Item D1 D1
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
COUNTY of MONROE Mayor Craig Cates,District 1
The Florida Keys Mayor Pro Tern Holly Merrill Raschein,District 5
Michelle Lincoln,District 2
James K.Scholl,District 3
David Rice,District 4
Budget Meeting Meeting
July 18, 2023
Agenda Item Number: D1
2023-1162
BULK ITEM: No DEPARTMENT: Land Authority Governing Board
TIME APPROXIMATE: STAFF CONTACT: Christine Hurley
AGENDA ITEM WORDING: Review of the Monroe County Comprehensive Plan Land Authority
Fiscal Year 2024 Budget.
ITEM BACKGROUND:
See attached Memorandum.
PREVIOUS RELEVANT BOCC ACTION:
N/A
CONTRACT/AGREEMENT CHANGES:
N/A
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Approval
DOCUMENTATION:
Budget2024JuneCoverMe oFinal.pdf
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
N/A
6
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MONROE COUNTY LAND AUTHORITY
� 1200 Truman Avenue, Suite 207, Key West, FL 33040
r, r, Phone: (305)295-5180 Fax: (305)295-5181
MEMORANDUM
To: Land Authority Governing Board
From: Christine Hurley, AICP, Executive Director
Date: June 15, 2023
Subject: Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2024
Attached please find the Land Authority's proposed budget for fiscal year 2024. This memo provides an
overview and discussion of the proposed budget, revenues, and trends.
Total Budget Summary:
The proposed budget for FY 2024 is $35,418,143, which corresponds to a $3,479,580 increase compared to
the amended FY23 Budget of$31,938,563.
The FY23 Budget was amended in June, 2023 because during the FY2022 audit, the auditors, RSM US LLP,
requested construction funding and forgivable mortgages be booked as Operating Expenses instead of Capital
Outlay Expenses. In addition, the Land Authority approved a consultant contract to provide buying services to
increase acquisitions. Therefore, $1,353,989 was moved to special operating and $50,000 was moved to
general operating. The total budget amount of$31,938,563 for FY2023 remained the same.
Revenue Summary:
Of the total budget, anticipated revenues are expected to be:
• $6,992,070 from incoming tourist impact tax ($2,962,155 from Key West and $3,280,428 from the
County/Other Cities, as well as Park Surcharge and administrative revenue [$378,837 + $370,650)
• $4,481,000 from Sale of Land to the State of Florida
• $25,809,186 fund balance and interest
• Less a 5% reserve of(-$1,864,113)
*As you know, the Land Authority has been working in partnership with the State of Florida Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP) to pre-acquire lands in the Florida Forever boundary and then "resell" the
conservation land to DEP to help them fulfill their $5 Million goal from the Florida Keys Stewardship Act.
Appropriations Summary:
Key Appropriations for FY2024 land purchases or affordable housing (capital outlay) and reserves are:
• $14,112,837 for use in the Florida Keys Area of Critical State Concern (Unincorporated County and
incorporated Cities, except Key West
• $3,293,248 for ROGO Reserve Account (used for Administrative Relief and lawsuit settlements)
• $15,850,058 for use in Key West Area of Critical State Concern
• $1,000,000 for Reserves (Contingency and End of Year Cash)
• $1,152,000 for Salaries and General Operating
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Overview of Revenues
The Land Authority receives no property tax revenue and therefore the Board does not need to adopt a millage
rate for this budget. The Land Authority's two primary sources of recurring revenue are collected at rates
previously fixed by the Florida Legislature and by local ordinance. These revenues consist of:
1) Park Surcharge: a surcharge on admissions and camping at the State parks in unincorporated Monroe
County and
2) Tourist Impact Tax: half of the one-penny tourist impact tax charged on lodging in the Keys.
By statute, the other half of the tourist impact tax goes to the County general fund as a payment in lieu of taxes
(since purchasing land by government removes the value from the tax roll) and therefore does not appear in
the Land Authority budget. Additionally, over the years the Land Authority has also received various other
revenues such as grants, proceeds from the sale of land, mortgage loan repayments, and interest income.
The amount of park surcharge revenue and tourist impact tax revenue that can be spent on administrative
expenses is limited to 10% and 5%, respectively, and is therefore supplemented with other available revenue
and unassigned fund balance to fund operating expenses and maintain existing staffing levels.
Key West
Tourist Impact Tax
Within the City of Key West, the Tourist Impact Tax revenue collected from lodging establishments is dedicated
to be spent in Key West. This chart demonstrates the revenue since the creation of the Land Authority. As
you can see, 2021 had a sharp increase in revenue, after the COVID shutdown in 2020 and 2022 was even
higher, although, year to date in 2023 is showing a decrease over 2022.
