Welcome to Monroe County - a 120-mile-plus coral necklace of subtropical islands featuring sun, fun and one of the best damn retirement benefit packages for county employees in the state.
In fact, the county so loves its retirees that, according to county sources, it continued to pay two of its former employees for a year after they had died.
"Family members finally alerted the county," said Orin Opperman, a local watchdog for waste in county government. "They slipped through the cracks," admitted County Human Resources director Sheila Barker.
Monroe County government has approximately 255 retirees, with another 1,500 on the way, says County mayor George Neugent.
Only one other county, Flagler, among Florida's 67 is willing to fund 100 percent of its retirees' health benefits. Of course, Flagler County is tiny. Located near the northeast coast, its largest city is Palm Coast and its retirees number 17.
"We're so small, the county clerk handles our retirement payments," said a Flagler spokeswoman.
Monroe county's generous medical, dental and pharmaceutical program was passed by the county commission in 1988, when the county only had 18 retired employees. Director Barker said she first brought the problem of the growing costs to the attention of the commission in 1998, after the number of its retirees had grown to 166.
"Now, with 255, the cost to the county this year will be $1.1 million," Barker said. She remembered that back in 1988, with so few retirees, the commission passed the program "without any review or impact studies, just emotion."
However, last March 13, a new commission initiative, led by Murray Nelson, was poised to make some changes.
"We reduced eveyone else's benefits because of the rising costs in benefit funding," said Nelson. But then the retirees began coming forward to speak at the Marathon meeting and, as one staff member later described it, "the board caved."
"They raised so much devil we left the retiree-health benefits alone," said Commissioner Nelson. Moreover, when he saw he wouldn't have the votes, he changed his vote to make it a unanimous 5-0 not to make any changes.
Now, on Sept. 5th, at the county's first budget meeting in Key West, the board will revisit the issue with an eye once again to making some changes expected to be unpopular with the retirees.
"We're just responding to a request by the commission to present them with options," said County administrator Jim Roberts. "And it will not be limited to just retirement issues. There will be discussions about dependent care and pharmaceutical costs."
When County mayor George Neugent was asked this week what has changed since last March, he said healthcare costs just keep rising.
As to why the commission "caved" at that first meeting— the mayor lays the blame at the doorstep of Commissioner Nora Williams.
"We had made some modifications in March," said Neugent. But then everything came unglued. "And Commissioner Williams caused it in my mind with her theatrics and dramatics and really incited the retirees," he said.
"She was saying how dreadful any cuts would be (on the retirees) and that we should make sure all of the approximately 1,500 of them are notified and invited to speak." Calls made to Williams' office this week were not returned by press time.
What's happening in Monroe County could be taken straight from today's headlines. The county is a microcosm of what's happening nationally. Financial analysts say the growing cost of healthcare is threatening to undermine Medicare and Social Security.
Some current county employees are expressing quiet concern that the retirees could bankrupt the system for everyone. "We have the best healthcare anywhere, but we can't go on paying those high prices forever," said one county employee, who asked that her name be withheld out of fear of retaliation.
She said the county government retirees are immune to retaliation and are a formidable force for the commission. "They're so loud and vocal and want you to feel sorry for them. We are still working for the county and have to pay their benefits."
She complained that some of that money should be taken back and used to improve employee salaries. "There are some very underpaid county employees," she said. Another county employee said the premium for his dependents' healthcare increased more than the latest increase in his salary.
Barker seems to echo that view. "Our retirees are not paying anything. I think we have an obligation to our active employees," she said.
Both Nelson and Neugent said all they want is a system that is fair to everyone - retirees, employees and the taxpayers. "These retirees have a side in this too," said Nelson. "They worked a long time with the expectation that they would get the full benefits."
On the other hand, the mayor said the county is at a point where it cannot continue to provide coverage free of additional charges. "I wouldn't expect to go into retirement in my private life and expect my coverage never to change," he said. "All reasonable people should understand that."
Roberts said the county is just responding to the fact that its workforce is getting older and there are more major medical cases, such as cancer, and the costs keep going up and up.
Director Barker said that private industry has had to do the same thing. She said she will be proposing the retirees start paying $100 a month premiums.
"There's no place you can get all the major medical benefits we offer for $100 a month. And you would not have had the problem with two people who were deceased continuing to receive benefits had they been required to pay monthly premiums," she said.
Part of the adjustments the retirees may see will be in what some have described as "double-dipping" - where in addition to the lifetime county healthcare benefits, they also receive benefits from money the county pays into the state's retirement system for medical care.
Neugent objected to any reference to "double-dipping," saying that (state money) "was a little stipend" for the retirees. However, he said he envisioned that money might just come back to the county to cover the rising costs.
"I suspect at the end of the day, we're going to ask all the retirees to take some cuts or pay more. What is pertinent is the county cannot continue on its present course," the mayor said.