Frequently Asked Questions

“Shall the Village issue general obligation bonds not exceeding $100 million in one or more series maturing not later than thirty years from their issuance dates, bearing interest not exceeding the maximum rate allowable by law, payable from ad valorem taxes levied by the Village, to:

• Mitigate effects of sea level rise and flooding;
• Protect Village beaches and shoreline; and
• Harden infrastructure to the effects of hurricanes?

Shall the above described proposal be adopted?

For Bonds

Against Bonds

The Village has identified projects to address Key Biscayne’s sustainability and resiliency.  These include:

• Complete Streets to address flooding, water retention and stormwater;
• Beach and shoreline protection; and
• Hardening for Hurricanes.

Some of the funds for these projects will come from sources other than the GO Bonds.  For instance, the state and federal governments will likely partner with us on beach and shoreline protection, as well as Complete Streets.  FPL and the State of Florida will likely partner on Hardening for Hurricanes.  While we continue to advocate for robust partnerships, we need to move forward on these projects.

We need GO Bonds because we face an existential challenge, and general obligation bonds or “GO Bonds” are the most fiscally responsible way to meet that challenge.

One of the few things that all of us on Key Biscayne should be able to agree on is that sea level rise is real. If you live in a single family home, you can confirm this by looking down your storm drain at high tide. The water is coming up from under us. If you live or play on the beach, you can see the repeated impacts of beach erosion and the damage to our dunes. If you live or play on our bayside, you can see the rising water lines on docks and seawalls. If you were near the KB K-8 on May 25, you could have witnessed fun-loving teenagers being pulled on water skis by high-rise pickup trucks.

We should all be able to agree that the identified projects are critical to Key Biscayne’s infrastructure and will need to be done at some point in the not-to-distant future. GO Bonds provide the lowest interest rate and longest payoff period (30 years) making this financing vehicle the most fiscally responsible way to pay for this necessary work.

First, under Florida law, ballot language must be limited to a certain number of words. Second, securing approval for the GO Bond is a preliminary step in the process to get the planned infrastructure projects done.  The GO Bond gives our Village Council another financing option – the one with the best payment terms for taxpayers – when the time comes to fund the projects.

NO, this is NOT “blank check” for council or the Village administration to spend as they wish. Rather, the GO Bond referendum is a very preliminary step that gives Council another financing option when time comes to fund the projects.  Each project funded by GO Bonds would need to be approved by a supermajority of the sitting council – five out of seven members – at that time. Each of us will have the opportunity for input at each and every stage.

Voting YES on the GO Bond referendum will give the Council access to the best interest rates and payment terms and is the fiscally smart approach to fund the planned infrastructure projects.

Yes, but GO Bonds provide the opportunity to borrow funds at the lowest interest rates and longest payment terms (30 years) and as such are the least costly financing option and most fiscally responsible approach to complete these necessary infrastructure projects.

No, while this is being repeated in the community as a reason to oppose the bond, it is simply not true. There is no requirement that the voters approve infrastructure projects via referendum. We elect the Village Council to make decisions regarding how are tax dollars will be spent.

Individual elections for each project are very expensive and time consuming, and delaying council approved projects could make the projects even more expensive. By the time projects of this magnitude are “shovel ready” and come before council for approval, long and expensive processes will need to have taken place. Engineers, contractors, and other consultants will have worked on them for months or sometimes longer before there is a project to present to council for final vote. These are expensive processes that would go to waste if the GO Bond funding mechanism for a specific project fails at the ballot after having been approved by council.

By piggy-backing the GO Bond referendum on a presidential election, we guarantee three things: first, the election will not cost us anything additional; second, we will have the greatest percentage of voters participating in this decision; and finally, Council will know that this lowest cost funding mechanism is in place when it decides whether to move forward with the projects and funding.

We need to spend our tax dollars on the projects and not on the process.

No. It is being repeated in the community that a yes vote on the GO Bond will immediately straddle Key Biscayne with an additional $100 million of debt. This is simply false. Rather, approving GO Bond funding means that the Village can begin the real planning process for each project, so they can be planned concurrently and staged in the least disruptive manner. Once plans are finalized, each project will come before council for final approval and funding, and each project will be separately approved and funded. It is projected to take approximately 12 years to fund all of the proposed projects.

And, the debt cap, which is 1% of total assessed value, limits how much the Village can borrow. Currently the Village can only borrow about $67 million using GO Bond funding. The ballot language is worded to give future councils flexibility in the event our debt cap changes due to an increase in assessed values.

A minimal amount:  for the first few years of the bond, the cost of the bond for a homeowner with a median assessed value of $725,000, the gross cost of the bond would be about $120 annually – or about 32 cents a day.  In the next few years, that cost would go up to about 60 cents a day, and in 2029, assuming all the projects went forward, the bond would have a cost of a bit more than a dollar a day.   The average amount over thirty years would be about 60 cents a day.  You can confirm these projections and determine them for your particular residence at vkbresilience.org, and clicking on the calculator.

It is worth noting, that these projections are based on the assumption of a 3% interest rate on bonds.  Right now, the rates on 30 year T-bills, upon which the bonds would be based, are hovering between 1% and 2%.  If we move efficiently, we can lock in rates that could lower 32 cents a day to even less.  

As shown above, your real estate tax bill may go up slightly. But these costs will likely be dwarfed by savings in home insurance and mortgage rates as investing in these project in other communities has positively affect the costs of both.

And, if these projects are undertaken without GO Bond financing, they will be much more expensive to complete.

Historically, these projects have improved property values as has been the case on Miami Beach.  And, failing to do these necessary infrastructure projects could have an adverse effect on property insurance and mortgage rates and our property values.

No, this process has not been rushed. The Village Council has been discussing the possibility of  GO Bond financing for many years. Some of these projects have been discussed for decades. Recognizing the importance of these projects and the unique opportunity due to historically low interest rates, the current Council has decided that now is the time to move forward.

Yes. Both the City of Miami and the City of Miami Beach voters approved GO Bonds to fund sustainability and resiliency projects. The Mayor of the City of Miami has touted the City’s vision in issuing these bonds in a New York Times Op-Ed he wrote with the Secretary General of the United Nations. GO Bonds are favored by local governments run by Republicans and Democrats, as well as fiscal conservatives and progressives. They just make business sense.

Already, realtors in these cities have dissuaded potential home buyers from New York to Latin America and Asia to stay away from Key Biscayne, because we are not protecting our threatened properties, while they are. There could be no better marketing for Key Biscayne real estate than to show the world that we are visionary and proactive on sea level rise.

Difficult times often present unique opportunities.  Federal and state governments are likely to fund infrastructure projects to stimulate the economy. By moving forward with GO Bond funding, Key Biscayne will be positioning our community to be ready to apply for this funding with shovel ready projects.  These projects will also play a role in helping our greater community recover from difficult economic times.

These projects are critical to protecting Key Biscayne property values and will have a positive impact on our property values as has been the case in our neighboring cities who have already approved GO Bond funding through referendum elections.

Additionally, there is no dispute that the planned projects will need to be done at some point.  The longer we wait, the more expensive the projects become.

Ask any businessperson and she will tell you that the best way to fund long-term projects is with long-term debt.  The projects planned to be completed with GO Bond funds are long term projects that will have a positive impact on the Village for many decades.  It is exactly these types of projects that should be funded over a long time period as the benefits will be enjoyed by future generations. This debt will not be used to fund current operations.