The Monroe County Commission on Wednesday unanimously agreed to kick in money to help pay an attorney and actuary to determine what Florida Keys residents should pay for windstorm insurance.

Fair Insurance Rates in Monroe County (FIRM) recently requested the county and Keys cities chip in to pay attorney Tim Volpe $100,000 and actuary Allan Schwartz $50,000 for their work in researching insurance costs. The money will go directly to Volpe and Schwartz, not FIRM.

FIRM and many residents and business owners want to determine whether Citizens Property Insurance Corp. should be allowed to raise rates. FIRM, which has successfully lobbied state officials on not raising rates in recent years, has questioned the increase and believes the hike is based on invalid data.

"It's based on assumptions that don't apply to Monroe County," said County Commissioner Heather Carruthers, who is board president of FIRM. "It doesn't take into account our sturdy building stock."

FIRM has requested each government pony up about $2.08 per resident. The county will pitch in $82,750. Key West has agreed to pay $25,000, and Mayor Morgan McPherson told FIRM Executive Director Colleen Repetto he would be willing to propose another $16,000, she said.

In the Middle Keys, Marathon agreed to pitch in $21,000 and Key Colony Beach has kicked in $2,250. Layton will contribute $300. In the Upper Keys, Ocean Reef agreed to kick in $2,700. Islamorada rejected FIRM's request, but council members have discussed reconsidering their decision.

The County Commission last week voted 2-2, with Carruthers absent, on funding the attorney and actuary, which meant the proposal died without a clear majority.

At Carruthers' request, County Mayor George Neugent called for a special meeting so the entire board could vote on the issue.

Commissioners Kim Wigington and Sylvia Murphy changed their no votes -- Wigington because she learned the money had been earmarked from a specific account, general fund reserves; and Murphy because she learned the other cities were pitching in funding.

Citizens, an insurer of last resort that provides coverage to coastal communities, is a quasi-public company regulated by the state Office of Insurance Regulation. It has asked the state's permission to raise rates by 10 percent a year.

The increase would be compounded annually -- $1.34 the first year, $1.46 the second year and so on. That would bump Monroe County's annual property taxes of $13.44 per $100,000 of assessed value to $14.68 the first year to $16.14 the next year -- until it eventually doubled the rate within six years, according to FIRM.

The Legislature froze rates in 2007 until 2010, allowing more time to establish fair rates for residents of the Florida Keys and other coastal areas.

tohara@keysnews.com