversight of budget concerns, particularly with wastewater and the village marina, expecting to find major improvement in the budgeting of those department.

  
  

  Bishop, Rosasco And Co serves as Marathon’s entire finance department for $461,000.  Our finance department costs us $1.6 million.  

   

Budget workshops this year have been scheduled – 3 PM in the afternoon, 3 days in a row, August 4-5-6.  How’s that for encouraging public participation?

Three Budget Task Force meetings were held last July. The committee came up with some excellent ideas.  But no Budget Task Force meetings are scheduled this year.

Islamorada has talented residents with amazing business successes that should be encouraged to help with our budget issues. Yet it looks like the Village would prefer little public involvement and the shortest budget meetings possible.  No line item discussions, that’s for sure.

Budget Facts from last year:

Staff: 126 fulltime employees, 6 parttime and undisclosed # of seasonal employees

Final budget last year, all Village Funds:

·      Total Revenue: $59,481,183

·      Total Expenditures: $65,461,709

·      Total Reduction in Reserves, all funds last year: $5,821,537

Final budget last year – General Fund only:

·      Total Revenue: $24,180,783

·      Total Expenses: $23,254,051 plus Transfer out of 1,985,811

·      Total Reduction in Reserves, General Fund: last year: $975,090

In the minutes from last years’ budget hearing: “Manager Saunders stated that the reserves were acceptable from a legal standpoint, but not from a risk standpoint.

Manager Saunders noted he had negotiated an emergency line of credit with Centennial Bank and that the Village would only pay interest fees if we needed to use the funds.”

The Village approved a $20 million line of credit at 5 ½% intended for use if we experience a hurricane and do not have sufficient reserves.

Pay Raises: We keep hearing that the staff is expecting to get a significant pay increase to make up for not getting one last year (except for the fire department, where an increase in salaries of $521,000 was approved last September). 

Personnel costs in the current budget are approximately $17.2 million.  A 3% increase would likely add about $500,000 to our budget.

Wastewater: Last week the Council selected a contractor to replace the North Plantation Key Wastewater Pump Station.  The staff selection committee’s #1 ranked contractor, at $6.7 million, was bypassed for #2 at $7.3 million, almost $600,000 more than the low bid. Looked like a problem with the selection process.

With wastewater costs like these, let’s hope the Council made the correct decision. We’ve been paying excessive costs for wastewater problems for far too many years.

The Village expects to use grant funding to pay for most of the $7.3 million – taking funding away from important canal restoration funding. 

But $7.3 million may not be the only major project needed to actually fix the ongoing MM92 raw sewage pipeline rupture problem. 

Last September, the Village had estimates of over $2.2 Million/mile to replace portions of the PVC pipe that carries raw sewage to Key Largo for treatment. That potential cost would be on top of the $7.3 million.  Did we hear the staff right – costs above the $7.3 million would be borrowed from the line of credit?

Window screens: We still can’t get over this… the Council approved a $24,400 contract a few months ago to fix the windows in the Russell Cottage at the Green Turtle Hammock.  $24,000 just so we can open and close the windows.   

Now the windows have been fixed, but we need screens to keep the mosquitoes out!  The Council approved another $24,400 contract to repair the screens.  We wonder who will give up the comfort of air conditioning to enjoy the $48,000 spent to open the windows there?

Marathon versus Islamorada

Why is Marathon so thrifty compared to Islamorada?

They have a population of 10,000…. 43% more than Islamorada’s 7,000 population.

Their current millage rate – 2.0631; Islamorada’s 2.65. 

Why can’t our budget be more like Marathon’s?

Difference in dollars:

Marathon’s property tax for 2025-2026: just over $10 million ($1,000/resident)

Islamorada’s property tax for 2025-2026: just over $18 million ($2,571/resident)

Marathon’s Reserves: $27.5 Million

Islamorada’s Reserves: $13 million.    

And to top that off, the sheriff charges Marathon less for law enforcement services than he charges Islamorada. Better negotiators?

Everyone all over this country and the state are trying diligently to find ways to cut their budget.  Why not here?

Come on guys.  Let’s tighten the belt!  If you can’t find ways to do it – try inviting DOGE to town to do what they do - “identify and eliminate unnecessary spending, maximize efficiency, and improve fiscal stewardship.”

I bet they could help us. Give it a try. What are we afraid of?

An election is coming!

Tom

On July 7, a contract was signed by all parties to implement the terms of service, following Freebee’s  selection as the # 1 ranked proposal at the June Council meeting.

