We do not have the numbers yet to calculate how much lost revenue the Village and other taxing authorities would face.   Gov DeSantis has argued that rapidly rising property tax collections are placing increasing pressure on Florida homeowners, with statewide collections rising from roughly $32 billion in 2019 to about $60 billion today. The Village has seen an increase in total property taxes of $6,719,600 since 2020, a 58% increase, with no increase in population.   The hope is that the local governments will trim some excesses in their budget. The homestead properties are only a relatively small part of the total property tax revenue in the Village.  A vast majority of the homestead properties have a taxable value in excess of $150,000 and will continue to pay property taxes. Click here for details of the proposal from the Florida League of Cities.

In a letter to legislators, Monroe County Mayor Michelle Lincoln said county leaders support tax relief but are concerned that the plan could destabilize funding for required services in the Keys, an area vulnerable to hurricanes and other unique geographic circumstances. Click here for Lincoln’s letter.

A property tax elimination plan could make Florida the first state with no income tax AND no property tax on homes. It starts with a plan to dramatically reduce taxes on Homesteaded properties.

Several bills were filed for the Special Session on property taxes that began Monday afternoon, June 1. The primary bill to be considered by both the Florida House and Florida Senate would place a constitutional amendment before the voters at the 2026 General Election this November. The resolution increases the homestead exemption from the current $50,000 to $150,000 beginning Jan 1, 2027, and to $250,000 beginning Jan 1, 2028. The increased homestead exemption applies to county, municipal, school district, and special district levies. During day one of the special session: Lawmakers seemed to be moving the property tax overhaul forward, but with major changes that protect public-school funding and strip out a proposed trust fund to offset local revenue losses. Only  homesteads would see relief under the proposal; commercial and investment properties would stay taxed as-is. Any amendment approved by lawmakers would still need 60% voter approval in November to take effect. A $150,000 deduction at the 2025 millage rate (8.9199) would amount to over $1300 per year for homesteaded properties in Islamorada.

It appears negotiations are going on behind closed doors.

The license agreement, necessary to spell out the responsibilities of both the Village and the School District, is the deadlock. We continue to hear that the School Board does not want to agree to give the Village any say at all as to the design of the upgraded field or the materials used.

Both the Village Council and the School Board will meet on June 9. But not together.

There are few people who have contributed as much to protect our treasured environment as Charlie Causey.

Marby and Charlie Causey Charlie Causey 1934 - 2026 When Marby first met Charlie, she noticed he was smart, good-looking, funny and ambitious. She had no idea she would spend the next 55 year with a man who was, first and foremost, a remarkably good person and a true Southern gentleman.

There were three phases in Charlie’s life: Finance: Causey began his professional life in finance on Wall Street. His hard work, insight, and diligence led to successes that allowed him to retire at age 45.   Environmental activism: Soon after his retirement, he and Marby bought their home in Islamorada and Charlie fell in love with the marine environment here. Back country fishing became a passion.   He looked out over his beloved Florida Bay and realized “this is worth fighting for” and thus began his determination to protect our environment. His name was soon associated with a multitude of environmental efforts, serving on the boards of numerous local, state, and national environmental organizations. He worked on local Comp Plans, Board member of SFWMD, National Marine Sanctuary, Everglades restoration, and the Florida Keys Environmental Fund, saving the 18 mile stretch from 4-laning, helping to negotiate design features like the life-saving median wall between north and southbound lanes.   Photography: Charlie became an accomplished photographer in his later years, especially focused on capturing amazing shots of birds in the Keys and  Everglades. He combined his photography skills and environmental stewardship into graphic storytelling of the environmental paradise he loved. Charlie’s long time fishing guide, Eddie Wightman: “I’ve known Charlie as a client but also a very close friend for well over 40 years…one of the finest men I’ve ever known. And the strongest of advocates for protecting our environment; always willing to fight for what is right, and with his own money. Just to protect a place he loved.” Village Councilman Steve Friedman commented: “Charlie was a real pioneer in the conservation world.  Early on, he helped educate all of us about the need to fight for clean water, giving us a head start in the effort.” Islamorada and the Florida Keys will miss Charlie, the man who was so driven in his efforts to make a difference here and in the world. Rest in Peace, Charlie.

Held May 28, two companies, Circuit and Freebee,  made presentations. We left the workshop with numerous questions! In attendance, there were only a handful of residents, four members of council, two lobbyists (both, oddly, from lobbying firms representing both the Village and Freebee), several staff members, and several Freebee drivers. An RFP (Request For Proposals) was advertised by the Village on March 12, 2026. A competitive bid process is required by FDOT when applying for grant funding. The only previous RFP was mysteriously canceled by the Village without explanation after Circuit was recommended by the selection committee two years ago. The current RFP stated that a $2 fee per rider would be charged, in an effort to reduce the cost of the service to taxpayers. While the representative from Freebee claimed his proposal reflected a reduced cost compared to the current Freebee contract, his proposal calls for Freebee to be paid $665,000 annually instead of the current $553,330. The net cost to the Village in the Freebee proposal is reduced by $23,330, from $553,330 currently to $530,000, a result of new Village revenue of $135,000 from the $2 fee and advertising on vehicles.   Circuit’s proposal varied from a low of $400,000 up to $581,000 depending on options suggested and varied ridership figures. The current ridership numbers suggest there are approximately 40,000 to 50,000 riders annually ($80,000 - $100,000 revenue).  Plus possible revenue for advertising on vehicles, and with their cell phone app.

