Miami-Dade Firefighters – already in shock about the mayor’s about face on the budget for next year, which calls for six to eight stations to be shut down and 144 firefighters to be fired – got another surprise Friday.
In a meeting they requested to go over the rolling brownouts due to the $15 million shortfall this year – which they doubted, since they have more than 65 
budgeted vacant positions — county budget staff told fire union members that the those unit closures across the county were not really their fault for burning through their allotted overtime, as has been portrayed by the administration.
Not entirely, anyway.
Seems that there are two other reasons why the big hole is there: Somewhere between $5 and 6 million in projected taxes won’t come in, due to valuation adjustments and early pay refunds from the tax collector’s office – an issue that we might see mirrored in other budgets – and another $6.5 or $7 million is missing because of an accounting practice error.
An accounting practice error that county auditors allegedly identified way back in March.
Not that you would hear Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos “Not So Golden Boy” Gimenez mention it on the Michael Putney show Sunday morning. Nah. He doesn’t want to take responsibility for the lion’s share of the gaping hole that he throws our safety into by shutting down rescue units for 12 or 24 hours here and there. Especially since he’s already taking so much slack lately.
Really? Really?
“So it’s not us?” That was Miami-Dade Fire Union President Rowan Taylor at the meeting Friday.
“You guys got some bad numbers and your tax collection is down? You have a major administrative problem and you are blaming us?” Taylor told me he asked them.
Of course we wonder what other departments might also be facing as far as shortfalls in projected collected taxes. And I guess we’re going to find out.
But let’s talk about this one first. Because Taylor calls it a cover up. He says the mayor has not been honest about the reasons for the brownouts.
According to sources that Ladra spoke to over the weekend, including several at the meeting Friday and Gimenez Chief of Staff Chip Iglesias, about $12 million of the $15 million hole in this year’s fire rescue budget are due to unmet projections.
Iglesias told Ladra it wasn’t an accounting practice error on the rollover rate expected from the year before, as others told me had been explained at the meeting by the budget officials — who likely make more than 60 or 70 percent of the firefighters, by the way. Iglesias called the $6.5 to $7 million part a misjudgment in “bookings” – like how many transportation fees were actually charged to 911 callers compared to how many were expected, for example. Though the carryover could be calculated into that as well.
“It’s not an error. It is an accounting thing. It has to do with the way you book proceeds,” he said. “If you’re owed two million and you have not collected, you still book that.”
When those bookings are not collected, you are left with a hole.
“That caused a big swing in this year’s budget,” he said.
These numbers weren’t known to the mayor until last week, Iglesias said. But he also said, almost in the same breath, that they had some inkling months ago about the recalculations.
“You don’t learn about it ’til six months into the year’s budget.”
For the $5 to $6 million less in property tax revenue, Iglesias explained that even though the county budgeted only with 95 percent of the expected tax revenue, the actual income fell even below that. And this is likely to be the case as well in other taxing districts, like the general budget and the libraries.
“Budget cuts for other taxing jurisdictions will probably also be made,” Iglesias told me, adding that the fire rescue numbers were the first ones the budget office looked at because of requests from the fire union.
And, he added, it might end up a smaller shortfall as things tend to fluctuate from month to month. “There are things that can happen between today and October 1 and instead of $6 million it might be $4 million because $2 million more ended up coming in.
“Or it could come in higher.”
Ouch.
It makes sense that the mayor and his staff knew about this before their lovely trip to Spain and that was maybe part of the reason why Gimenez was originally planning a tax increase. I mean, the problem is probably repeated for next year’s budget. It makes sense they knew before last week because the brownouts resulting from the $15 million shortfall were rolled out before last week.
What makes no sense is that the message from County Hall has been that these “daily unit shutdowns” – they do not call them “brownouts” at County Hall – had to happen because the firefighters blew through their contractually agreed to overtime limit.
Again, Iglesias says I got it wrong. “Nobody ever said it was their fault,” he told me. “The overtime is over. And it has been because we need to cover holes. I mean, we are not selling widgets. But are there things in the contract that would help with overtime? Yes.
“Overtime is over and it’s not the first time, but there are other issues,” Iglesias admitted.
Maybe that should have been the message to begin with. So that the firefighters – who have already lost quite some confidence in their onetime colleague and can be seen all over town protesting the brownouts when they should be on duty – wouldn’t feel further forsaken by the mayor.
