Last year, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez scolded county commissioners for plans to protect the environment, reduce crime in South Dade, create programs for children and fund fare-free circulators, like the trolleys in many cities, in unincorporated parts of Miami-Dade.
We ain’t got the money, honey, the mayor told them. He complained of a five-year 
budget shortfall that would prevent many of their initiatives from happening.
But last month, Gimenez told the same commission that he wants to spend $1.8 billion over the next 20 years on improvements at existing facilities — spackling, painting and fixing air conditioners. It also includes improving energy usage and security, adding parking and “replacing furnishings.” Really. New furniture? This is what Gimenez wants his legacy to be. Well, this and the contracts he got for his friends and family.
But wait a minute. Isn’t that exactly the amount needed to build the South extension of Metrorail that voters wanted when they passed the half cent tax and that Gimenez sorta promised during his re-election campaign? Why, yes, it is. Sure, people will say, “But there are operating costs every year.” To which Ladra answers, but that is the job of government, to provide services and infrastructure that the people want and, in this case, voted for.
There is no way that the people would approve $1.8 billion in spackle and paint. Put it to a vote and see.
Read related: Carlos Gimenez finds hidden millions — yet again — at budget crunch time
Maintaining county facilities cost money each year. And the neglect in recent years — whether a result of budget impacts or an intentional ruse to make some properties need more costly repairs — is no reason to suddenly change course to make everything shiny. Just up your maintenance game.
If commissioners approve the mayor’s proposed $8.9 billion budget after two public hearings next month, the plan is to spend about $125 million in the first year to bring county 
facilities up to the most recent building code. Do they have to? Probably not.
This “countywide infrastructure investment program” is the mayor’s budget equivalent of an umbrella “miscellaneous projects contract” — you know, like the one Munilla Construction Management got extended last month — that could cover myriad future costs that we don’t even know about right now. Nana nina. Let those things get fixed and paid for one by one, as they need it. That way, our capable county staff can find grants and other ways to pay for it.
Commissioners should flatly reject this slush fund. Ladra would hope that at least those who hope to replace Gimenez — Esteban “Stevie” Bovo, Daniella Levine Cava, Jean Monestime and Xavier Suarez — to have issues with these future funds being spent by their predecessor, if not concerns about their own priorities.
They should also ask questions about other budget items.
Like, why is only about 5% of our county revenue from state and federal grants? Why does the county need to spend $4 million to renovate the Countr
y Club of Miami golf course? Seriously. Why are you using the tax dollars of millions of people who don’t play golf? Why can’t we get some organization to renovate it in return for usage or some golf ball brand to fund it in return for publicity? And $3.2 million to “add parking” at the brand new animal services center in Doral? The one that was just built the other day? Is the parking there really full all the time? How much more parking do we need?
And again, isn’t that something that could be solved with better mass transit?
Read related: Carlos Gimenez back in Paris again after London leg of tax paid trip
While the tax rate remains flat for the most part (there is a tiny increase proposed for the debt tax that means about $24 a year for a homeowner with a $300,000 house), another yearly rise in property taxes means that the county will have more money to work with. Again. Hundreds of millions more. Again.
What do we get for that? Besides more of the library hours that the mayor took away in 2014? Well, 21 new positions to start with. Staff additions in the proposed budget include five cops, five prison guards, seven people for parks and recreation, one new person in Human Services and two cultural affairs posts.
Wait a minute. Two cultural affairs posts? In addition to the seven new jobs in parks and rec? What do those people do? Work we can’t get interns or volunteers to do? And are all the employees going to be new additions, or (more likely) are some posts eliminated and existing staff transferred over?
Other perks from the new money include more than $520,000 to clean up the smelly sargassum from the beaches and a $550,000 dog park in Liberty City. Let’s hope the cities of Miami Beach and Miami are also chipping in.
The mayor’s budget brief has eight categories for county expenses:
- The largest is public safety — police, fire, corrections, courts, county clerk and the medical examiner’s office — which takes 31 cents out of every dollar.
