Miami-Dade County is once again facing major financial hurdles this budget season — with recurring revenue shortfalls, increased costs and a looming threat of Amendment 3 property tax cuts leading county leaders to propose major changes for transit and solid waste.
" We're essentially projecting a shortfall each year as we go into it, and what's driving that is ... rising costs and lower revenues," said Ray Baker, Miami-Dade budget director during a first budget hearing that ran well into the night. "It's a recurring shortfall that we're trying to plug each year now."
Some of the more transformative proposals brought up Thursday evening surrounded the public transit system, which is hurting for funding as the majority of bus and rail service is subsidized from the county's general fund, rather than transit fares. The transit system also faces escalating fuel and maintenance costs.
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County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava's Fiscal Year 2026-2027 budget proposal called for eliminating early morning bus service and cutting routes her administration said had low ridership.
Transit advocate Richelle Vargas with the nonprofit Transit Alliance said during Thursday's public comment portion that this characterization does not reflect the reality for many of the county's working class.
" I invite you to join one of these rides to really understand just how packed these buses are while the rest of the county sleeps. It would be a tremendous and disrespectful disservice to cut early morning bus service. Riders are shocked and have no idea how they're supposed to get to work otherwise," Vargas told Commissioners.
While commissioners did not finalize a plan to cut these routes, they did advance a proposal to study the feasibility of charging fares for the currently-free Metromover that serves downtown Miami and Brickell.
Commissioner René Garcia argued the Metromover is used by wealthy people and should not be subsidized.
" It's gotten to the point that this is now a system that a lot of folks with money are using on a day-to-day basis. And yet people that live in my district have to pay a bus and have to take the Metro Rail and still have to pay for it, and yet we're subsidizing a system for the wealthy," he said.
This was rebutted by Commissioner Vicki Lopez, whose district includes much of the Metromover route.
" Metromover is being used by everyday workers who are traveling from all of your districts to come into my district to work," Lopez said.
She added that many transit passengers complain that the escalators and elevators at Metromover and Metrorail stations are out of service and require more investment.
" That is creating a problem for people who need to get to work on time, need to get to school on time and need to get to doctor's appointments on time," she said.
The cost-cutting proposals hinge on the fact that Miami-Dade's public transit fares have remained flat since 2013. Levine Cava and some commissioners asserted that to maintain the same level of transit or to expand it will require an increase across the board at some point — otherwise, cuts will have to be made.
Solid waste
Budget deficits are also hitting the county's trash pickup services as Miami-Dade still struggles to find a permanent solution to garbage disposal.
Rising fuel costs mixed with a largely flat solid waste fee for residents have led the county to propose downsizing services like the illegal dumping program. The current proposal would cut the illegal dumping personnel by half, meaning the response time for crews to pick up improper trash will double from four to eight days.
As negotiations remain ongoing to build a new waste-to-energy facility after a fire destroyed the county's old facility in 2023, Miami-Dade has ramped up its efforts to ship its garbage north on trains to other parts of the state.
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A preliminary budget for the county's Solid Waste department notes that in FY 2025-2026, Solid Waste transported 215,667 tons of trash by rail. The 2027 budget seeks to convert four part-time waste attendant positions to full-time specifically to assist in the Waste-by-Rail initiative.
The county's second and final public budget hearing will be held on Sept. 17 in the Commission Chambers of the Stephen P. Clark Government Center in downtown Miami. Miami-Dade residents can find who their commissioner is and how to contact them by visiting this website and inputting their home address.
