A brief but intense feud between Marathon city officials and staff regarding pay raises for city employees came to a relatively quiet close on the evening of Sept. 21 with the finalization of Marathon’s 2023-24 budget.
Presented by Finance Director Jennifer Johnson, the city’s rollback budget of $107,349,361 raises the same amount of tax revenues as fiscal year 2022-23 via a millage rate of 2.4477 mills – roughly $2.45 per $1,000 of taxable property value.
Audience members including Coldwell Banker’s Brian Schmitt and former county commissioner George Neugent praised the council for achieving rollback – Marathon is the only Keys municipality to do so this budget season – and touted the city’s affordable housing efforts in recent years. Neugent and former Mayor John Bartus advocated for significant raises for city staff, a hot button issue for the last two council meetings, and praised continuity among Marathon’s employees as a driving factor behind its recent successes.
The council wasted no time in diving into proposed staff raises, with Mayor Luis Gonzalez continuing his support for significant increases following several years of staff loyalty surrounding Hurricane Irma when increases were minimal. Councilman Kenny Matlock reiterated his support for a sliding scale of increases to primarily boost lower-end salaries within the city, while councilman Jeff Smith renewed his request for a salary survey to individually adjust pay scales while rewarding top performers over providing generous blanket increases.
Smith also raised the issue of previous increases to staff salaries in June 2022 independent from cost of living adjustments, a process he called the “right methodology” for addressing adjustments.
“I’ve learned a few things up here, and that’s be careful what you ask for and how you ask for it,” he said. “I’d like to point out that 48% of our staff last year got an additional average of 9% by adjustments, so I think we have been fair in adjusting our salaries and being competitive.”
Councilman Lynn Landry said he viewed a cost of living adjustment – in which regional statistics including the greater Miami area did not truly represent the realities of Marathon life – as an “easy decision” to maintain buying power for staff, but that individual adjustments to compete with salaries in surrounding jurisdictions were also a must. Vice Mayor Robyn Still again urged the council to “take care of” city employees struggling to pay basic living expenses.
An initial motion by Gonzalez for a 7.8% cost of living increase, as well as a 2% general increase and maximum of $1,500 for additional merit raises per employee failed with Gonzalez and Still as its two “yes” votes. Another by Smith and seconded by Matlock with a 5.5% cost of living increase and up to $5,000 per employee in merit raises, in an effort to arrive at a total maximum increase of roughly 9%, also failed.
A final motion by Still with a 7% cost of living increase, a 2% general increase and a maximum of $1,500 per employee for additional merit raises carried in a 4-1 vote, with Smith voting against.
As confirmed by Johnson and again in a city press release, funds for the approved increases will come from the city’s reserve funds, which are still sufficient to finance more than one year of city operating expenses.
In Other News:
- Following negotiations with the city’s firefighter union that City Attorney Steve Williams called “pleasant and straightforward,” the council emphatically approved resolution 2023-95, establishing a three-year contract that will begin a process to bring city firefighter pay in line with other municipalities. Among other items, union members will receive a 20% increase in fiscal year 2023-24, followed by a 10% increase in 2024-25 and 5% in 2025-26. Firefighter-paramedic Trace Goodwin praised the move, saying the increase will help attract and retain firefighters with local residences.
- Resolution 2023-96 was unanimously approved after direction from the council following recent discussions of a triplex redevelopment on Anglers Drive. The resolution declares Marathon’s intent to rework its land development regulations concerning redevelopment of single family residences of seven bedrooms or more. With approval of the resolution, any new applications for permits falling under this type of redevelopment will be deferred for a maximum of one year or until the city’s revisions are complete.
- With construction on a restroom facility set to begin soon at Marathon’s Quay property, Landry asked the council to revisit the idea of adding additional boat ramp space in addition to development of a park at the site to alleviate heavy traffic at an inefficient ramp. Gonzalez asked Public Works Director Carlos Solis to research the possibility of adding another ramp or widening the existing ramp, to which Garrett responded that preliminary plan concepts were already in progress.
