HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem B1 COUNTY of MONROE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
� Mayor Michelle Lincoln,District 2
The Florida Keys Mayor Pro Tern David Rice,District 4
y Craig Cates,District 1
James K. Scholl,District 3
� «
Holly Merrill Raschein,District 5
Special Meeting
July 14, 2026
Agenda Item Number: B1
26-32403
BULK ITEM: No DEPARTMENT: MC Land Authority Governing
Board
TIME APPROXIMATE: STAFF CONTACT: Cynthia Guerra
AGENDA ITEM WORDING:
Review of the Monroe County Comprehensive Plan Land Authority proposed Fiscal Year 2027 Budget.
ITEM BACKGROUND:
See attached Memorandum. The Land Authority proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2027 is $27,721,354,
which is $6,895,278 less than the adopted FY26 Budget of$34,616,632. The budget decrease compared
to last year reflects the successful implementation of conservation and affordable housing projects so
far in the current fiscal year, with some large expenditures for affordable housing projects still
anticipated in the current fiscal year.
PREVIOUS RELEVANT BOCC ACTION:
NA
INSURANCE REQUIRED:
No
CONTRACT/AGREEMENT CHANGES:
NA
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Approval
DOCUMENTATION:
MCLA Proposed FY27 Budget—June 2026 Memorandum
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
NA
Effective Date: NA
Expiration Date: NA
Total Dollar Value of Contract: NA
Total Cost to County: NA
Current Year Portion: NA
Budgeted: NA
Source of Funds: NA
CPI: NA
Indirect Costs: NA
Estimated Ongoing Costs Not Included in above dollar amounts: NA
Revenue Producing: NA If yes, amount: NA
Grant: NA
County Match: NA
1. Review of the Monroe County Comprehensivei sed Fiscal Year
7 Budget.
� MON ROE COUNTY LAND AUTHORITY
. 1200 Truman Avenue, Suite 207, Key West, FL 33040
Phone: (305)295-5180 Fax: (305)295-5181
W k;.b,9'CiS
MEMORANDUM
To: Land Authority Governing Board
From: Cynthia Guerra, MPA, Executive Director
Date: June 30, 2026
Subject: Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2027
Attached please find the Land Authority's proposed budget for fiscal year 2027. This memo provides an
overview and discussion of the proposed budget, revenues, and trends.
Total Budget Summary:
The proposed budget for FY 2027 is $27,721,354, which is $6,895,278 less than the adopted FY 2026 Budget
of $34,616,632. The budget decrease compared to last year reflects the successful implementation of
conservation and affordable housing projects so far in the current fiscal year, with some large expenditures for
affordable housing projects still anticipated in the current fiscal year.
Revenue Summary:
Of the total budget, projected revenue for FY 2027 is $27,721,354:
• $7,595,012 from Tourist Impact Tax for acquisitions in Key West and the Florida Keys
• $419,154 from Park Surcharge for acquisitions in the Florida Keys
• $4467310 from Tourist Impact Tax and Park Surcharge for administration
• $6,148,819 Fund balance forward for Key West
• $13,752,649 General fund balance forward
• $818,430 in Miscellaneous Revenue like interest and BOCC reimbursements for personnel
• $0 from sale of land to the State of Florida in FY 2026 (see page 4)
There is a 5% deduction from projected revenue in the amount of $1,459,019 to ensure a conservative
revenue forecast.
Appropriations Summary:
Key Appropriations for FY 2027 land purchases or affordable housing (capital outlay) and reserves are:
• $8,950,066 for general use in the Florida Keys Area of Critical State Concern (Unincorporated County
and incorporated Cities, except Key West)
• $6,858,789 for general use in Key West Area of Critical State Concern
• $3,260,000 for Construction Funding for Sugarloaf Landings 56 units of affordable housing
• $2,800,000 for Construction Funding for Key West Continuum of Care at Poinciana Plaza
• $3,250,000 for ROGO Reserve Account available for Administrative Relief
• $1,000,000 for Reserves (Contingency and End of Year Cash)
• $1,597,500 for Salaries and General Operating Expenses
Page 1 of 7
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, 2023 started a downturn after the record-breaking year, 2022, following COVID.
