Miami approves $1 billion budget that includes rent subsidies, more code enforcement
Miami commissioners on Thursday unanimously approved a $1 billion spending plan that includes new rent subsidies for low-income seniors, park improvements and surveillance cameras to combat illegal dumping.
The commission met Thursday afternoon, getting a later than usual start on the day’s business after people from across Miami-Dade’s civic landscape attended a memorial and funeral mass for former Miami mayor Maurice Ferré, who died last week. Commissioners spent several hours hashing out the details of the budgets for physical improvements to public properties and the city’s overall operation.
Miami commissioners, who are elected by voters in their respective districts, often say they represent the whole city — particularly when it’s politically expedient, such as when they want to override a district’s commissioner on a vote. During budget season, when a pot of funding is available, commissioners switch their tune so they can bring more money back to their neighborhoods.
To that end, commissioners on Thursday negotiated with each other to ensure that parks across the city would get a share of impact fees to make improvements — including a pool in the West Grove and upgrades in Shenandoah.
Mayor Francis Suarez proposed creating a $1 million rent assistance program for low-income seniors who live in subsidized housing. Qualified residents could receive up to $200 a month to cover rent increases.
Commissioner Joe Carollo suggested the cap be lowered in order to aid more residents.
“I don’t have a problem lowering the cap,” Suarez said. “We could potentially help more people.”
Carollo and Commissioner Keon Hardemon both suggested the name of the program, the “mayor’s elderly rent assistance program,” be changed to reflect that it’s a “city of Miami” program.
The budget also includes funding for two new code compliance officers and additional training, as well as $275,000 for the purchase of 50 cameras to help enforce city laws against dumping. The solid waste department will also have three additional enforcement officers, which means each of the city’s five districts could have three officers to deal with the dumping problem.
Commissioners also committed more than $100,000 to the Lotus House, a lauded women’s shelter in Overtown that has served more than 2,000 women and children in the last decade.
Overall, the administration proposed a smaller budget than the total amount spent in the current fiscal year. The total proposed operating budget for the fiscal year set to begin Oct. 1 is $1.13 billion, about $132 million lower than this year. The city enjoyed a 10.5 percent increase in property values.
Commissioners approved a decreased property tax rate in Miami, though that does not necessarily mean resident’s property tax bills will be lower.
Under the approved rate, the owner of a median home valued at about $146,000 would pay about $790 in property taxes. This marks a $19 increase from the last year, assuming the owner qualified for the standard homestead exemption and the home’s assessed value increased by 1.9 percent, the maximum allowed by law this year for an owner-occupied home. Even though the proposed tax rate is lower, the roughly 2.5 percent increase on the property tax bill for this typical property can be attributed to rising property values.
There wasn’t much room for other city business on Thursday after commissioners spent hours picking apart the city’s spending plan, a proposal to erect an observation wheel at Bayside Marketplace and a two-month extension to a program that allows electric scooters around downtown.
By the end of those discussions, it was after 10 p.m., and Carollo announced he needed to leave. He invoked a procedural rule that forced the meeting to end because extending the meeting would’ve required unanimous approval. That left a chamber full of angry residents, lobbyists and lawyers who never got to see the commission vote on their items.
This story was originally published September 27, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
