Miami’s first big move under a new mayor shouldn’t mean more taxpayer debt | Opinion
On April 15 — Tax Day — Miami’s new mayor, Eileen Higgins, announced that she would bring forward a $450 million bond for voter approval. The bond would address longstanding facilities challenges faced by our first responders.
Our firefighters and police officers deserve the very best training, equipment and facilities. But that cannot come on the backs of middle-class families by burdening them with a half-billion dollars in debt.
Before completing an audit of existing bond commitments, before doing a “deep dive” on the Miami Forever bond and the city budget, before delivering measurable results on permitting reform, the mayor wants to saddle Miami residents with $450 million in new debt.
This is not leadership. Let’s be clear: A bond is a legal debt, paid for by taxpayers. It must be repaid with regular payments. It is a debt that our children and grandchildren will inherit.
The mayor shouldn’t be asking the public to approve more debt before our financial house is in order. City voters approved a $400 million Miami Forever bond in 2017. That bond was not just for flooding and parks. It included $7 million specifically earmarked for public safety and about $192 million to combat sea-level rise and flooding.
That bond money was promised. It was approved. After nearly a decade, only about a quarter of the $400 million has been spent, with the public safety and flood prevention allocations among the least deployed of all.
In truth, $400 million becomes exponentially more after factoring in underwriting fees and interest. Total payoff could easily be more than twice that amount. Before residents are asked to borrow an additional $450 million for police and fire facilities, we need to know what happened to the public safety money voters already approved as part of the Forever Bond.
The city of Miami does not have a revenue problem; it has a spending problem. We are over-taxed and under-served. Property tax revenues continue to grow but 77% of Miami’s growing operating budget accounts for personnel costs. Pension obligations grow every year.
Miami’s Median Household Income (MHI) is about $65,000. But compensation for city employees has ballooned and is out of proportion to the population they serve. The city manager earns about $475,000 a year, more than seven times the city’s MHI and more than President Trump, who earns the same as other presidents: $400,000.
Over 100 city employees made over $200,000 per year in 2025, according to a story by the Coconut Grove Spotlight. The city attorney made $417,000, almost twice what the U.S. attorney general made, which was about $250,000.
Taxpayers also pay for myriad legal expenses for elected officials including health care, office expenses and other expenditures.
In October, Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia came to Miami and announced that the city’s budget is $94.5 million higher than it should be, based on population growth and inflation. The city dismissed the finding. But the question it raises does not disappear because it is inconvenient. When a government is told it may be overtaxing residents by nearly $100 million, the response should never be to propose $450 million in new borrowing. That is not fiscal management. It’s taxpayer abuse.
Fiscal discipline and accountability matter. First, curb expenditures as most families do before taking out another credit card. Accountability must come before new borrowing, not after.
Instead of auditing what was already spent, instead of fixing what was already broken, instead of doing the patient work of restoring public trust, the mayor has chosen the path Miami politicians before her have taken. Spend first. Answer questions later. Claim victory.
If this goes forward, the police and fire unions that endorsed her will have an excellent return on investment. But taxpayers won’t. She was not given a mandate to repeat the past. Voters gave her an opportunity to break from it. So far, she has not.
Emilio T. González was a 2025 candidate for Miami mayor. Previously, he was a Miami city manager and director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under President George W. Bush. He is a partner/advisor for a financial services and investment firm.
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