After veto, county mayor settles for new votes on Medley, Virginia Gardens annexations

Medley and Virginia Gardens won’t be able to expand this year after Miami-Dade County commissioners granted Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s request Tuesday for more time to push for millions of dollars in annexation fees from the municipalities.

At issue is how much annexations will cost local and county taxpayers in future years as more cities seek additional land where property owners currently pay Miami-Dade municipal property taxes. Those tax dollars shift to municipalities after annexations, along with costs for providing local services like police patrols, sidewalk repair and cleaning up litter.

READ MORE: Medley, Virginia Gardens annexations in doubt after Miami-Dade mayor’s veto over fees

When the services tab exceeds tax revenue, the county budget for unincorporated areas benefits when annexations happen. But when municipalities absorb areas with concentrations of commercial property and other large taxpayers, the county’s municipal budget suffers.

Miami-Dade’s budget office estimates the 1,500 acres Medley wants will cost the county about $520,000 a year, plus another $675,000 from the 1,000 acres Virginia Gardens wants.

Levine Cava wants the municipalities to pay those amounts yearly through 2030 as temporary mitigation fees, or about $8.5 million in all.

The $1.2 million a year doesn’t amount to much in the county’s $555 million budget for municipal services outside city limits. But the tussle comes as Miami-Dade is preparing for budget challenges coming from the end of federal COVID aid and new state rules that mean an independent sheriff’s office and elected leaders for other agencies in 2025.

“I am committed to finding a path forward to allow for annexations when appropriate,” Levine Cava told commissioners before the 10-to-3 votesthat rescinded the Nov. 15 ordinances allowing the municipal expansions. “But we also must make sure to protect vital services for all county residents and taxpayers.”

Municipal leaders fought the fees, pointing out Miami-Dade didn’t require them for last year’s annexation of 1,300 acres of prime commercial real estate by Sweetwater that cost the county’s unincorporated-services budget about $575,000 a year.

“I find it offensive,” said Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez, whose district includes Medley. “I think this is a question of fairness.”

Bermudez joined commissioners Kevin Marino Cabrera, who represents Virginia Gardens, and Raquel Regalado in voting against the legislation package that will allow a revote on the annexation matters. That second vote is scheduled for the commission’s next meeting, on Jan. 17.

Commissioner René Garcia proposed the legislation allowing the revote, along with instructions for a possible compromise. Garcia instructed Levine Cava to come back with a plan calling for no more than four years of fees, instead of the original seven-year request.

The annexation fight spanned two commissions, with Bermudez and Cabrera’s term-limited predecessors, Jose “Pepe” Diaz and Rebeca Sosa, shepherding the approval vote at the prior board’s final meeting last month. Levine Cava vetoed the annexation legislation on Nov. 22, setting up an override fight with the new commission.

The annexation vetoes sparked a lobbying effort from the municipalities to secure commission support to override the mayor. On Monday, the Miami-Dade League of Cities released a statement supporting an override. That day, Levine Cava also backed off the veto fight, issuing a memo to commissioners asking for a revote instead.

Spencer Deno, the mayor of Virginia Gardens, called the revote an effort to avoid a veto showdown that would “show who has the power right now — the mayor or the commission.”

The annexation reconsiderations were the first votes cast for the six new commissioners that took their seats Tuesday — five elected in the 2022 elections and a sixth, Roberto Gonzalez, appointed last month by Gov. Ron DeSantis to replace suspended commissioner Joe Martinez as he awaits trial on criminal charges.

Their second votes involved picking board leaders through 2024. With six new members seated, the commission on Tuesday elected Oliver Gilbert, elected in 2020, as the chair for the next two years and picked newcomer Anthony Rodriguez over Regalado, also elected in 2020, for the position of vice chair.

This story was originally published December 6, 2022 at 5:03 PM.