Miami-Dade commissioners vote to double their pay, but ‘ambassador’ plan dies in budget

Miami-Dade County commissioners narrowly voted to more than double their compensation early Wednesday morning but killed a plan to pay former members $25,000 a year to serve as ceremonial “county ambassadors” at public events.

In a 7-5 vote, commissioners approved increasing their yearly compensation from $60,000 to $138,000, the first time the board’s pay has been adjusted in nearly 20 years, according to the commission’s budget office.

READ MORE: Former Miami-Dade commissioners could earn $25,000 a year under new ‘ambassador’ program

Oliver Gilbert, a first-term commissioner, said the vote fixes years of past boards refusing to make small increases to commission pay out of fear of backlash from residents, even while routinely boosting wages in the rest of the county payroll that now tops 30,000 positions.

“It does shock the system, but it’s because you didn’t do it every year,” Gilbert said. In past years’ budget sessions, he said, no commissioner explained what was really happening by keeping commission pay flat. “No one said: ‘Hey, we’re going to artificially suppress this [compensation] because political appearances require it,’ “ Gilbert said.

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The compensation vote passed the most contentious portion of Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s $10 billion budget proposal. It came shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday following a three-hour public hearing that mostly attracted representatives of nonprofits praising county leaders for funding their organizations or causes.

“I just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you,” said Craig McQueen, who organizes youth programs at Miami-Dade parks, which saw an 8% increase in its operating budget to $261 million. “What you’re doing today will go a long way.”

As adopted, the county’s 2023 pay plan will increase compensation for the 13 commissioners by $79,000. The bulk of the increase comes from a $61,000 retirement contribution that’s currently just $11,500 a year. Regular compensation increases from $48,000 to about $70,000 with boosts in commissioners’ expense allowances, car stipends and other cash benefits.

The salary, set by charter and maintained by voters 13 times at the ballot box, remains at $6,000 a year.

At $70,000 in regular compensation, commissioners would fall somewhere below 14,000th place on the compensation rankings of county employees, according to a recent Miami Herald analysis.

Commissioners who voted for the compensation increase were: Gilbert, Danielle Cohen Higgins, Chairman Jose “Pepe” Diaz, Keon Hardemon, Kionne McGhee, Jean Monestime and Javier Souto. Voting against were René Garcia, Sally Heyman, Eileen Higgins, Raquel Regalado and Rebeca Sosa.

“I will be voting my conscience,” said Heyman, a term-limited commissioner leaving office in November after 20 years in office. “I knew what I was getting into when I ran.”

READ MORE: Miami-Dade commissioners quietly endorse a big compensation hike for themselves in budget

The 13-seat commission started the budget hearing with only 12 members. Four hours before the 5 p.m. meeting began, Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended District 11’s commissioner, Joe Martinez, following his Aug. 30 arrest on felony charges.

While the 2023 budget includes compensation increases for sitting commissioners, former members of the board won’t be receiving a pay boost.

Commissioners voted to strip the budget proposal of a “County Ambassador” program that would have paid former commissioners $25,000 a year to attend ribbon cuttings, lead the Pledge of Allegiance at board meetings and make other public appearances.

Gilbert said the plan stemmed from an effort to pay former commissioners a pension closer to what other county employees would receive after earning similar pay.

He attempted to win support for a more limited stipend for ex-commissioners, with an income cap and an eight-year limit. Only members who left office before 2021 would be eligible. That proposal failed 7-5, with Gilbert, Hardemon, McGhee, Monestime and Souto voting yes.

After that vote, commissioners voted unanimously to delete the original ambassador program from the 2023 budget.

Levine Cava didn’t take a position on plans to boost pay for commissioners or former commissioners. Her administration included both in the proposed budget ordinances. The mayor said both were requested by the commission’s own budget arm.

Hardemon, a first-time commissioner who used to earn more than $100,000 as a member of the Miami City Commission, called the county board’s compensation “insulting” for an elected position with the demands of a full-time job.

“Because it’s politically expedient,” he said, “we pretend it’s not an issue.”

Other portions of the Levine Cava budget proposals passed mostly without objection, including setting county property-tax rates 1% lower than current levels.

It’s the first cut in the county’s four property-tax rates since 2012 but will still result in higher property-tax bills for most Miami-Dade property owners, due to increasing taxable values. A commission budget analysis determined a house worth $200,000 this year would see a nearly 3% increase in county taxes, with about $41 extra on the 2023 county bill.

In a statement on the budget legislation, Levine Cava said “we created a balanced, compassionate, and fiscally responsible budget — setting the lowest combined tax rate since 1982 while making a historic investment in solutions to the affordable housing crisis. “

The 2023 budget year starts Oct. 1. The new budget includes:

▪ Higher water fees. Rates for water-and-sewer service will increase 5% for the more than 300,000 residential properties in Miami-Dade’s service area.

▪ $85 million for housing aid, including rental subsidies for landlords agreeing to rent levels considered affordable for middle-class tenants, assistance for homeowners facing financial hardship, as well as $6,000 closing bonuses for some home sales to middle-class buyers. The middle-class ranges are linked to income levels, with families of four earning up to $136,500 qualifying.

▪ Two new departments: Emergency Management, currently part of Fire Rescue, and Procurement, currently part of Internal Services.

▪ Roughly $180 million in remaining federal funds tied to COVID relief.

▪ An overall 15% increase in operating expenses, from $5.8 billion this year to $6.7 billion in 2023. Even with the lower rates, property-tax revenue is projected to increase about $175 million, up about 11%. Overall spending across all county agencies and functions is up $1 billion in the 2023 budget, an 11% increase.

▪ More money for Save our Seniors. Commissioners passed a last-minute proposal by Regalado to use surplus funds from the Levine Cava housing plan to boost an existing relief program for lower-income older residents. Homeowners 65 or older who earn less than $33,000 a year already receive $100 property-tax rebates from Miami-Dade, and the 2023 budget doubles those payments for one year. “I think we should help those that need it the most,” Regalado said.

This story was originally published September 21, 2022 at 5:00 AM.