Florida Keys officials hope another legislative session in Tallahassee will yield millions of dollars for ongoing projects, fixes to the state’s crippling insurance industry and changes to a law that has complicated matters for local specialty contractors.
Local municipalities, agencies and nonprofits relayed their list of priorities to state Rep. Jim Mooney and state Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez during a Dec. 5 virtual meeting of the Keys delegation. The Florida Legislature won’t convene for session until March 7, 2023, but work is underway to draft bills and develop money requests.
Funding for the Florida Keys Stewardship Act, which covers water quality projects, sits atop the priority list for Monroe County and other local governments. Passed by the Florida Legislature in 2016, the Stewardship Act once funded solely wastewater projects. Since then, funds have covered stormwater enhancements and canal restorations.
Last year, the Keys received $20 million in Stewardship Act funding and $5 million for land acquisition. County officials aren’t only looking to secure another $25 million in the upcoming session, but they’re also hoping to approve a recurring five-year, water-related work plan for distribution of state funding.
County officials are also seeking state funds for the development of mooring fields near Wisteria Island off Key West. A new law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis earlier in the year will force boaters who are not in a managed mooring area and 1 mile off Key West to move roughly a quarter mile every 90 days. But that won’t take effect until the county and state install 100 new mooring buoys off the Key West shores. Lisa Tennyson, county legislative affairs director, said Keys officials went to work on a feasibility study to develop mooring fields. The design, engineering and implementation will be costly.
“The two mooring fields the county commission is looking at will be around $1.7 million,” she said.
Key West Mayor Teri Johnston expressed the city’s support for funding to install new moorings. She also requested some state funds for costs to service the 100 new mooring balls.
In October, the county broke ground on a new emergency operations center at the Marathon Airport. Completion of the 28,300-square-foot facility is expected around spring 2024. A sharp increase in project costs wasn’t expected, however. What was originally going to be a $27.8-million building escalated to $31.8 million due to construction materials and labor. Other cost increases add $2 million to the price tag. Now, county officials are seeking help from the state.
“We were hit with an unanticipated cost escalation and there is a funding shortfall of $6 million,” Tennyson told Mooney and Rodriguez. “The county commission would like to seek an appropriation to help with the shortfall.”
The EOC project is funded by three grants from the Florida Department of Transportation and Florida Department of Emergency Management.
Monroe County is hoping for a change or repeal to House Bill 735, which preempted local governments’ ability to issue new local contractors licenses. Current licenses will expire in July 2023 if no changes are made, meaning only state-licensed general contractors and homeowners would be able to obtain work permits.
With no local license, hundreds of small specialty contractors in Monroe County and many more throughout the state won’t be able to obtain work permits. That leaves their livelihoods and businesses at stake.
“We remember the issue over specialty licensing and we want to make sure local specialty license holders are protected,” said Marathon Manager George Garrett.
Mel Montagne, of Fair Insurance Rates of Monroe, told the state legislators that it’s advocating for a 10% rate cap on Citizens rates. As of now, rate increases are on a 1% increase per year glidepath beginning in 2026 — where it will ultimately reach 15%. FIRM is also seeking a return to the 10% cap for secondary homes that are used as annual rentals for locals. Montagne said roughly 80% to 90% of Citizens policies are written in Monroe County.
“They profit handsomely from Monroe County to the tune of $50 million a year. Those are numbers through 2021 and I anticipate they had a banner year in 2022,” he said. “We’d like to see Citizens move back to its original intent as a wind-only market and get away from everything else driving the issues, like the multi-peril policies and fraud.”
Monroe Schools Superintendent Theresa Axford said the district is working with Mooney and Rodriguez to expedite construction of an affordable housing complex on Trumbo Road in Key West. Axford noted that the district hires roughly 100 new people per year. This past year, 60 qualified candidates were unable to accept offers due to the lack of affordable housing.
“We want to deliver the best possible service to all students,” Axford said.
Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority will seek funds in the tens of millions to continue transmission line replacement in the Keys. “At a cost of $5 million a mile, as you can imagine we’re eating up funds quickly,” said Greg Veliz, executive director.
The village of Islamorada and the city of Marathon are seeking possible legislative fixes to each municipality’s acceptance of 300 affordable housing units from the state following Hurricane Irma. In August, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal deemed the allocations, which were characterized as “early evacuation” units, illegal. Per the ruling, the designation violated Florida statute requiring a hurricane evacuation clearance time for permanent residents of no more than 24 hours. A request to re-hear a case was turned down. Both Garrett and Islamorada Manager Ted Yates said affordable housing and ROGO were among the top priorities for their municipalities.
“We’re fighting alongside Marathon to see where all that’s going to play out,” Yates said
Mote Marine Laboratory is seeking $1 million for its coral restoration efforts in the Florida Keys. The nonprofit with labs on Summerland Key, Islamorada and Key Largo received $1 million in state funds last year. Michael Crosby, president, said Mote Marine Lab employs 40 full-time staff who have outplanted more than 40,000 corals.
Providing a carve-out for Monroe County from preemptive vacation rental regulations, levying a 1 cent surtax with proceeds used for roads and transportation projects and funding through Florida’s Resilient Florida grant program for road elevation and flood mitigation projects were other requests made by Keys municipalities.
Mooney said he’s on the same page with all priorities outlined by all local governments. He enters his second term in office after his re-election in November. Mooney will have some leadership roles when he returns to Tallahassee. He’ll serve as Republican Committee Whip on the House Appropriations Committee and vice chair of the State Administration and Technology Appropriations Committee.
