Michelle Lincoln, the Mayor of Monroe County, joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on in the county.
The Tourist Development Council board meets today.
Lincoln said, “One of the privileges of being the mayor is you get to sit on the Tourist Development Council for the year, and it’s always good to hear what Kara Franker and Tourist Development Council are working on. I think we’ve really changed, I think the atmosphere of the Tourist Development Council to being one that is more eco friendly and more environmentally sensitive and more residential sensitive, meaning knowing that we all understand that tourism is the economic driver for our county, yet our residents, all who live here, either work in the tourist industry, or definitely we were impacted by our tourists, and I think the Tourist Development Council sees that, understands that, is more engaged with our residents and making sure like capital projects benefit not just our tourists, but our residents, like all of the money they’re funding for the beaches and improvements on the parks and for some of the not for profit attractions that that our residents also enjoy. So it’s nice to sit on that board and to be able to help impact or at least influence where the direction is of the Tourist Development Council.”
Has the volume of visitors changed?
Lincoln said, “I think it is bringing in a higher quality of a tourist. They are now people who understand how sensitive our environment is and they get to have experiences like when they’re now diving or snorkeling. They’re on with charter boat captains who also understand the fragile nature of our reef system and educate as well as entertain. And same with the Conch Republic Marine Republic that take people out and let you help clean up trash. And this is what some of our tourists are doing now. So that’s fabulous. And then the funds that the tourist Development Council throughout the DACs are now donating to coral restoration projects. To me again, it’s just a plus plus. We’re also looking at how the TDC funds can help the counties and the municipalities with our overall budgets. We now have identified funds that the tourist development tax can be used for infrastructure with the old bridge and the ongoing maintenance that used to be part of the municipalities and the county’s general budget that now the Tourist Development Council funding can go for, so that kind of eases some of the tax burden on our residents.”
The bed tax income seems to be going up a little.
Lincoln said, “I’m going to take this opportunity to say that when our bed tax monies go up, to be clear, that doesn’t mean that the commissioners have raised bed taxes, or raising taxes. It means that or people are coming and putting their head on a bed, and anytime there’s a head on a bed, that’s a bed tax that is generated by that overnight stay, that then is used for our county and our municipalities for very specific items that the Florida State statute says we can use those tourist development tax funding for.”
It looks like the occupancy rate is also keeping up.
Lincoln said, “One other fabulous thing the Tourist Development Council, in conjunction with municipalities, is we are putting together our semi quincentennial events to celebrate our 250th anniversary. And so very excited, we’re going to run through some of those ideas today, and then we will be following up with all of that at our county commission meeting on Wednesday. So very excited about a parade that will be in Key West. And then also, I don’t know if you recall a few years ago, when the county was celebrating our anniversary, we did a musical sunset event on the Seven Mile Bridge. And I believe we’re going to be bringing that back, and I believe there will be a few drone shows and some celebrations up and down the Keys. I think Islamorada wants to do another culinary event celebrating the sea to land. And so we should be putting together a lot of fun and robust, exciting celebrations as we love saying the word semi quincentennial.”
The commissioners have been discussing the Marathon airport as being a destination for commercial flights.
Lincoln said, “We’re very excited about that option to bring back commercial service like we used to have years ago, and now that we have completed our runway project, and now that our director of airports, Richard Strickland, is not totally finished with everything at the Key West International Airport. However, I think he has enough room on his plate now to add Marathon International Airport, and so we are looking at what steps need to take place. The planes that would be coming in are a little larger than what they used to be back when we had commercial service. So we need to do some upgrades to our fire rescue trucks and to the terminal that are minor but we still need to be doing that, and we’re going to be investing in that. And we’ve also hired a consultant who is very good at getting commercial airline services into small counties. So we’re working with them to see if we cannot bring in some commercial airline. It’s not going to be as big and busy as Key West, but maybe one flight a day or a few days a week would be very nice. So we’ll see.”
The NOAA Caribbean hurricane awareness tour will stop at Florida Keys International Airport next Tuesday.
Lincoln said, “I’m looking forward to that. It’s been, I think, over 10 years since we’ve had the hurricane hunter dipped down into the Florida Keys, so I’m excited to take a tour and check it out. And very appreciative of them stopping along their way. I think the next stop after us is Belize. So very happy to have made their list.”
Higgs Beach was recently transferred to the city of Key West.
Lincoln said, “It just makes sense. This is the only beach that is county owned in a municipality, and so all of the other municipalities own their beaches. And it just makes more sense, strategically, our staff would have to come over there and it’s a little longer haul for them to have to go and maintain that beach and that park. So strategically, it makes sense. Financially, it was never a burden for us. So it should be a little bit of a money maker, at least a break even for the city of Key West. And in fact, it is on the Tourist Development Council agenda, as well as the commissioner’s agenda next week to formalize transferring funds that were earmarked for Higgs Beach from the Tourist Development Council. So we’re ready right away to roll those funds over.”
Could the increase in fuel prices influence tourists?
Lincoln said, “I’m marveling at the amount of cars that I still see pouring into the Keys every day. And I’m like, don’t you all know how expensive gas is right now? But if you think about it, when you’re filling your tank, maybe it’s an additional $20 and what is that? It’s one lunch out. So if you put it into that perspective, I think people still want to come and and visit the beautiful, fabulous Florida Keys.”
What else will happen at the commission meeting next Wednesday?
Lincoln said, “Our agenda was just published last night, and I believe the one that will have the most attendance will be a time approximate at 11am where we will be discussing the future of the human service advisory board and our abilities to fund not for profits in our county. Last year, we we had to cut their budget by 50% while we were trying to fall in step with DOGE, our state DOGE and we’ve now had a year to really do a deep dive in what exactly the chief financial officer wants us to fund and does not want us to fund in line with also with what the legislators have proclaimed us to be able to fund and not fund. And so we’ve looked at all of that, and we will be having a deep dive review of everything that’s on the table and the direction we’re going to be taking. And at the same time, we also asked our staff to look at what other not for profits and human service agencies and activities does our county fund, aside from the Human Service advisory board? So they have come up with that list for us to review as well. So it’s not going to be a fun discussion, but it is a very important discussion, and I would like all of our not for profit agencies to know about it, and I do believe they’ve all been alerted. And so I do expect it to be a full room. The meeting will be in Marathon, so it’ll be right smack dab in the middle time, approximate at 11. And if you cannot make it there in person, I always encourage people to join us by Zoom, where you can virtually raise your hand and speak for your two minutes and be engaged in the conversation.”
SB 1134, which includes Diversity, Equity and Inclusion prohibition for events affects the TDC and the county.
Lincoln said, “We have also started looking at that and wearing my president of the Florida Association of Counties hat, I directed our association’s lobbyists and attorneys to start reviewing it for us, for all of the counties, and what kind of impacts that will have, what what our Sheriff’s Department will be allowed to monitor, and what events will we be able to use county funds for and what we won’t be and so I did ask our state partner, their association, to look into it, and I believe they’re going to task the the County Attorneys Association to help us review this, because it’s a lot, and what does it exactly mean for us? What are we going to be allowed to do and what are we not allowed to do?”