Commissioners balance Miami Beach budget by raising taxes, cutting 28 full-time jobs

To help reduce a preliminary budget shortfall of $4.4 million, the Miami Beach commission has moved to cut 28 full-time positions, make major administrative reductions and inject hundreds of thousands of dollars into the city’s revenue stream.

Commissioners on Wednesday evening passed a balanced $350 million operating budget, ensuring that the city’s services remain funded for the 2020 fiscal year.

While the taxable value of property in the city increased from last year, the growth of property values has slowed in the last decade. That plus inflation put the city in “reduction mode.”

The budget comes with a slight increase in property tax rates to cover debt service associated with the general obligation bonds approved by voters last November. The commission approved an overall property tax rate of about $6 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The commission also approved an increase in the general fund reserve target to 25 percent from 17 percent of the general fund operating budget.

Property taxes make up approximately 54 percent of the city’s general fund revenues for the 2020 fiscal year, while police and fire services account for about 59 percent of expenditures.

“I think they [residents] should be very proud of this budget,” said Mayor Dan Gelber at Wednesday’s meeting.

The budget includes $1.6 million in reductions and efficiencies proposed by the city’s departments. While more than two dozen full-time positions were cut citywide, no one was laid off. The city redistributed the workload to existing positions to minimize the impact felt by residents. Some of the affected departments include Parks and Recreation, Code Compliance and the Fire Department.

The budget includes a one-time expense of $1.5 million for police services during the Super Bowl.

It also adds funding of about $200,000 for homeless and domestic-violence services, $300,000 for a sea level rise study and $200,000 in City Hall security improvements.

But city department heads did not get everything they wanted from the budget.

A $2.6 million request from the police department for spring break enforcement was not approved by the commission. Neither was the department’s request for 14 new officers and two crime-scene technicians.

The commission also denied the Environment & Sustainability Department’s request to hire a full-time environmental technician to inspect construction sites for sediment entering Biscayne Bay via the storm-water system. The position was eliminated in the 2019 budget, according to a memorandum from the city.

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Miami Beach’s budget included funding for some of the police department requests that in fact were turned down by the commission.

This story was originally published September 25, 2019 at 8:35 PM.