Discussion over how to “split the bill” for looming road adaptations in the Keys earned center stage at the Monroe County Board of County Commissioners’ meeting on April 16.
From 2021 to 2023, a Roads Vulnerability Sea Level Rise Adaptation Study completed by the county identified and ranked 97 road areas for improvement by the year 2045, at a projected cost of $1.6 billion, to mitigate flooding due to rising sea levels. Of those 97 areas, 49 were recommended for completion by 2025 at a projected cost of $888 million – before accounting for rising costs since the original 2020 estimate.
Prior discussion of how to raise the monumental sum – including a public bond, sales tax increases, grants and loans – continued in last Wednesday’s preliminary proposal for discussion: a uniform $25,000 assessment per “billing unit” in areas identified for improvement to defray a portion of capital costs, plus established localized taxing districts to fund 100% of the operations and maintenance of each area’s road project.
The assessments drew heavy criticism from public commenters, most of whom were residents in areas with improvement projects already underway. Several took issue with what they felt was a lack of communication from county officials as rising costs, layers of environmental regulations and shifting funding sources changed the financial landscape of each project. Others said potential assessments would hurt property values and raise rents, potentially driving more of the Keys’ workforce out of the island chain with the significant tax increases.
Steve Miller, executive director of the Lower Keys Chamber of Commerce, told the commission that such an assessment in the Sands subdivision on Big Pine Key could be a tipping point for the Keys’ workforce.
“They’re the ones that are just getting by, a lot of them,” he said. “This is just going to be one more thing that’s going to be landing on top of them (and) pushing them away. And we’re losing more of this workforce all the time.”
County Administrator Christine Hurley told the commission that existing projects in Conch Key and the Sands and Twin Lakes subdivisions have “pretty much tapped out” the county’s capacity for funding available through its one cent infrastructure surtax. Hurley and multiple county commissioners reminded the audience that grant funding for projects requires a matching portion, and that recent deep cuts to state and federal grant funding could place future projects in even greater jeopardy without local financial backing. Chief Resilience Officer Rhonda Haag said that while grant funding is partially secured for a total of seven projects, there will still be a likely shortfall that Monroe County taxpayers will need to cover.
“What that means, and I want to be very clear about this … is unless we raise ad valorem taxes to pay for portions of these other projects, we cannot do the projects,” Hurley said. “None of us are happy about the discussions we’re having.”
“I’m afraid that we’re looking at changing issues in our country, with less willingness to provide money than there is willingness to take and cut funding,” said commissioner David Rice. “It’s okay to say we don’t want to have this $25,000 per building unit collected, but that money still has to be paid. We don’t have the money, and maybe you (taxpayers) don’t have the money either. That leaves us one option (to abandon roads), and I think we’re going to be facing that issue.”
“We’re now at that philosophical question: Who is going to pay for this?” said Mayor Pro Tem Michelle Lincoln, who pledged to host a town hall meeting for Sands subdivision residents to discuss the impacts of the improvement projects. “It’s coming out of ad valorem taxes; is it going to come from one specific neighborhood that’s receiving a benefit, or is the entire county going to pay for these projects that may only benefit a few?”
“I don’t know if we’re quite there on making a decision on how we move forward,” said commissioner Holly Raschein. “I do appreciate that we do need to have a community process and a consistent process.”
“Sea level rise is continuing,” said Mayor Jim Scholl. “We don’t want to be just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Somewhere there’s got to be a balance of what the investment is going to be, what the return on the investment is going to be, and whether there are alternatives when we’re done with pilot projects.”
No formal action was taken on the proposal, with discussions set to continue at future commission meetings.