KW TIMP Revenue
11
000
11
000
11
000
000
11
$215,001000
21113
000
1 11
000
1 11
$5,00000
000
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. Florida Keys TIMP saw the same dip as Key West.
Page 2 of 7
FL Ke s,TI M P Revenue
$5'�IOKIOOO -
$4�151KIOOO -
$4�10KIOOO -
$3�151KIOOO -
$3�10KIOOO -
$2�151KIOOO -
$2�10KIOOO -
$1 m151KIOOO -
$1�IOKIOOO -
$51KI000 -
$0
K) K)
00 C) K) CF) 00 C) K) CF) 00 C) K) CF) 00 C) K)
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.
Plark Re enure
$65,0;000 -
$6,0011000 -
rl
$5,0011000
$45,0m1000
$400p000 -
$35,0p000 -
$300;000 -
$25,0m1000
............L ............L ............L ............L ............L ............L
(D (D (D (D CID CID C) C) C) C) CD C) C) C) C) C) C) C) C)
00 1�0 1�0 1�0 1�0 C) C) C) CD ............L ............L ............L ............L ............L
Page 3 of 7
State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
Stewardship Act
The 2016 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 $7091246
2019 $21037,381 $0 $210371381
2020 $111771841 $0 $111771841
2021 $6951492 $0 $6951492
2022 $891732 $607X3 $6971055
2023 $2101828 $21924,856 $311351684
2024 $0 $21338,813 $213381813
2025 $1M45,998 $3104908 $410951806
2026 YTD $0 $977,727 $9771727
TOTAL $51966,518 $91898,526 $1518651044
*Includes soft costs such as Appraisals, surveying,etc.
After adoption of the Act, the real estate market in the Keys rapidly increased, especially after Covid. While
that rapid rate of increase seems to be abating, DEP has traditionally found it difficult to purchase land quickly
and to meet the sales price expectations of sellers. The Land Authority is able to quickly acquire land, so DEP
has allowed the Land Authority to pre-acquire land and then purchase the land from the Land Authority at a
price that meets their appraisal standards.
Between the adoption of the Act in 2016 through June 29, 2026, the Land Authority resold $9,898,526 of land
to the State of Florida, with DEP spending a total of $15,865,044. Unfortunately, in 2025 DEP largely
discontinued this pre-acquisition system due to a state budget reduction. DEP's legislative appropriation for
Florida Forever acquisitions was reduced from $100 million in State FY 2025 to $18 million in FY 2026. On
June 24, 2025, DEP notified MCLA that all Florida Forever funding was obligated and there would be no
funding available for the State to purchase pre-acquired land from MCLA until the Legislature appropriates
additional funds. The Land Authority continues to make purchases within Florida Forever areas and will
pursue reinstating the partnership as soon as State funding is made available.
Current Issues
The most important activity the Land Authority performs is the purchase of land for environmental protection
and retirement of development rights. On June 26, 2025, the Governor signed Senate Bill 180 which granted
the Florida Keys 900 additional permit allocations to be distributed over a period of at least 10 years. The
legislation requires all permit allocations be issued for vacant, buildable parcels, of which only one may be
awarded for any individual parcel, and the distribution of which must prioritize allocations for owner-occupied
residences, affordable housing, and workforce housing. Of the 900 proposed permit allocations, 657 are for
unincorporated Monroe County, with the remainder being allocated to the Marathon, Islamorada and Key
West.
