Is Key Colony Beach overpaying for Marathon Fire Rescue? Is that part of a trend?

The June 14, 2022 Marathon City Council Meeting Minutes show that, in 2014, then-Marathon City Manager Roger Hernstadt asked KCB to "pay their fair share" for Fire and EMS services. KCB agreed to pay $500,000 per year, based on the the tax base of the two cities. In 2022, Marathon Commissioner Daniel Zeig explained that the ratio of tax base between Marathon and KCB is about 4:1 and that Marathon Fire/EMS budget is about $4 million, all of which allowed him to insist that the upcoming KCB share should be $1 million/year.

The current resolution expires September 30. Here are some facts.

» Marathon Fire Rescue provides exceptional fire and EMS coverage to the Islands of Marathon as well as to adjacent Key Colony Beach.
» KCB has 1,367 housing units spread over .65 square miles. Marathon has 6,374 housing units spread over 9.28 square miles.
» KCB has a census population of 778. Marathon has a census population of 9,774. We don't have reliable figures for the average transient population in either city.
» By housing units alone, KCB has 17.66% of the potential fire or EMS calls.
» By population, KCB has 7.4% of the potential fire or EMS calls.
» By area, KCB has 6.6% of the potential fire or EMS calls.
» By relating housing units to area (housing density), KCB has easier access for potential fire or EMS calls than Marathon.

A "fair share" of $4 million would be some value between $264,000 based on area of coverage and $706,400 based on housing units protected. That said, the US government provides funding for fire departments across the country, especially to prevent national emergencies. Monroe County may also "chip in." Before paying part of a Marathon budget line item, we need to know how much is already paid by other sources.

The bottom line is that the 2014 KCB Commission made another bad deal and the current city administrator is on track to make it worse.