Miami-Dade mayor backs off $2.5B bond plan — for now. She plans to try again in 2026

Facing backlash on both sides of the political aisle, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava on Wednesday scrapped plans for a fall vote on her $2.5 billion spending proposal and announced she’ll bring an expanded package to voters in 2026 if she’s reelected to another term in August.

The video Levine Cava’s office posted on social media punctuated the rocky rollout of what would have been the largest borrowing program in 20 years for Miami-Dade County.

The surprise announcement of the November bond referendum during Levine Cava’s State of the County speech on Jan. 24 quickly was branded a tax-and-spend proposal by the Democratic mayor running for reelection this year. Her allies on the Democratic side of the County Commission complained about the lack of transit projects in Levine Cava’s plan to invest in parks, housing and projects to reduce groundwater pollution and prevent flooding.

“Over the course of the last 60 days, my team and I have had productive and thoughtful conversations on getting the job done,” Levine Cava said in the video. “Through these conversations with our county commissioners, business leaders, city mayors and commissioners and residents, the need to put forward a transit plan was clear.”

READ MORE: Levine Cava’s gamble: Asking voters for $2.5 billion while seeking a second term

Levine Cava said she would take the next 18 months to build consensus for a bond package with transit spending added into the mix.

That would likely mean a significant expansion in the overall borrowing budget, even with federal and state grants reducing the local construction costs. Miami-Dade’s plan to extend Metrorail north to Miami Gardens has a $2 billion estimated price tag, plus another $1 billion for a proposed three-mile Metromover extension to South Beach. That doesn’t account for a potential Metromover extension 14 miles west to FIU, a project that has yet to receive a formal cost estimate. A transit bond would give Miami-Dade a new source of construction funds for transit, on top of the half-percent sales tax voters approved in 2002.

“Yes, people want housing. But they also want Metrorail,” said Commissioner Kionne McGhee, a Democratic ally of Levine Cava on the 13-seat County Commission. He’s advocating for Miami-Dade to extend Metrorail south to Florida City, in addition to the existing plan to extend the rail system north to Miami Gardens. “People want to get out of traffic.”

Miami-Dade last asked voters to approve bonds for hundreds of projects countywide in 2004, when a $2.9 billion borrowing package passed with comfortable margins. Local governments borrow money from Wall Street by selling bonds, then use property taxes to pay back the debt over decades. The Levine Cava administration estimated a $2.5 billion bond package would add about $6 to the $1,427 yearly tax bill for a home worth $400,000, the median value in Miami-Dade.

Manny Cid, a Republican challenger to Levine Cava in the nonpartisan Aug. 20 mayoral election, released an attack ad over the bond program shortly after it was announced. On Wednesday, Cid called Levine Cava’s retreat a sign of the plan’s unpopularity.

“I think she’s starting to realize voters in this county are paying attention,” said Cid, the mayor of Miami Lakes. “I think people are going to realize how out of touch her and her administration are with working families in this county. To say she’s going to bring it back, and maybe even bigger, is very concerning.”

This story was originally published April 3, 2024 at 7:43 PM.