In a vote that will rip up some island streets to install miles of pipes and pumps, Key Biscayne’s Village Council on Tuesday approved a record $97 million budget, a spending plan heavy on borrowing that will fund the first phase of the “Big Dig.”
Property taxes will rise 5.5% on average, but people who live in Homesteaded properties will actually see a small tax cut.
Minutes after the 5-1 vote was taken, the Village Council broke into a rendition of “Happy Birthday” for Manager Steve Williamson, the former Army Corps of Engineers colonel who pushed through years of town meetings and forums to get the project to this point.
The budget contains $54 million of capital projects, most of which involve the RIAP, the Resilient Infrastructure Adaptation Program, the project’s official name. It aims to install pressurized stormwater lines near the K-8 school – Zone 1 – and remove pollutants before floodwaters are pumped into Biscayne Bay, unlike the current gravity system.
The Big Dig will also finally bury power and utility lines for thousands of island homes, protect the coastline with a potential offshore barrier, and raise some streets.
READ MORE: Final vote on Key Biscayne budget Tuesday kicks off the 'Big Dig'
As for the other zones, that decision will fall on future councils. The administration says the long-term Village-wide cost could be more than $310 million.
For fiscal year 2025, Key Biscayne plans to borrow more than $20 million, including the first draw from the $100 million general obligation, or “Go” bond, approved by island voters in 2020.
The operating budget is rising to $43 million and includes funding for two new police officers and a fire captain. It also increases the salary of Village Clerk Jocelyn Koch to $120,000 from $83,000, after she earned professional certifications, officials said.
Despite its financial implications, the final budget meeting was relatively non-contentious, ending in less than two hours. That’s practically a blink compared to marathon budget sessions and bitter 4-3 votes in prior years. Absent from the final budget meeting was Council Member Brett Moss, a frequent critic of the Big Dig project’s scope.
One thing making the vote easier was a 4.6% cut to the property tax rate, which at 2.98 mills is the lowest in the Village’s 33-year history. But because property values were up 10.1%, revenues are still increasing – meaning that renters and commercial property owners will be shouldering larger slices of the tax burden. Some 37% of properties get the Homestead tax breaks that cap the increases to the taxable value of their homes.
Key Biscayne’s Village taxes are only a small portion of an owner’s overall tax bill, dwarfed by levies from the County, school district, and other jurisdictions. But, compared to other municipalities, the Village has the lowest property tax rate in Miami-Dade County.
All of the six council candidates seeking office this year attended the session. Frank Caplan, the only incumbent running, sparred with Ed London over budget philosophy, and whether a $1 million surplus should be used to lower the tax rate or bolster reserves.
“We have this debate every year,” Caplan said to London, the two men haggling like chums on barstools at a pub.
Charles Collins, Nicholas Lopez-Jenkins, and Mark Fried also spoke. Collins said the Big Dig project could be split up and that undergrounding should proceed first. Fried said Village spending was outpacing inflation – but later, Chief Financial Officer Benjamin Nussbaum said federal pandemic funds caused a one-time increase in budget tallies. Lopez-Jenkins’ comments did not address the budget directly, talking about the youth council.
One item that was deferred was a $575,000 inspection of the island’s wells used to store stormwater. Critics of the Big Dig say the aging wells, properly maintained, might extend the life of the current drainage system. Big Dig supporters say that approach would have a negligible impact against rising seas and rainfall.
Mayor Joe Rasco said he’d support funding the inspection from reserves if colleagues would approve the budget. He noted that an inspection program of that size would have to go through a competitive bidding process that might take months. The inspection issue will come up at an Oct. 23 meeting about the future of the Big Dig.
This story was originally published in the Key Biscayne Independent, a WLRN News partner.