Page 4 of 7
In 2024, the Planning Department refined their estimate of the number of private vacant parcels that could
potentially be buildable, as presented to the Board of County Commissioners in October 2024. According to
their data, 1,618 parcels contain uplands and have zoning or land use that allow at least 1 TDR. The 657
ROGO allocations pending for Monroe County represents only 40% of the potentially buildable private vacant
lots, leaving an approximate balance of 970 buildable private vacant lots.
Without enough permits available, some private property owners could file takings and Bert Harris suits against
both the State and Monroe County. Even if the County were to successfully defend each claim, the cost of
defending against such claims will be significant. To help mitigate the anticipated liability, Monroe County,
working with the Land Authority and DEP, has implemented a long-term acquisition strategy in the Florida Keys
aimed at reducing the total inventory of privately owned vacant land and to retire development rights from
property owners.
ROGO Reserve
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). This policy recommends an annual
set aside of 35% of the Florida Keys ACSC acquisition revenue. Between FY22 and FY25 there were very few
Administrative Relief applications and there were no ROGO Reserve expenditures. Notwithstanding the low
rate of applications, the Land Authority committed over $3M annually for ROGO Reserve expenditures since
FY09. Continuing that commitment, the ROGO Reserve for the current fiscal year is set at $3,250,000. While
this does represent a reduction from the 35% set aside, the difference is allocated for land acquisition in the
Florida Keys ACSC which can be used to continue the effort to reduce the inventory of potentially developable
parcels regardless of their ROGO status, including parcels currently competing in ROGO that are not yet
eligible for administrative relief.
In FY26, there has been an increase in administrative relief applications. The Land Authority has purchased
$601,309 in administrative relief properties and will be offering to purchase another $570,000 in the current
fiscal year, representing a possible total expenditure of $1.1M in FY26. This expenditure is well below the
amount that was allocated for the year ($3,293,248). Should the rate of administrative relief applications and
expenditures increase in the coming fiscal year, the Land Authority can amend the budget amendment to
increase the balance. But given the history of ROGO Reserve activity as well as uncertainty related to
Administrative Relief applications, it is deemed premature to restrict additional funding to the ROGO Reserve
at this time.
The Planning Department has estimated that nearly 200 administrative relief applications are technically
possible over the next four years, which exceeds the 145 currently available Administrative Relief allocations.
If that rate of increase is realized, the set aside would not be sufficient to address the need. Currently, the fair
market value of recent Administrative Relief parcels has been between $80,000 up to nearly $400,000. These
values do not take into account the proposed comprehensive plan amendment to compensate owners for any
added expense the owners invested in time, design, permitting and carrying costs while competing in ROGO.
If 200 administrative relief applications were referred to the Land Authority for a purchase offer, assuming a
value of$150,000 per parcel, the total purchase price would be $30,000,000, with $150,000 per parcel being a
very conservative estimate of fair market value plus carrying costs.
Other Considerations
As FY26 comes to a close, the Land Authority faces some new challenges with respect to staffing. Earlier this
year, a contract position serving as a Land Acquisition Specialist was lost as the individual accepted a new
position with the County. The Land Acquisition Specialist is essentially a buyer for the Land Authority,
negotiating and pursuing land purchase agreements under the supervision of the Executive Director. The
Land Authority is also facing the 6-month separation period of the Senior Land Acquisition Specialist that is
nearing the end of his DROP period. This separation will begin in FY26 and the position will remain vacant
until February 2027. These staff reductions leave the Executive Director as the sole individual to negotiate
purchase agreements across all of the Land Acquisition programs administered by the Land Authority.
Page 5of7
Therefore, in the FY27 budget, the Land Authority is including a new FTE (Land Acquisition Specialist position)
with the intention to recruit immediately in the new fiscal year to offset the loss of the contracted position. This
additional position has little impact on the budget in that it essentially replaces the contracted position that is
now eliminated.
With respect to other administrative expenses, the implementation of a COLA salary increases, if any, will be
limited to the amount and policy the Board approves for all County employees.
Finally, 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.
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.
