If we’re honest about it, most of us – and especially our visitors – couldn’t describe, much less name, the server or bartender at our last happy hour. I know, I know. You have favorites and can name all their pets in birth order. Good on you.

As for knowing who’s cooking on the line or shoveling trash mountains into the cans in the back? Not a clue. They’re invisible.

On Nov. 14, the Key West City Commission, newly constituted after the elections, showed a remarkably collaborative understanding of the complexities that face the island as it attempts to balance quality of life, environmental protection and growth and development of the tourism industry that is its lifeblood.

Commissioners were discussing the Monroe County Tourist Development Council’s $35 million in surplus funds that the Florida Legislature said could be used for affordable housing. The Board of County Commissioners, which has the authority to divvy up those funds, has asked municipalities to submit projects that could be funded.

The surplus comes from the bed tax on such as hotels and vacation rentals (at least the legal ones). Key West is by far the alpha dog of bed tax dollars, bringing in about half of the annual tax revenue. Of the $35 million surplus, about $16 million was generated in Key West.

The state’s restrictions on the surplus funds are stringent. Funds can only be used to benefit tourism employees, which the state defines narrowly as hospitality workers. Only workers making less than 120 percent of the area median income will be eligible. In Key West in 2024, that means an individual cannot make more than $100,275 annually. The final criterion: The project is deed-restricted for 99 years. That means a project won’t slip into market-rate housing.

Key West commissioners say the city has shovel-ready projects that can meet the state’s stringent requirements for the funds – and get under way quickly.

Those projects could include a reworking of plans to renovate and build new housing at Poinciana Plaza, which could add up to 20 units that would meet the state guidelines. Funds could also be used to expand existing scattered-site housing and build out vacant land already designated for affordable housing. Possibilities include working with AH Monroe and Habitat for Humanity, both of which have significant experience with affordable housing projects.

TDC surplus | New commission asserts local expertise

Listening to this new City Commission weave its extensive local knowledge into a lively, engaged, cohesive narrative was reassuring. There was consensus on rehabbing, rethinking and expanding existing projects, on preserving Key West’s historic housing patterns in which rich and poor live side by side and on respecting and preserving neighborhoods.

Commissioners Lisette Carey and Monica Haskell put quality of life at the beginning of their comments. “I mostly feel like I am not a huge fan of additional development outside our current (building) allocations,” said Carey as she supported considering existing construction and retrofitting existing housing.

Haskell followed shortly after, saying “I agree with scattered sites, which is the way Key West historically has been. We would be crafting a pathway to a small-scale development that would strengthen existing neighborhoods.”

Commissioner Donie Lee put it succinctly: If we do this (accept and use the surplus funds), “I don’t see how we add impacts. The people who would qualify for these are already here. And they’re living 10 to a house.”

Key West’s dependence on hospitality workers is profound. There’s always been a shortage of workers, one that escalated during Covid and that occasionally spikes when there’s a crackdown on immigration status. Undocumented workers won’t be eligible for this housing in case you’re wondering.

(You didn’t think all those blue-eyed hospitality workers were born-and-bred Conchs, did you? Perhaps it’s time, too, to integrate a path to legal immigration status and e-verification. But that’s a column for another day.)

As the county and city push forward with decisions to distribute and use those TDC surplus funds, we have an opportunity to improve and expand housing opportunities for those who make less than $100,275 annually. That may feel like a princely sum. It’s not. Not in Key West where a full-time job at $20 an hour gets you $41,600 a year. And there’s no way one can afford a place to live on that.

You’d think we’d build monuments to our hospitality workers. Better that we finally see them and take the steps to support them building a life on this island.

Learn more

Early proposals for Poinciana Plaza Project

Watch the City Commission meeting discussion of TDC surplus funds