CRANE POINT: UPDATE ON IFFY ZIPLINE PROJECT

Crane Point Digs Itself Into A Deeper Hole

It’s no secret that the entity known as the Florida Keys Land and Sea Trust has been in financial difficulty for some time. As far back as 2008, the board laid off nearly the entire staff of Crane Point Museum and Nature Center in an effort to right itself.

Even Marathon city councilor Ginger Snead, a consistent supporter of establishing a zip line at Crane Point, understands this.

“Everybody knew over three years ago that this place was in financial disarray, that they had financial issues,” she said at a September 25, 2011 city council meeting when the issue first came up for council approval.

While some would say that those financial difficulties illustrate the need for a zip-line attraction, critics object to the city of Marathon partnering with the nature reserve to obtain a Community Block Development Grant to fund the construction. They feel that continuing financial mismanagement could result in a failure of the entire enterprise with city taxpayers being left holding the bag.

Now it’s come to light that the board’s troubles are even worse than many feared.

Though the non-profit doesn’t owe property taxes, beginning in 2008 they began owing non ad valorem taxes, which for Marathon, is storm water, and wastewater. The 2008 bill was for $12,520.50, if paid by March 31, 2009. They did pay the tax but were late, thereby incurring a penalty of $377.14. Actually the real penalty was even more, because if they had paid by November 30, 2008 the Land and Sea Trust would have received a discount.

However, more serious troubles began in 2010 when the FKLST didn’t pay their bill until January 24, 2013. The final cost? $15,160.20. That’s because the tax bill was sold as a tax certificate to a company in June 2011. [Note: the city of Marathon, much like other cities and the county sells unpaid taxes to people or companies that pay the taxes, put a lien on the properties involved, and charge interest on what unpaid money.] In a sense, FKLST was lucky because that company “only” charged them 4 percent interest, which the board finally redeemed in 2013.

And how did they pay these back taxes? The Blue Paper has learned that the board has already dipped into a line of credit they had established at Iberia Bank for the construction of the zip line itself, an action they are prohibited from doing. According to a memo from current board chair Jeff Smith to then mayor Ginger Snead on September 23, 2011, he confirmed that the Florida Keys Land and Sea Trust has a “$300,000 capital improvement line of credit commitment with Iberia Bank with no outstanding balances.”

“This capital improvement credit facility is to be used solely [editor’s italics] for the proposed ‘Eco Adventure Canopy Tour’ construction project.”

And yet FKLST had already drawn down on that loan to pay the taxes.

As a result Crane Point is now paying interest upon the interest upon the interest. They were late with payment, they paid interest on the tax certificate, and now they are paying more interest on a loan to pay the back taxes. It also means that a default on the loan means that the bank can take the property and sell it.

What particularly troubles those who find the project objectionable is that Crane Point has dug itself an even deeper hole and will need even more money to extricate itself, essentially committing them to the zip-line project as a way out.

[Editor’s note: On Monday, May 6, the Marathon Planning Commission unanimously recommended the project despite significant opposition at the meeting. Of the 19 people who spoke on the subject, 17 opposed the zip line plan.   See zipline tower drawings.]