Special taxing districts

Miami-Dade County administers 1,068 special districts that cover a multitude of different services, including security guard gates, lighting districts, and lake maintenance. The budget of all special districts combined amounts to $11.9 million per year.

Considering that the county's general fund for 2016 is $1.7 billion, it's no wonder that the special taxing districts and their management get lost under the county's purview.

So how do we fix all of this? Simple. MDC should allow municipalities the ability to create, manage, and operate special taxing districts within their own boundaries. If local municipalities managed these districts, residents would have quicker access, upgraded responsiveness, and greater accountability for the services they receive from the special taxing districts.

So what do we do about districts in unincorporated areas? Have the community councils take a greater role on these matters. When former MDC commissioner, now Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, originally floated the idea of community councils, they were meant to make decisions in a setting more accessible to the community.

This story was originally published July 29, 2015 at 7:05 PM with the headline "Special taxing districts."