Miami-Dade commissioners on Thursday briskly approved a $4.9 million subsidy package for a $224 million electric steel mill proposed by a partnership that includes a son of Mayor Carlos Gimenez, the largest award of its kind that the county has on record.
The proposal to rebate a portion of Esteel’s construction and equipment costs passed without discussion, including the two No votes from Esteban “Steve” Bovo and Daniella Levine Cava. Mayor Gimenez, who formally recused himself from decisions on son Julio Gimenez’s steel venture in 2017, was not present for the vote.
The award from the county’s Targeted Jobs Incentive Fund does not amount to any expenditure today, and the money may never be issued. The subsidy, a rebate on property taxes, only gets paid if the Esteel “micro” mill gets built, spends the promised $224 million on buildings and equipment, and creates 180 new jobs at agreed-upon wages. The proposed subsidy is the largest on record for the fund because none of the other awards was tied to a project that was planned to spend so much.
Read more at our news partner the Miami Herald.
