After a rough budget process that started with a funding gap of more than $400 million, Miami-Dade County lawmakers approved a budget of $12.9 billion in the early hours of Friday.
Getting there was not easy. At various points, drivers were facing a 2-cent per gallon tax increase on gasoline to help close the funding gap. Artists and nonprofit groups that help feed the elderly held protests after funding they rely upon were threatened with deep slashes. Park visitors faced the potential of steep parking fees at parks.
And yet, the sacrifices are real. Water and sewer fees will increase for residents. An office that helps residents obtain U.S. citizenship was stripped of county funds. Some departments — like the Department of Juvenile Services and the Community Services Department — will be merged to save money.
“Through hard work and hard choices, we proposed a budget that is lean, responsible and future ready despite the unprecedented financial constraints that this county has faced this year, we closed a $400 million gap without reducing core government services and without raising the property tax rate,” said County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
The mathematical wizardry that got the county to a place where it was able to balance the budget came from a variety of approaches, which are not assured to be available as a tool next year. Some county offices were combined to save costs. Many positions were eliminated altogether. The county dipped into its strategic reserves. Newly fully independent constitutional offices also chipped in, returning millions in unspent money to the county government.
At Thursday’s budget meeting, Republican Clerk of Courts and Comptroller Juan Fernandez-Barquin announced that he would return a total of $5.3 million to the county. Fellow Republican, Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez, announced that he would be returning an additional $1.5 million to the county, after already warning lawmakers about fiscal responsibility.
“Miami-Dade County does not have a revenue problem. It is a spending problem,” said Fernandez.
Using the returned money from Fernandez’ office, and by dipping $9 million into a reserve fund earmarked for transit infrastructure projects, Commission Chair Anthony Rodriguez garnered unanimous support to cancel a proposed transit fare increase that drew the ire of public transportation riders.
Reversing the proposed fare increases for trains, buses and special vehicles used by the elderly and disabled elicited applause from the audience, as the commission eliminated one of the last austerity measures on the table.
READ MORE: Transit riders group sounds alarm on proposed Miami-Dade fare increases
The budget for Fernandez’ office became independent for the first time this year, a process that saw the budget for the office dramatically increase, allowing Fernandez to hire 500 new staffers. His office has quickly opened several offices around the county to expand services, which include the issuance of drivers licenses.
The one-time transition to independent constitutional offices was blamed by the mayor’s administration and several commissioners for not only additional costs reflected in this year’s budget but to the prolonged back and forth and general headaches created throughout the budgeting process.
The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, the Tax Collector and the Supervisor of Elections offices all became fully independent this year due to a state mandate.
All newly independent offices saw their budgets increase. The sheriff’s office budget alone grew more than $80 million, compared to last year, when it was the Miami-Dade Police Department. It's overall budget tops $1 billion.
“We build budgets based on last year, and the constitutionals didn’t have a last year. We did not have a last year of the constitutionals,” said commissioner Raquel Regalado. “It was no one’s fault.”
West Kendall commissioner Roberto Gonzalez decried what he said was a bloated budget, and he ripped into the mayor for nearly 20 minutes for what he said was a terrible budget process that lacked transparency. He questioned marketing budgets. He said the mayor’s office did not get him all the information that he needed in a timely manner. He said the mayor started an office that was actually started by her predecessor.
Gonzalez pointed to a recent effort by the state Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia to scrutinize county and municipal governments for what he considers “wasteful spending.” The state effort is modeled on President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
The CFO claims to have found nearly $200 million in “excessive, wasteful spending” in Orange County, and more than that in the City of Jacksonville. The state has begun to pry into the money spent by Miami-Dade County but has not yet released its findings.
“Imagine what they could find or will find in Miami-Dade County,” said Gonzalez. “The mayor’s hard choices were to cut a budget that she grew.”
Levine Cava, breaking from her typical composure, appeared angry after Gonzalez finished. In some of the strongest remarks she has given to a commissioner since she was elected as county mayor in 2020, she pressed hard against Gonzalez, saying he used his comments to score political points.
“You do need to show me respect,” said Levine Cava. “I am the mayor. I was elected by the people of this county, not once but twice because they trusted me. Because I have shown responsibility as their mayor.”
Many marketing budgets have been cut to save costs, she said. But Gonzalez, a potential candidate for mayor in 2028, spends money marketing his own office. She held up a T-shirt with his name and title that his office passed out at County Hall earlier in the day.
Over a dozen activists spoke out asking the county to divest from over $150 million in funds it has issued with the Israeli government, saying the county dollars are funding what many international watchdog groups have defined as a “genocide” taking place in Gaza. Among those calling for the divestment is Mayor Levine Cava’s son. The county has the opportunity to cash out on $25 million that mature in early November, they argued. The commission did not address the issue, which they argue largely rests with the independent Clerk of Courts and Comptroller.
The original budget proposal from Mayor Levine Cava’s office dramatically reduced funding to the nonprofits that do things like run food banks and offer legal services to poor residents. The proposal drew protests, and in the end much of the funding was restored.
A proposal to make the Division of Environmental Resources Management, or DERM, an independent agency while at the same time stripping its permitting authority, raised alarms from many speakers.
The division was once independent, but was brought under the Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources in 2013. Under the proposal, the Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources would still be the permitting authority for wetlands, mangroves, pine rocklands and other environmentally sensitive areas. That’s the same agency that regulates construction and development.
READ MORE: Miami-Dade poised to strip environmental watchdog of permitting authority
Rachel Silverstein, the chief executive officer of Miami Waterkeeper, said when she first heard that DERM was set to become an independent agency again, she was pleasantly surprised.
“I was thrilled. This was a promise the mayor had made to me when she first ran for mayor,” said Silverstein. “But when I actually saw the language two days ago I was shocked to find that what it did was disempower DERM.”
The action passed, leaving the county’s central environmental agency with fewer powers than it previously had.
A county staffer explained that the commission asked last year that all regulatory decisions be offered in a “one-stop shop on permitting,” and that was what was intended by the action.
The staff of DERM has shrunk by nearly half since 2000, even as the county population has increased by nearly 25%, WLRN previously reported.
In a letter provided to WLRN before the meeting, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said that the change was necessary as the county tightens its belt on expenses and services.
"A more focused, visible DERM will support these efforts while we align and streamline permitting Countywide," she wrote.
The original budget proposal from Mayor Levine Cava would have included the consolidation of the Miami-Dade Public Library System with the Department of Cultural Affairs. In the version that passed, the departments were kept separate.
