Fighting for survival, the MDX toll agency just doubled rebates for some drivers
Drivers who pay the most to the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority are set to see much larger rebate checks later this year as the toll agency fights Tallahassee to survive.
Meeting for the second time since a Circuit Court judge reinstated them on Aug. 9, MDX board members on Tuesday approved a steep increase in the payouts for the roughly 54,000 drivers eligible for end-of-the-year rebate checks.
The current rebate system allows drivers who registered for the program to get back 15 percent of their 2019 tolls, provided they paid at least $250 during the year. The more generous rules approved by the board set the floor at $150 of yearly tolls paid, with a 30 percent rebate.
“The purpose of the program was to lower the daily commuter’s tolling,” said Marie Schafer, MDX’s chief financial officer.
The expected payout is about $6 million, compared to $2.5 million under the previous parameters, according to an MDX summary.
MDX’s more generous giveback program comes weeks after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law abolishing the MDX in favor of a new toll agency that would be charged with pursuing lower toll rates and giving more rebates to Miami-Dade drivers.
With a Leon County judge declaring that legislation unconstitutional, the MDX board is back in power awaiting an appeals fight. The beefed-up rebate checks could arrive during the court fight, with MDX administrators saying they may move up the planned Nov. 15 mailing to October or earlier.
“Have the checks tomorrow,” Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, MDX’s appointed chairman, said after the unanimous vote on the rebate program.
The 30 percent payout was higher than the 25 percent recommended by MDX’s financial staff, and comes as agency leaders are complaining of a cash squeeze brought on by meddling from Tallahassee.
Past state legislation imposing restrictions on MDX, including a required 5 percent toll cut implemented in 2018, have hampered the agency’s ability to borrow money as an independent tolling authority, according to MDX administrators. The agency’s financial adviser said the giveaway will only increase borrowing costs down the road.
“Every single dollar you give back is another dollar we have to sell a bond for,” said Randy Topel, of Hilltop Securities.
Rep. Bryan Avila, R-Miami Springs, a sponsor of the disputed anti-MDX bill, described the last-minute boost to the rebate program as bad politics.
“MDX never does anything out of goodwill,” Avila said. “They always react to political or community pressure. This adjustment ... undercuts their own argument that MDX doesn’t have the resources to provide much needed toll relief to our residents.”
The rebate program recommended in Avila’s bill would have been automatic for all Miami-Dade motorists using the five toll expressways (the Airport, Dolphin, Gratigny, Don Shula and Snapper Creek) managed by the MDX. The existing MDX rebate program requires people to register, and the deadline passed in April.
While the current rebate program is open to all MDX drivers, Gimenez briefly pushed to have the board approve restrictions that would limit the payouts to Miami-Dade residents. “We are a Miami-Dade County agency. We’re here to protect the people of Miami-Dade County,” he said. “So why are we giving rebates to people who don’t live in Miami-Dade County.”
Gimenez agreed to support the expanded rebate program without residency rules, but asked MDX to bring back options for the Miami-Dade restriction at the next meeting.
This story was originally published August 28, 2019 at 6:00 AM.