Miami mayor set to give city manager a big raise from his Miami-Dade County job

When James Reyes takes the top job in Miami under the city’s new mayor, he’ll be making much more than he did when the two worked together in Miami-Dade County government.

Reyes, the county’s chief of public safety, is on track to earn $475,000 a year as Miami city manager, according to an offer letter from Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins that was released Tuesday.

That’s less than the $525,000 that Miami pays its current manager, Art Noriega, who took the job in 2020, according to city payroll records. But the compensation package should put Reyes at the top of the pay scale for municipal administrators across Miami-Dade. Earlier this year, research by the Miami New Times had Noriega as the county’s best-paid city administrator, with Miami Beach City Manager Eric Carpenter in second place with compensation of $375,000.

The Higgins offer also means about a 35% raise for Reyes from his current job in Miami-Dade, where Miami’s newly elected mayor served seven years as a county commissioner. County payroll records show that as a top deputy to Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Reyes earns roughly $350,000 a year overseeing multiple departments, including Corrections, Fire Rescue and Community Services.

Higgins’ office and Reyes had no immediate comment on the proposed compensation package, which was outlined in a two-page letter from the mayor dated Sunday. Higgins announced her pick of Reyes as the city’s top administrator on Monday. City commissioners have final say on his appointment and compensation.

In the letter, Higgins said the Reyes compensation package includes a city-furnished car and yearly pension contributions worth 20% of his salary.

Reyes spent most of his career rising the ranks of the Broward Sheriff’s Office as a jail supervisor and director, then a senior administrator for the agency. He was recruited by Levine Cava to take over the county’s troubled Corrections Department three years ago. She promoted him to safety chief as he prepared his campaign for Miami-Dade sheriff, but the Democrat lost last year to Republican Rosie Cordero-Stutz.

In her memo to city commissioners announcing her nomination of Reyes as city manager, Higgins praised him as someone able to tackle steep challenges in government.

“James Reyes has proven he can modernize operations, accelerate service delivery, and build cultures of excellence. His track record directly aligns with our vision for responsive, efficient city services,” she wrote.