KW TAMP Revenue
$4,500,000
$4,000,000
$3,500,000
$3,000,000
$2,500,000
$2,000,000
$1,500,000
$1,000,000
$500,000 El
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The Florida Keys
Tourist Impact Tax
Within the unincorporated County and Cities, excluding the City of Key West, the Tourist Impact Tax revenue
collected from lodging establishments is dedicated to be spent in these areas. This chart demonstrates the
revenue since the creation of the Land Authority. As you can see, 2021 had a sharp increase in revenue, after
the COVID shutdown in 2020 and 2022 increased as well, with year to date in 2023 showing a decrease over
2022.
FL Keys TIMP Revenue
$4,500,00
$3,500,00
$3,000,00
$1,500,00
$1,000,00
$500,000
$0
CO (D (D (D (D C) C) C)
Park Surcharge
The State parks located within unincorporated Monroe County send the park surcharge revenue to the Land
Authority. The State parks located within a municipality send the park surcharge revenue directly to that
municipality and therefore, these funds are not available for the Land Authority programs.
Park Revenue
$6 50,000
$6 00,000
$5 50,000
$5 00,000
$450,Goo �
$4 00,000
$350,000
rma
$300,000
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State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
Stewardship Act
The Stewardship Act documented the State and County partnership and outlined the urgency in purchasing
land in the Florida Keys to retire development rights, as well as protect the natural environment. The goal
within the Act is for the State to spend $5 million per year on land acquisition in the Florida Forever Boundary.
The table below demonstrates the annual expenditures by DEP, since passage of the Florida Keys
Stewardship Bill:
STATE FISCAL STATE PURCHASES STATE PURCHASES OF TOTAL STATE
YEAR FROM PRIVATE PRE-ACQUIRED LAND PURCHASES*
SELLERS* FROM MCLA*
2017 $0 $0 $0
2018 $709,246 $0 $709,246
2019 $2,037,381 $0 $2,037,381
2020 $1,177,841 $0 $1,177,841
2021 $695,492 $0 $695,492
2022 $89,732 $607,323 $697,055
2023 $199,288 $2,818,957 $3,018,245
TOTAL $4,908,980 $3,426,280 $8,335,260
*Includes soft costs such as Appraisals,surveying,etc.
The real estate market in the Keys has been rapidly increasing since adoption of the Act. DEP has found it
difficult to purchase land quickly and to meet the sales price expectations of sellers. Decades ago, DEP would
allow the Land Authority to pre-acquire land and then purchase the land from the Land Authority at the price
they can using their appraisal standards. During 2022, Land Authority staff have successfully worked with DEP
to renew this model and during 2023 this effort increased.
As of May 31, 2023, the Land Authority resold $3,018,245 of land to the State of Florida. This is expected to
increase for 2024 with the addition of another buyer (consultant) on the Land Authority staff.
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Current Issues
The most important activity the Land Authority performs is the purchase of land for environmental protection
and retirement of development rights. The following table, prepared by the Monroe County Planning
Department, shows the number of vacant lots, as of January 2022, within the unincorporated County:
January 2022 White Paper Update
(PV- does not include condos, trailer parks, etc)
UNINCORPORATED MONROE COUNTY
TIER 2021 NUMBER OF PRIVATE 2021 APPROX. LAND VALUE
VACANT PARCELS
No Tier (Ocean Reef, 139 $125,402,669
military, submerged, etc.)
Tier 1 3,132 $67,496,627
Tier II 250 $19,458,845
Tier III-A 129 $18,724,306
Tier III 2,316 $396,066,049
Total )166 $627,148,496
2022 Average Parcel Value $105,120
This table demonstrates that the order of magnitude estimate of the number of vacant privately owned parcels
is close to 6,000, with an average value of $105,120, demonstrating $627,148,496 total value. This land value
is outdated, as values have continued to rise.
Fortunately, revenues have been up since COVID ended, which has given the Land Authority the ability to
purchase more land than usual, and the flexibility to leverage DEP funds through resales.
ROGO Reserves
In accordance with Policy 101.7.2 of the County Comprehensive Plan, funding is reserved for the
administrative relief provisions of the rate of growth ordinance (ROGO). Although this policy recommends an
annual set aside of 35% of the Florida Keys ACSC acquisition revenue, there have been very few expenditures
from this reserve over the last five years. For this reason, the ROGO Reserve that would result from a 35% set
aside has been reduced to the current year level of $3,293,248 and the difference has been allocated for
general use in the Florida Keys ACSC.
