Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina warned Tuesday the city would have to cut back on park and library hours and make do with less people to make up for the $10 million shortfall in revenue due largely to declining property values.

But Robaina promised his proposed $129 million spending plan does not ax manpower, though it does eliminate vacant positions and impose hiring and salary freezes.

``Is it a tight budget? Absolutely. Just look around at what's happening in other communities. We're not exempt from that,'' he said at the first budget hearing Tuesday. ``The decisions we have made in the past have put us in a better position today.''

On Tuesday, without discussion or opposition, the Hialeah City Council gave preliminary approval to the proposed budget, which calls for holding the tax rate at $6.54 per every $1,000 of assessed taxable property.

At that rate, residents with the average $124,000 home and the standard $50,000 Homestead Exemption would pay $483 in municipal property taxes, a savings of at least $100 compared to last year. Some residents might still see a slight increase in their tax bill.

Those figures do not include state or school district taxes among other charges that appear on a tax bill.

Robaina said he anticipated the city would take quite the hit this year, so he prepared in advance. In the upcoming fiscal year, which begins on Oct. 1, Hialeah can expect to see 10.3 percent less revenue than last year.

``In no way shape or form is this a surprise to me. We have been preparing for it since last year,'' he said in an earlier interview. ``That has been my game plan.''

Part of Robaina's plan has been eliminating vacant positions and combining responsibilities as people leave. He estimates more than 300 positions will have been eliminated during the last three years. Through attrition alone, Robaina expects to have saved close to $5 million by the end of the year.

The challenge, he said, is keeping the same level of services with fewer people.

``It's tough because you're asking your employees to do more, but you're also guaranteeing them their jobs,'' Robaina said in an interview. ``I don't want to get to the end of the year and lay anybody off - and I won't.''

Robaina also expects to save money once the city moves to an automated garbage pickup system, which only requires a driver and would reduce the fleet size by nine trucks.

One department Robaina promises not to touch is public safety. He plans to keep the same number of police officers and firefighters by shifting duties and reassigning some.

Robaina said the city also has saved money by reworking the employee insurance and retirement benefit plans, holding down overtime and using less fuel.

Robaina also does not plan to cut back on road improvements. He expects to spend millions in the next years on road reconstruction. Most money, he said, would come from federal, state and county grants.

He expects to receive $43 million from the Florida Department of Transportation for the reconstruction of state roads and another $29 million during the next two years from the county's general obligation bond approved by voters.

The final budget vote is scheduled for 7 p.m. Sept. 29 at City Hall, 501 Palm Ave.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@