Duck Key property owners angry over proposed increases in their tax bills for emergency services have sent a letter demanding Monroe County give them some relief -- especially after seeing a favorable deal for fire service offered to nearby Key Colony Beach.

A letter from all of the Duck Key property owners' associations and Hawks Cay resort was sent to County Mayor Silvia Murphy and Commissioner Mario Di Gennaro Aug. 30 stating that the community was concerned about the "unresolved issue of fire coverage for Duck Key" and asking for an explanation.

"The county is trying to raise the property tax rate for fire service by 39 percent," said Donna Flammang, president of the Duck Key Property Owners Association. "We want good fire service at a reasonable cost. ... We don't want to be financing the building of a fire station for other people's benefit."

The county has been discussing rebuilding a fire station on Conch Key. Marathon is expanding its fire service on Grassy Key, and hopes to build a new fire station in the near future on a lot near Jolly Roger RV Park.

"Why do you need two fire stations that close together?" said Flammang. "Why can't there be some sort of government agreement?"

The letter, signed by Sheldon Suga of Hawks Cay resort, also raises concerns with the overlap of services.

In the letter is a reference to a January meeting with Duck Key residents, county officials and representatives from Marathon.

"At that time there was an offer from Marathon to supply services to the island," the letter states. "Marathon appeared to have an approach that offered ... improved services over the county."

The letter finishes by asking the county to put aside "artificial lines of demarcation."

County Administrator Roman Gastesi said that cooperation is exactly what the meeting was trying to achieve.

"We said we were going to get together and try to work all that out," Gastesi said. "We still haven't really sat down and worked out a plan to move forward."

Marathon City Manager Roger Hernstadt said Marathon would be willing to explore options with the county and Duck Key, but is still waiting for information from the county on how that could be accomplished.

"Our position is we provided them with the information they requested," Hernstadt said. "We'll see if there is an opportunity to cooperate. It's a decision for them to make. We're going forward with our plans to build our station on Grassy Key."

A website for the Duck Key Property Owners Association calls for the county to justify increasing taxes for fire services, and spotlights a deal the county had been working on for fire service with Key Colony Beach. That deal fell apart when insurance analysts indicated rates could spike for Key Colony Beach if it contracted with the county rather than continue its deal with Marathon.

The county price tag of about $541,330 per year for the proposed contract was above the contract rate offered by Marathon of $525,000 per year, but well below what Key Colony Beach would pay if assessed at the proposed county rate of 2.6 mills for emergency services -- $260 per $100,000 of taxable property value.

The website goes on to suggest Duck Key could expect savings by dealing with Marathon.

As an option to consider, the site suggest Duck Key may "contact Marathon and explore the possibility of having them provide fire and ambulance service to Duck Key. They have two firefighter/paramedics on Grassy Key already. They may offer better service and lower taxes."