Medley, Virginia Gardens annexations in doubt after Miami-Dade mayor’s veto over fees
A fight over county fees upended annexation plans by Medley and Virginia Gardens on Tuesday when Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava vetoed legislation allowing the municipal expansions sponsored by a pair of veteran commissioners who left office this week.
The vetoes toss the issue to a new Miami-Dade County Commission, giving Levine Cava another shot to pitch requiring Medley and Virginia Gardens to pay between $500,000 and $700,000 a year to Miami-Dade in exchange for taking over surrounding land that currently pays county taxes for municipal services.
Levine Cava argued the fees are needed for the county’s fiscal health, but supporters of the annexation pointed out this is the first time the mayor vetoed an annexation after making similar arguments when Sweetwater and other cities took over land without having to pay mitigation fees.
“Why treat these annexations any differently?” asked Commissioner Juan Carlos “J.C.” Bermudez, sworn in Tuesday to represent District 12, which includes Medley. “I have great respect for the mayor, but she and I see differently on this.”
New commissioners took office Tuesday after the Nov. 8 elections. Bermudez replaced term-limited Jose “Pepe” Diaz, who sponsored the Medley annexation of 1,500 acres. Term-limited Rebeca Sosa sponsored the Virginia Gardens annexation as the District 6 commissioner, an office now held by Kevin Cabrera.
On Tuesday, Cabrera said he wasn’t ready to take a position on the annexation legislation allowing the municipality to grow by about 1,000 acres.
“We will be reviewing all the relevant information regarding the annexation and weighing out its impact on the community in the coming days,” Cabrera said.
The mitigation fees proposed by Levine Cava represent the gap between municipal taxes collected in the area and what the county says it pays to provide services there. Under the mayor’s proposal, Medley would pay about $520,000 a year until 2030, and Virginia Gardens $675,000 for the same time stretch.
Annexations in prosperous areas reduce tax revenue for Miami-Dade’s unincorporated area, which has its own property tax and relies on the county for sidewalk repair, police patrols and other services typically provided by municipalities.
“The cities seeking annexation will significantly increase their tax base, funds that can support paying their fair share,” Levine Cava wrote in a veto message released Tuesday. “But failing to include mitigation will create a precedent for future areas seeking to annex that will continue to contribute to the erosion of [unincorporated] resources and could impact our essential County services.”
To override the veto, commissioners need a two-thirds vote at their Dec. 6 meeting. The board is now back to 13 members with the Nov. 23 appointment of Roberto Gonzalez to fill the vacant District 11 seat held by Joe Martinez before his suspension while awaiting trial on corruption charges. If all 13 members are present, nine votes would be needed to override and the mayor would need five members on her side to sustain the veto.
The Medley annexation passed with eight votes. The Virginia Gardens item passed with seven votes.
While only her third veto announcement since taking office in 2020, this is the second veto by Levine Cava in a month. On the day the annexations were approved, commissioners also voted 8-4 to override Levine Cava’s veto of an Urban Development Boundary expansion. Earlier this year, the commission sustained her veto of a commercial deal for county land the administration wanted for a transit facility.
Michael Pizzi, town attorney for Medley, said the annexation veto stunned him. “We thought we had a deal,” he said.
This story was originally published November 22, 2022 at 6:40 PM.
CORRECTION: This article was updated to correct Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s position on mitigation fees related to the Sweetwater annexation.