A transfer of Higgs Beach to the city of Key West, funding for commercial air service at Marathon Airport and the framework of a payment deferral program for residents hit hard by local assessments highlighted the Monroe County’s March 11 session in Key Largo.
The commission opened the meeting by giving staff a green light to iron out terms for giving Higgs Beach, the final county-owned beach within an incorporated Keys city, to the city of Key West.
Staff with the city and county have worked throughout the past year to attempt conveyance of the 16.3-acre parcel, including a beach and pier, tennis and pickleball courts, playgrounds, a dog park, pavilions, a restaurant and the West Martello Tower, home to the Key West Garden Club.
County Administrator Christine Hurley outlined financial considerations of the transfer, which would be memorialized in an agreement between the two governments before conveying the property.
If successful, Hurley said, Monroe County would transfer $987,000 in insurance proceeds from Hurricane Ian, used to repair structures damaged by the storm. Capital funding of $400,000 for a seawall patch and $100,000 for the design of the Reynolds Street pier repair would also be available for use by Key West.
TDC grant agreements totaling more than $834,000 would be amended for use by the city, intended for restoration and repairs at the beach pavilion and Reynolds Street pier as well as West Martello’s HVAC system.
A $568,436 grant from the Florida Department of Transportation would also be transferred to the city, and the TDC would commit nearly $306,000 in operating funds to pay for two employee salaries, utilities, pest control and other maintenance, repair and operating expenses.
Key West would accept the site’s three existing tenants – Salute restaurant, Salute Watersports and the Key West Garden Club.
Still to be determined is the exact site and size of a recreational field, initially promised by the Key West International Airport to be built on an octagonal parcel inside the park – currently owned by the Navy and managed by the FAA – if the land could be transferred.
Hurley told the commission that Key West staff would prefer a larger 100-by-300-foot field not currently feasible within the site of the decommissioned aviation navigational beacon. If the city were to accept the beach property, she said, the county could either build the field within the original octagon site or transfer the estimated funds for the build to the city to use toward construction of the larger field.
Marathon airport funding
Following a presentation in February on the estimated costs of restoring commercial air service to the Marathon International Airport, the commission approved a resolution to commit $500,000 in TDC funds from the county’s 2026-27 budget toward minimum revenue guarantees for airline carriers and promotional marketing materials for the airport. The funds will be used as a match to seek a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Small Community Air Service Development (SCASD) program.
Estimated costs to begin service at the airport should total north of $11 million, director of airports Richard Strickland told the commission last month, including $8.4 million in terminal upgrades and projected revenue guarantees of $1.7 million for commercial carriers.
Of that $11 million, he said, $8 million could be covered by an FAA grant for terminal upgrades, plus the $1 million SCASD grant, $400,000 from the county’s airport fund and the $500,000 in TDC funds. Community contributions from the hospitality industry, Middle Keys businesses, the Marathon Chamber of Commerce and the city of Marathon could likely make up most of the balance.
Payment deferral program
As the county weighs the possibility of localized assessments for improvements in individual neighborhoods, including potential high-dollar road elevation projects, the commission began to lay the preliminary framework for a payment deferral program for low-income residents in affected communities.
Under the program, chief resiliency officer Rhonda Haag said, assessments would be deferred, but not waived, until the sale of an affected property for families below designated income thresholds and levels of financial assets, if requested.
The county would place a lien on participating properties, with the owed amount increasing annually by the assessment amount, plus interest. If an owner were to sell a property or pass away, the county would collect the balance of the assessment.
The county would decide on an annual basis whether to fund the program, with property owners required to resume paying assessments in any unfunded years. Totals already accrued should remain payable in each home’s account, with a fixed interest rate, until the sale of the property, the commission said.
Commissioners told Haag they would support the program for families in homesteaded properties falling within the “very low” and “low” affordable housing income ranges, defined as 80% or less of the area’s median income – $73,000 for a single person or $111,200 for a married couple or domestic partners, with limits increasing for additional household members.
Only assessments of more than $1,500 per year should be eligible, they said. Applicants for the program would be required to disclose financial assets, with participation denied if their available cash balances totaled 10 times the annual assessment amount or greater. Income and asset limits would be verified every five years.
