Miami Gardens holds tax rate steady, adds spending for police, Jazz in the Gardens
Just days before the fiscal year is set to begin, the Miami Gardens City Council passed a $154 million budget Wednesday with 5% raises included for non-bargaining employees. The tax rate remained unchanged for the 11th consecutive year.
“We haven’t raised our mill rate for the last 10 years,” Miami Gardens Mayor Rodney Harris said. “That says a lot about being fiscally sound and being fiscally responsible.”
In municipalities across Miami-Dade County the millage rate has generally remained the same or decreased. In Aventura, the city has maintained a steady mill rate of 1.7261 for the city’s entire existence. Miami Gardens’ rate is 6.9363, which means slightly less than $7 for every $1,000 of a property’s taxable value.
“Right now, we’re staying at the same millage over the last several years. We believe we’ve been fiscally responsible with that,” Miami Gardens City Manager Cameron Benson said. “And certainly, if there is an opportunity down the road, that we believe that we could reduce the millage rate, we will certainly bring that to council for conversation,” Benson said.
Benson said department heads, mid-level managers, and professional staff would be among those receiving 5% raises. Bargaining employees will receive a 3% raise, he said.
The budget passed after discussion about a potential workforce readiness program aimed at residents ages 16 to 24 that would require the city to pull $120,000 from its reserve to fund it.
“We’re taking from reserves because the budget presented is balanced. The other way we can identify funds is to make sure we’re not over spending in one area and under spending in another area,” Benson said during Wednesday night’s hearing. “So what we’ve done is gone to our capital reserves and taken some money out of there to fund this.”
Benson said the city’s reserves are healthy and that the other way they would have to accommodate the program would be to cut in other places.
Ultimately, the item was pulled and not voted on and will be brought back to council with the ask that Formula 1 funding budgeted for FY24 be used for that program.
Among items that received increases in funding were the city’s annual premiere event Jazz in The Gardens, which received a $590,000 increase to $4.8 million for the event, which has seen up to 40,000 attendees annually.
Miami Gardens Police Department saw a 14% increase in funding as the city has budgeted for seven new police officer positions, three community service aids, a victim advocate and a video retrieval specialist. In FY 2024, the city has budgeted for 192 officers. Seven positions remain unfilled.
