DeSantis vetoes anti-corruption funding, flood mitigation dollars in Miami-Dade
Miami-Dade will lose out on state dollars for flood mitigation, public corruption investigations and dozens of other local projects after Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled line-item budget vetoes Monday.
DeSantis’ vetoes carved roughly $800 million from the $115 billion state budget the Legislature passed in May, including 140 projects requested by Miami-Dade lawmakers that are worth nearly $88 million, according to a Miami Herald analysis. Among the largest vetoes affecting the county were $12.3 million for flood mitigation and water and sewer projects, $4.8 million for local law enforcement and $2 million to bolster security at the county’s drinking water plants.
The water plant funding, requested by Miami-Dade’s Water and Sewer Department, would have paid for surveillance cameras, perimeter security and other measures designed to keep out intruders from plants responsible for drinking water across Miami-Dade. Without the state dollars, Miami-Dade needs to cover the full tab of the security upgrades.
Monday marked the final veto list by the term-limited DeSantis before he leaves office in January, and also the final budget passed under one of Miami-Dade’s most powerful lawmakers, House Speaker Danny Perez, who is also leaving office this year due to term limits. Though both Republicans, DeSantis and Perez are rivals in Tallahassee.
“At the end of every session, we have winners and losers,” Miami-Dade Commissioner Raquel Regalado said in a statement bemoaning the loss of state dollars through the governor’s veto pen. “The fact that the speaker of the House is from Miami-Dade didn’t change this session’s outcome.”
Among the Miami-area law enforcement cuts was a $250,000 appropriation for the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office to investigate real-estate fraud, plus $187,500 for a training center.
DeSantis also vetoed a separate $250,000 allocation to the Sheriff’s Office that would have funded corruption investigations in county government. While the county agency has a budget topping $1 billion, it sought state dollars to boost funding for public corruption cases. Those can include investigations of elected officials, but also criminal wrongdoing by government employees and contractors.
Asked about the veto of funds for the corruption unit, the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that “protecting the public’s trust through strong accountability and aggressive enforcement remains a priority of this administration, and we will continue to allocate the resources necessary [so that] public corruption investigations remain a priority.”
Other local items on the DeSantis veto list include:
- $2.5 million to help replace a seawall on the north side at PortMiami. The seven-year project is slated to reconstruct berths for six cruise ships and is expected to cost more than $300 million.
- $1.5 million to build a new roller hockey rink at the county-owned Palmetto Bay Golf Course
- $1 million for an emergency operations center in Cutler Bay
- $750,000 for tree plantings at Camp Matecumbe, a county park
- $600,000 for training towers for the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department
- $500,000 for a new county animal shelter, along with a separate $450,000 request to reduce overcrowding at Miami-Dade Animal Shelter. Miami-Dade is currently building a satellite animal shelter in South Miami-Dade to reduce overcrowding at the main shelter in Doral and a spillover facility in Medley.
- $550,000 for the Miami Dade Sexual Assault Response Initiative, a nonprofit that says it provides care to survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and human trafficking
- $400,000 for Casa Familia, a Kendall residential center for people with developmental disabilities