- Next is neighborhood and infrastructure — animal services, water & sewer, solid waste — which takes 20 cents of every dollar.
Economic development is next — aviation, seaport, economic advocacy trust, regulatory and economic resources — with 14 cents of every dollar.- Health and society is next — human services, community action and development, Homeless Trust, public housing — with 10 cents of every dollar.
- Transportation and mobility — transportation and public works — gets 8 cents of every dollar.
- Same thing for Parks and Recreation — which also includes libraries and the cultural affairs department — which gets another 8 cents of every buck.
- Government services — elections, finance, HR, IT, communications, budget, audit, Inspector General, Commission on Ethics and Public Trust, internal services and property appraiser — gets 7 cents of every dollar.
- Policy and administration — the mayor’s office, board of commissioners and the county attorney’s office — get one penny of every dollar. But don’t feel bad. That still amounts to $89 million.
Why does only 8 cents of every dollar go to transportation and mobility while 
14 cents of the same dollar goes to economic development, which often translates into giveaway incentives. Mass transportation and efficient mobility is the best economic development incentive we could invest in. Perhaps those two percentages should switch.
The budget also calls for more vehicles into the county’s fleet, according to the mayor’s budget message. But let’s first make sure those other new vehicles the county bought aren’t still parked in a garage somewhere, hmm?
So, yeah, there are plenty of questions about this year’s budget, which hasn’t gotten the same media attention of other years. Ladra hardly expects many crowds at this year’s public meetings at 6 p.m. tonight and Thursday.
Tonight meetings are at:
- West Dade Regional Library, 9445 Coral Way
- West Kendall Regional Library, 10201 Hammocks Blvd.
- Milander Center for Arts and Entertainment, 4800 Palm Avenue, Hialeah
- William F. Dickinson Community Center, 1601 N. Krome Ave., Homestead
On Thursday, the meetings are at:
- Aventura City Hall, 19200 Country Club Drive, Aventura
- North Dade Regional Library, 2455 NW 183rd St., Miami Gardens
- South Dade Regional Library, 10750 SW 211th St., Cutler Bay
- Arcola Lakes Library Branch, 8240 NW 7th Ave., Miami
All the budget information can be found online here.
Miami-Dade budget: Mayor has money for his priorities, not ours added by Ladra on
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We think our countryman should leave giving bad publicity to his group. Immigrants are drawn from the excluded or excedent of their own countries, but through drive and initiative make a place for themselves in the new land. It takes fortitude to reshape our short lives, thousands of miles from our familiar surroundings, and make it. P. S. County vendors haven’t posted here.
Citizens of Miami for Metro Rail
https://www.facebook.com/groups/326230464789937/
If you people could be cloned our political troubles in Miami-dade would end or at min be drastically curtailed .
MOST Hispanics are politically apathetic or they vote for the same corrupt , self serving parasitos over and over and ask nothing of them .
It isn’t about Rep , Dem or Independent because buena suerte finding a quasi honest Hispanic politico in Miami .
I do think Cubans are the head of the serpent because we get a free pass that other Hispanics would not get . The DA Rundle has a lot to do with that .
Btw , I know you can’t clone a personality but I am just making a point ..
Its pretty obvious that we have a huge problem with our crooked political leaders in the city of Miami. I think it’s time the federal government steps in and not only cleans house but prosecutes. Unfortunately we will NEVER see this happen because they are all in bed together. This is why our country is suffering economically and morally. I’m pretty sure there are reading this article right now and laughing at us all. We need to get rid of all these crooked politicians and bring in Young and fresh leaders.
Where’s Mayor Manny Diaz when you need him?
Excellent article and absolutely right on response by Michael Rosenberg. It is glaringly apparent the County’s Transit Department needs a complete top down revamp. But that is just one of the County departments that need “come to Jesus” epiphanies. It’s the County’s department heads themselves that actually need to efficiently run their out of control departments. That’s one reason the budget calls for basic maintenance expenditures of $1.8B. These things should have already been accomplished as part on daily ongoing maintenance had the department heads actually been performing their job descriptions. It’s sad that not one of the mayoral candidates has the vision, gravitas, or intestinal fortitude to do what actually needs to be done, so we can get real elevated mass transit. There is no way the federal government will grant transit monies to a County that has shown it cannot even effectively & efficiently run it’s current transit system. Think about it.