“This is absolutely another reason why we can’t trust him,” Taylor told me.
“He had to know about this when he went on TV and it said it was because of the firefighters’ burning through overtime . This is the budget office downtown and somehow we got blamed.
“It’s absolutely eroded any trust we had left in him.”
Fire rescue brownouts — blame accounting blip, not OT added by Ladra on
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You can not take out your frustration because you do not have the ability to manage on those that put their life at risk for the community! How nice it is to collect a retirement from the city of Miami of $12,000 a month and not care how those that should be your first priority suffer because you lack of skills and lack of care. The Mayor needs to be responsible for his actions that’s what being a strong Mayor is all about. By the way he did not only travel to Spain, but also attended the Paris Airshow and visited the Pope in Rome ( there is not enough prayers that will help this fool ). I guess when he was a fireman he made sure that he did go on any life risking call, so that he can be around to make life miserable for first responders. If you can not respect and care for those that put their life at risk, I guess no one should expect much from this elected official. BUT WE HAVE TO NEVER FORGET HOW LITTLE HE CARED, AND THE DAMAGE TO THIS COUNTY BY HIS DEPLORABLE ACTION’S. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!
There is no reason my personal safety, that I have paid every penny of tax to protect, should be compromised because some pencil pusher can’t add correctly.
All of you public servants have yet to realize why the Tea Party is so damn angry. When we in the private sector make a math mistake, it comes out of our pocket. When somebody at 111 NW First street screws up, there is never any sanction. The taxpayers demand to see poor performance in the public sector have the same consequences as poor performance in the private sector. Immediate termination.
The best thing the fire union could do is follow the trail backwards and determine which budget analyst screwed up. This person has put my home and health in danger. This person needs to be made an example of. Loudly. Publicly.
Daily/weekly/monthly fluctuations in budget projections/revenue are nothing new and should come as no surprise to budget analysts. Surely they know how to factor in these uncertainties without taking as hostage the public safety of all residents. I’m just not buying it.
Remember when a certain M-D politician demanded that the Key Biscayne station be staffed all the time even though there were few calls, that brown-outs (daily unit shutdowns) weren’t acceptable? Why is it okay now for busier stations to have unit shutdowns? If the fire department were to fill vacancies with new employees at a low rate and retire on disability those fire fighters on permanent restricted duty (can’t fight fires yet get pay and benefits as firefighters but work at other tasks, including clerical), they should be able to reduce overtime and salaries and benefits significantly.
Good coverage, thanks.
Who can you trust when you know your local government is lying to you
Strangely reminiscent of when the city went bankrupt a few times over the last few decades. I don’t seem to remember Paramedic Firefighters, their salaries, and their benefits being to blame for the city going belly up. The city of New York also went bankrupt a few times, way back when. And their Fire Department salaries / pensions weren’t to blame either.
Now all of a sudden, the financial dilemma’s that various municipalities around the country are now facing, is all of a sudden due to Paramedic Firefighters, Cops, and Teacher pensions, salaries, and benefits?
Nothing to do with gross mis-management, incompetency, fraud, embezzlement, and / or bribery, on the part of certain government officials?
If it looks like a rat, smells like a rat, walks like a rat ……..
Interesting
When all of the staff are laid off, social media will be useful for meetups to process the recall petitions. All of our training and organizational skills will be needing a large project to tackle while unemployed. Mr. Gimenez and seven Commissioners are an excellent project to focus upon. 56,600 petitions – a snap!
Gimenez paquetero
I don’t care the reason, I am absolutely furious that they are playing with our lives. You know – the lives of the voters. About 5 years ago, thanks to the quick action of Fire-Rescue, from the station on 117th Avenue and Sunset, I was rushed to the hospital with a heart attack. I flat-lined at the hospital. Had I had to wait the extra minutes it would take to get here from 127th Avenue, were that one truck stationed there available, I wouldn’t be here today.
So Mr. Mayor, be up front about the reason for the shortfall. Get honest – or do you know the meaning of the word? Fill the vacant positions and overtime will be drastically reduced. Are you trying to tell me and others that it is cheaper to pay overtime than to pay straight time? PUH-LEEZE!!
What is cordito. Another problem we have…corrupt, lying , pretending to know what Mia Dade fire rescue does, nepotism, culture problem, his office blowing thru OT and pay raise to port of Mia. Sorry cannot trust Dade county govt this is not the first or the last time this will happen….