Letter: Commissioner touts reduction in taxes, increase in city services
For the second year running, the Miami Beach City Commission and mayor have again succeeded in significantly reducing taxes while greatly increasing city services.
Back in 2011, our predecessors were forced to appreciably increase the city tax rate in order to account for the economic downturn. Accompanying that tax increase was a lengthy timetable to roll back to the pre-’11 millage rate. We have now accelerated that timetable and completely erased that tax rate increase.
Last year, we lowered taxes enough to account for property value increases, causing a zero-dollar increase in homesteaded city tax bills in 2014. Now we have rolled the millage rate back so far that the average Miami Beach homeowner will see an average decrease in taxes of $23, even with a 2015 average Miami Beach property value increase of 13%.
That may seem like peanuts to some, but with everything going on in this city it should feel pretty good to see significant service and infrastructure improvements without having to dig deeper into residents’ pockets.
I am proud of what we are doing, and with all the political campaign rhetoric flying these days I thought it was important to break the not-so-sexy tax issue down for everyone. We are solving flooding concerns and addressing sea level rise, progressing on the Convention Center, expanding to city-wide trolley services and further improving safety throughout the city. We have also taken huge steps in protecting our history and we are better off than we were two years ago, all while our residents are paying less to do it.
Michael Grieco, Miami Beach Commissioner
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This story was originally published August 6, 2015 at 1:11 PM with the headline "Letter: Commissioner touts reduction in taxes, increase in city services."