Noteworthy to this discussion is the fact that the Unincorporated County decreased the annual rate of
distribution of ROGO units available to stretch out the number of allocations through the year of 2026. This
has increased competition for applicants to receive an allocation to be able to build a housing unit.
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The following two tables show how the number of applicants, not awarded a Market Rate ROGO allocation,
has increased from January 12, 2022 to April 12, 2023. This is important data to watch, to determine whether
the need for ROGO reserve funding will become greater in the near future. Land Authority staff corresponded
with County Planning Staff and did check the number of eligible applicants for Administrative Relief for FY
2023 and determined the amount budgeted for ROGO Reserve should be adequate.
Status of ROGO units as of January 12, 2022 — ROGO Year 30
# of Applicants I #Awarded in 2nd Quarter # Not awarded in 2nd Quarter
Lower Keys 54 7 47
BigPine
22 1 21
Upper Keys 63 8 55
Status of ROGO units as of April 12, 2023— ROGO Year 31
# of Applicants I #Awarded in 2nd Quarter # Not awarded in 2nd Quarter
Lower Keys
54 7 108
BigPine
22 1 21
Upper Keys 63 8 55
The budget also includes general reserves of$500,000 for contingency and $500,000 for end of year cash. All
funding not otherwise committed is budgeted in the general appropriation for property in the Florida Keys
ACSC.
With respect to administrative expenses, the implementation of merit or COLA salary increases, if any, will be
limited to the amount and policy the Board approves for all County employees.
The property acquisition policies established by the budget are very general in nature. The Land Authority's
annual Acquisition List and the Board's approval of purchase contracts provide more detailed direction about
the specific properties to be acquired.
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MONROE COUNTY LAND AUTHORITY
FY 2024 BUDGET
Proposed Amended Amended
Budget Increase/ Budget Actual Budget
FY 2024 (Decrease) %Change FY 2023 FY 2022 FY 2022
Revenues:
Intergovernmental
Tourist Impact Tax-Restricted-Key West 2,962,155 327,954 12.4% 2,634,201 3,935,249 1,900,000
Tourist Impact Tax-Restricted-FL Keys 3,280,428 561,623 20.7% 2,718,805 4,268,655 4,940,000
Park Surcharge-Restricted 378,837 (28,453) -7.0% 407,290 443,931 360,000
Tourist Impact Tax& Park Surcharge Administration 370,650 62,271 20.2% 308,379 481,110 400,000
Fund Balance Forward
Tourist Impact Tax-Restricted-Key West 12,887,903 1,649,174 14.7% 11,238,729 10,728,700 9,592,441
Tourist Impact Tax-Restricted-FL Keys 0 (2,902,414) -100.0% 2,902,414 3,163,225 1,682,633
Park Surcharge-Restricted 0 0 n/a 0 0 0
Assigned and Unassigned 12,671,283 3,767,561 42.3% 8,903,722 8,501,705 7,699,010
Miscellaneous
Interest Income 250,000 225,000 900.0% 25,000 182,129 25,000
Sale of Land 4,481,000 0 0.0% 4,481,000 889,826 0
Donation 0 0 n/a 0 684,032 0
Tax Collector Excess Fees 0 0 n/a 0 309,571 0
Mortgage Receivable 0 0 n/a 0 7,419,025 0
Less 5% (1,864,113) (1,680,977) (1,329,954)
Total Revenues 35,418,143 3,479,580 10.9% 31,938,563 38,956,802 25,269,130
Appropriations:
Salaries and Benefits 844,000 36,900 4.6% 807,100 539,863 706,100
General Operating Expenses 308,000 86,900 39.3% 221,100 109,574 171,000
Special Operating Expenses:
Operating FL Keys ACSC-Forgivable Mortgages 0 0 n/a 0 0 0
Operating FL Keys ACSC-Construction Funding 0 (1,353,989) -100.0% 1,353,989 0 0
Operating Key West ACSC-Forgivable Mortgages 0 0 n/a 0 0 0
Operating Key West ACSC-Construction Funding 0 0 n/a 0 0 0
Capital Outlay
Office Equipment 10,000 0 0.0% 10,000 0 10,000
FL Keys Area of Critical State Concern 14,112,837 2,732,641 24.0% 11,380,196 5,181,605 8,596,341
ROGO Reserve 3,293,248 0 0.0% 3,293,248 0 3,293,248
Key West Area of Critical State Concern 15,850,058 1,977,128 14.3% 13,872,930 0 11,492,441
Reserves
Contingency 500,000 0 0.0% 500,000 0 500,000
End of Year Cash 500,000 0 0.0% 500,000 0 500,000
Total Appropriations 35,418,143 3,479,580 10.9% 31,938,563 5,831,042 25,269,130
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