Page 6of7
Proposed FY 2027 Budget
I ROE,COUNT"L,AN D AUTHORITY
FY20,27 BUDGET
Proposed Adopted Ame,nded
Budget Increase i Budgelt Actuia,ll Budgelt
FY 2,027 (Decrease) %Change FY 2,026 FY 2,025 FY 20,25
Revenues:
Intergovernment2l
Tourist Impact T3X---Re stri cte d-Key"mast 3,50 9,970 110,969 3.3% 3,399,001 3,4 0 5,76 1 3,512,450
Tourist I m pa ct T3X-Re stri cte d-F.L.Keys 4,085,042 3 9 6,75,2 "10.8% 3,688,290 3,8,18,55,6 4,0 6 8,73 3
Park S,urcharge-Restricted 4:19,154, 45,887 "12.3% 373,,267 4,020697 439,623
Tourist Impact Tax,&,,Park Surcha,rgeAdministration 4 4.6,310 31,820 7.7% 414,490 4,24,966 4 47,857
Fund Bia,lance Fom3rd
Tourist Impact T3X Restricts d-Key"east 6,148,819 3,027,24 6) -.33.0% 9,176,0 6 5 15,637,398 15,361,697
Tourist Impact T3X Re stri cte d-FL.Keys 0 0 Na 0 0 0
Park Surcharge-Restricted 0 0 N3 0 0 0
Assigned and Unassigned 13,752,649 (4,925,017) -.26.4% 18,677,666 18,46.4,648 15,905,878
Miscell3fleous
Interest Income 5,00,000 0 0.0% 500,000 1,497,669 5,00,000
B,QCC R e i IHdurseme nt f'o r M CLA Employee 318,430 108,649 51.8% 2 0 9,78 1 166,833 195,688
Sale of"Land( 0 0) -.10 0.0% 0 2,690,991 4,481,000
Don3tion 0 0 N3 0 "183,600 0
Tax Collector Excess Fees 0 0 IV3 0 296,385 0
Mortgage Receivable 0 0 Na, 0 0 0
Less 5% 0
Total Revenues 27,721,354, (6,895,279) -.19.9% 34,616,633, 4,6,989,505 4.2,667,280
,Ap,p,ro pri 3ti 0 11 S'.
Salaries and Benefit 1,294500 68,000 5.5% 1,226,500 971,923 1,196,500
General Operating Expenses 303,000 (66,000) -.17.9% 369,000 224,660 321,000
S,peCi3l Operating Expenses, 1597500 2,000 0.1% 1,595,500
Operating FL,Keys,ACSC-Forgiva]ble fdorl:93,ges 0 0 Na, 0 0 0
Operating FL,Keys,ACSC Construction Funding 3,260,000 (,200,000) 3,460,000 0 2,240,000
Operating Key)AfestACS,C,-ForgiV&ble Mortgages 0 0 IV3 0 0 0
Operating KeyJAfestACS,C,-Construction Funding 2,800,000 9,382,85,6) -.77.0% 12,182,856 8,170,4 57 18,728,500
C3pJt3I 0013"y
Office E,quipment 5,000 (5,,000) -.50.0% 10,000 0 10,000
FL,KeysArea,of Critical State Concern 8,9510,066 (3,73,2,7 52) -.29.4% 12,682,818 5,34 4,,095 15,732,385
ROGO,Reserve 3,250,000 43,248) 1.3% 3,293,248 1,23,598 3,293,248
Key)Afestarea of"Critical State Concern 6,8 5,8,78 9 6,4 6 6,5,79 "1648.8% 392,210 0 14 5,,6 47
Reserves
Contingency 5100,000 0 0.0% 500,000 0 5100,000
Did of Year Cash 5100,000 0 0.0% 500,000 0 5100,000
Total Appropriations 27,721,354 (6,8 9 5,27 9) -.19.9% 34,616,633 "14,834,732 42,667,280
Page 7 of 7