As a retired law enforcement officer, I’ve always questioned if our monies were being used properly. Mayor Gimenez along with former Governor Scott took away our 3% retirement to save the jobs of Miami Dade county police officers. We fought to get it back and we did. The Supreme Court ruled in our favor. We haven’t seen the reimbursement of any of our monies lost as ruled and not to mention after retiring I only receive 2% of COLA, and not my 3% due to Mayor Gimenez and Scott decision.
So, what happened to our
money? We believe they’ve stolen it! Everyone knows Scott and his mother committed Medicaid fraud.
Did the judges get their money? They fall under the same retirement as we do.
It’s our money and we want it!
Excellent reporting. I will be posting on social media.
So….? Who has the power to intervene and correct this?
Federal investigation maybe..???
Another EXCELLENT article by Ladra. All of us should be thinking about where our money is going. Sadly, most of us go about our daily lives, not watching, not speaking out, and the windfall goes to those that know how to play the game.
Couple things to point out regarding comments by Jackson Rip Holmes.
(1) It is not a penny sales tax, but rather a HALF sale penny tax.
(2) It is not “theft of over $25 billion because this tax has averaged about $200 million a year for the past 17 years. The correct amount of money that would have been available is about $3.5 billion. AGAIN….not $25 billion. Currently, that 1/2 penny brings in about $250 million a year.
Of the $3.5 billion that has come in over these last 17 years, less than a billion has been used on new transit lines. (The extension to the airport.) Most of it has been used to keep the current system in place, NOT where it was supposed to go per the ballot question.
So, our leaders have taken the money we the voters said to use for new transit, and used for old transit.
As you look at this new budget that Ladra breaks down for us, we have to wonder if OUR money is being used wisely, which was the point of her article.
Based on some of her examples, you can see many questions need to be asked. I am glad Ladra is asking them, but all of us need to be asking as well.
Dear Publisher DeValle and Esteemed Political Cortadito Readers:
Good work.
The first responsibility of government is honesty.
Mayor Gimenez needs to publicly admit that the County — in 2009, and over the years before he was Mayor, but continuing during his Administration — essentially stole most of the $32 billion in penny sales tax money which by law was supposed to go to MetroRail expansion.
Our traffic problems should already be solved, and would be solved with MetroRail and rapid transit busses on the Superhighways, but for THEFT OF OVER $25 BILLION FROM THE PENNY SALES TAX FUND SINCE 2002.
This from no less than our friend Javier Betancourt, new Head of the Fund, in less direct language.
Alcoholics Anonymous starts with ADMITTING THE PROBLEM.
MAYOR GIMENEZ, YOU NEED TO ADMIT THE COUNTY HAS STOLEN OVER $25 BILLION FROM THE PENNY SALES TAX FUND!!!!!!!
Sincerely,
Jackson Rip Holmes
Efficient, reliable and convenient mass transit is the cornerstone for economic development in major cities. Businesses with well paying jobs are naturally attracted to cities that have an established mass transit system that enables employees to use it to reduce their total commute time.
A system that is not designed to save time for individuals who can afford to own cars will not help resolve the traffic issues in Miami-Dade County.
What happened to championing public, participatory budgeting? Was that just the good ol political razzle dazzle? Otherwise, the budget is really just designed for the elected politicians to leverage their interests to stay in power, not only the mayor….
Looks like Ralph friends Already got Theirs NO RFP deals (TA ,SFL ) Have the Jitney service at Shuttle prices W/O Competition ? SMELL TEST ? Bad !
How much tax money goes to Carlos Gimenez’s friends and family members? How much goes to his former driver Ralphie? Lobbyist Vicky Toledo NKA Vicky Levia’s Ex-husband?