Memorial Day at the Monument has been a treasured Matecumbe Historical Trust event since the 1980s, organized for years by Trust Founder, Irving Eyster, and now, since Irving’s death, by his daughter, Barbara Edgar.

Senator Ana Maria Rodriguez (and Barbara Edgar) The wreaths honoring Veterans Matecumbe Historical Trust Founder - Irving Eyster

This year, Florida Senator Ana Maria Rodriguez addressed the crowd. Also present: Jim Mooney, Florida House, Michele Lincoln, David Rice and Holly Raschein from the County Commission, Anna Richards, Deb Gillis from the Village, Sherri Hodies, Supervisor of Elections, Sue Woltanski,School Board. Local veterans contributed a wreath and passed out poppies to those in attendance. The poppy was originally associated with Veterans Day but is now primarily worn during the Memorial Day weekend, here and around the country. In 1992, the owner of a wreath company in Maine, had a surplus of holiday wreaths. He donated them to Arlington National Cemetery as a tribute to the fallen—a gesture that soon became an annual tradition on Memorial Day. It may have been traditional to lay wreaths at the Hurricane Monument even earlier than 1992. Thank you to the Matecumbe Historical Trust for this special annual community event.

Juneteenth National Independence Day is a federal holiday celebrated on June 19, commemorating the end of slavery in America. It was recognized as a federal holiday in 2021, when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law.

Village Hall will be closed for this holiday.

provided by Carolyn and Eddie Wightman

These rose-colored glasses
That I'm lookin' through
Show only the beauty
'Cause they hide all the truth

Song by John Conlee

I have often questioned why people that don’t live or pay taxes in the Village are sometimes key figures in making decisions that impact the lives and future of the residents of Islamorada.

An interesting discussion about this subject took place at last Tuesday’s Council meeting.

When the council was discussing the annual citizen advisory committee appointments, Mayor Horton asked if there is a requirement for members of committees to be registered voters in Islamorada.

Attorney John Quick looked up the Village code and confirmed that committee members must be residents while serving on committees, but are not required to be registered voters.

We also support the idea that people serving on our committees should be registered voters in the Village of Islamorada.  Amazingly, that has not been a requirement of those making decisions that affect our lives and pocketbooks for the past quarter century.

So why is this important?

Those that make decisions should have “a dog in the fight”, and live within the village that they will impact.

Now think about the Islamorada paid staff - they have even more impact than committee members!

I have worked in 9 different cities across this great land and have been involved in municipal and state governments in varying degrees for over 30 years (not counting Islamorada). Rarely have the administrative and government personnel in the aforementioned cities lived outside the city they served.

Why? Because they must live every day with the decisions made. That is the premise, and it has been successful.

Additionally, in order to qualify for the cost-of-living benefits that some of these cities provide, employees were usually required to reside there. The Village has no such requirement.

Let me say that I am familiar with many Village staff personnel and they are competent, knowledgeable, cordial partners but…….. of the approximately 130 staff members few are residents of Islamorada and not voters in the Village. Shouldn’t we expect a better mix of residents and non-residents for key positions?

Not all of the 130 may be likely to individually influence the members of Council but consider the staff members that are the head of critical, influential departments: Finance, Building, Planning, Human Resources, Clerk, Attorney, Wastewater and Public Works: How many of them are residents of Islamorada, let alone registered voters here?

Many department heads, at one time or another, stand at the microphone at Village Council meetings or attend Village Council briefing sessions and make important recommendations to council members, often influencing the vote of council.

Do members of council study the line items of a 130-page budget or do they just trust the finance department? I would venture to say that the latter applies.

Evaluation committees to rank proposals that result from competitive bidding are required to be made up of members of staff. Often the members of staff live outside the village.  This policy should be changed to allow knowledgeable experts to serve on selection committees.

On Tuesday’s agenda, staff committees ranked two critical RFPs – for the Machado Property and for Ride-share services. The staff recommendation was expected to be confirmed by council. Only the proposal of the top choice of the selection committee was provided to the Council as an option.

Too much power without some balance and scrutiny is harmful.

Recently an RFP was advertised to find a wastewater contractor to fix the long-time sewer leak problem at MM92, that is estimated to cost $7.5 million. (Perhaps we have mismanaged wastewater for decades)

The committee to evaluate the technical skills enumerated within the wastewater proposals, will be staff members who do not live in Islamorada, do not pay property taxes here and may not have any real wastewater expertise?

Is that smart governance?

Vice Mayor Mahoney did suggest that the council needs to see more than just the proposals ranked first by staff. We agree.

Examples:

• Able City East was selected to do our Comp plan update after their presentation to the Council even though staff did not rank them #1.

• Our auditors were picked after being ranked by a selection committee made up of residents with significant financial backgrounds.

Do we need more than staff members living outside the village making important recommendations to council on highly technical issues? You bet we do.

Balance makes common sense.

Of all those impacting our policies and our budget, the members of council are currently the only ones that are required to be registered voters as well as residents. Therefore they have to answer to the taxpayers and residents come election day.

It is the members of council that need to assure that important contracts and contractors and all critical decisions are carefully considered before obligating constituents to the recommendations of folks who don’t live here or pay taxes here.

Isn’t that what Mayor Horton was trying to express when concerned about committee members that may not vote here?

We think he fell short of the real mark. Go a step further, balance staff recommendations with input from residents.

I submit that there are residents with expertise in wastewater and many of the technical issues that are decided by staff. We, the people, want to help make important decisions that affect our lives and environment.

Balance is key.

Use some creative measures to get qualified residents and Islamorada voters involved.

It’s your move council.

Elections have consequences.

Yours,

Tom