Islamorada council members recently approved a tentative $60-million-plus spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year.
A tentative millage rate for the 2025-26 fiscal year, which brings in more revenue from property taxpayers compared to the previous year, was also approved during the first of two budget hearings, on Sept. 4.
In total, the village would bring in $18.2 million from property taxpayers with a tax rate of 2.65, or $265 per $100,000 of a property’s assessed value. The funds go toward the $23.2 million in day-to-day village expenses budgeted for the 2025-26 fiscal year. Revenues from property taxes and other sources, such as other taxes, permits, fees and assessments, fines and forfeitures, charges for service and interest, pay for the day-to-day expenses in the village for the coming fiscal year.
Hatti Jenkins, village finance director, noted that they were able to cut roughly $2.2 million from the initial $25 million spending plan for day-to-day operations, mostly through personnel expenses.
Between fire and law enforcement, public safety expenses account for $12.6 million of the village’s budget heading into the 2025-26 fiscal year.
Last year, the village brought in a little more than $16 million in property tax revenue, at a 2.65 tax rate, to fund roughly $23 million in daily village operations.
Between the day-to-day expenses, capital projects, debt service, enterprise operations and other accounts, the village is slated to spend $65 million in the 2025-26 fiscal year.
Before budget talks began last month, Village Manager Ron Saunders convened a Citizen’s Budget Task Force to review previous spending and recommend possible changes to bring savings. Members suggested adjusting the amount taxpayers foot for health insurance for an employee’s family members, which was 97%. Saunders said the village would now foot 80% of the health insurance cost for family members.
And no pay increases were budgeted for the village’s employees.
“We’d all love big pay increases, but I think they understand this is a tough budget year,” Saunders said..” We’re trying to be fiscally conservative and hopefully next year won’t be as bad.”
There were suggestions by the task force to cut back — and eliminate — overtime expenses. Saunders said they budgeted some overtime to account for emergencies. But the village manager said any overtime would need to be justified by the department head in order to secure his approval.
“I really did want to go to zero overtime, but I was convinced by staff that it’s not realistic. There are times you have to have overtime but we want to limit it as much as possible,” Saunders said.
Overtime related to management at the Fills was eliminated.
During budget workshops, discussion ensued over outsourcing services such as landscaping and potentially selling the former Island Community Church property to recoup the millions spent by a previous council on the property.
Discussions also included the village’s wastewater budget, an enterprise fund that’s supposed to be paying for its expenses with revenues like user fees. Village officials say it’s been running in the red, and a rate study is warranted to correct the issue.
Vice Mayor Don Horton said he sees this budget cycle as a reset year as the council “goes through correcting sins of the past.” He also acknowledged the village must protect its staff and pay attention to a recent pay rate study, which showed levels at which employees should be paid.
“They care about Islamorada and protecting Islamorada, and we need to be diligent of that,” he said.
A final budget hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 16 at 5:30 p.m. at the Founders Park Community Center.