The total contract price of $665,000 is an increase of approximately $111,000 over their previous contract with the Village. An FDOT grant will cover up to $276,665, a 50-50 split of the net amount the Village pays to Freebee after credits for rider fees and advertising credits from Freebee. Riders will be charged $2/rider, intended to reduce taxpayers’ burden. In 2025 there were just over 55,000 riders (a possible $110,000 credit for future riders).  Islamorada will receive the “net” fee per rider, after Freebee deducts what credit card companies charge, expected to be up to 3%. Service will continue to be available from 7 AM to midnight, seven days a week, with 3 vehicles available all 17 hours. There will be no rideshare service for several holidays - New Year's Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas. Freebee to pay the Village at least $60,000 in advertising revenue they receive. The village must agree to any advertising. The Village can request a change of vehicles used from the 5-passenger Tesla sedan to the 7-passenger VW Buzz with 60 days’ notice to Freebee and a setup cost of $1200/vehicle. A Sienna Hybrid XSE will provide ADA-accessible service. Freebee will provide documentation and assistance to help the Village utilize the rider data to improve rider experiences, including reduction in wait times. Cost reductions to the Village will occur if all 3 vehicles are not in service for the hours required by the contract. Riders cannot use cash to pay for rides.  If they do not have a credit or debit card, they can buy a pre-paid credit card at places like Publix or CVS. Each rider will have a Rider profile where they can “store” prepayments for multiple rides instead of paying for individual rides each time. Territory: South end of Village to Mariners Hospital. If you haven’t used Freebee in the past, try it!  Save some gasoline! Click Here to see contract

Still no agreement at last Tuesday’s council meeting!  At the meeting, one notable speaker was Doug Mientkiewicz, a  former pro baseball star.

He played first base from 1998 to 2009, most prominently as a member of the Minnesota Twins where he was a Gold Glove Award winner. Doug is one of six players to win both an Olympic gold medal and a World Series championship. How lucky is Islamorada to have Doug as a local resident! Doug has helped coach the high school baseball team here for about seven years. Ask any of the baseball players at Coral Shores. Doug has shown the student athletes a path to success - the value of hard work, dedication, and perseverance. At the Tuesday Council meeting, Mientkiewicz expressed his thoughts about the merits of the baseball field upgrades planned for Founders Park - as both a taxpayer and a coach.  He questioned where the energy and concern has been for all the years when the field has been subpar.   He probably remembers when he played for Westminster Christian and traveled to Islamorada to play ball when high school baseball and football shared space here at the school campus. But times have changed. Coral Shores now has so many new sports… lacrosse, soccer, tennis… and a new bigger school on the same property where space is certainly at a premium.   As Doug pointed out, the other Keys schools have vastly better ball fields. “It’s time for the kids in the Upper Keys to have quality facilities.  This is a critical step - upgrading the baseball field.  The momentum will build from here. Sports opens doors for kids and they deserve that.”

Plans (hopes) are underway to have a joint workshop with the Islamorada Council and the School Board sitting down together to work out their differences and develop a plan to move forward Jul 21 when the School Board meets in Marathon…. School Board willing.

A special call Council meeting is scheduled for Jul 27 with hopes that the Jul 21 sit down with the School Board succeeds and a Baseball License Agreement can be finalized.

Coming Soon to the Ocean/Bay near you! In Islamorada it is unlawful to dive or snorkel in any navigable canal or marina or within 300 feet of an improved residential or commercial shoreline beginning three days prior to the opening of and during the entirety of the lobster mini-season and for the first five days of commercial lobster season.

Talking about lobsters: Betsy the Lobster is a very famous 30’ long sculpture depicting a large spiny lobster. Made out of fiberglass, it is anatomically correct. Betsy is the second-most photographed attraction in the Florida Keys, after the Southernmost Point Buoy in Key West.

The story of Betsy can be found in Wikipedia: It took Richard Blaze 5 years to create the lobster sculpture when he was hired by a local restauranteur in 1980. The sculpture was meant to represent the impact the species has had on the culture of South Florida. When it was finished in 1985, the restaurant that had commissioned the sculpture had closed, so the owner of Treasure Village, Tom Vellanti, bought it and displayed it at his property. Vellanti’s property was eventually turned into a school, so Betsy was put into storage. In 2009, the sculpture was moved to the Rain Barrel and became a popular roadside attraction.