Part 1 in a series of county budget coverage stories
By the time Miami-Dade commissioners wrapped up their first budget hearing at 4:33 a.m. Friday, the only people left in the chambers were the diehards. And a very tired staff who must have had a lot of cafecito.
But most of the 240 speakers during a five-hour public comment marathon had already made their point loud and clear: stop cutting the groups that hold this community together and the services that help the most vulnerable survive.
It was a chorus. From arts advocates to eviction defense lawyers, from domestic violence shelters to drug treatment programs, speaker after speaker begged the county to restore the dollars slashed from the hundreds of nonprofit Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) that teach kids to read, help the disabled get to the doctor, or give families one last chance before losing their homes.
Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, who had been walking back parts of her proposal since July, tried to sweeten the bitter pill early in the night, announcing that she had closed the $402 million gap with some “carryover funds” and reserves and walking back some of her more unpopular proposals. No more parking fees at county parks. No increase in the gas tax. The county would keep paying for air rescue services so it doesn’t come out of the fire district’s budget. This year, anyway (more on that later).
Read related: Mayor Daniella Levine Cava wants Fire District to pay for air rescue helicopters
“The voices of our residents shaped this process, and you guided us to where we are today,” Levine Cava said, trying her best to sound like everybody’s abuela. Sweet, but stern at the same time. “We heard you loud and clear.”
Actually, she counted votes, not voices. La Alcaldesa didn’t have the votes to pass the budget without removing the hike to the gas tax and restoring some of the non-profit monies to the CBOs. Not that it would be enough. Representatives from some organizations said that only 100% restoration of their grants would be acceptable. They sounded a little entitled. But you might be pissed too, if you took the time to go downtown, paid $20 for parking, and waited to speak for a whole 60 seconds just to see distracted commissioners on their phones and whispering to each other.
It was a 12-hour meeting so the snacks are expected. But some of the audience said later they felt invisible.
Levine Cava sounded very defensive throughout the meeting. Maybe she is sick of being attacked over a budget that is just as much the commission’s fault as her own. There is enough blame to go around. At one point Levine Cava even suggested that the commissioners give their discretionary funds — which total in the millions and usually go to pet projects and payback gifts — to the general fund to plug the rest of the holes.
Like that’s gonna happen. Commissioner Eileen Higgins was repeatedly very vocal about how gracious and generous she was for giving her district’s school red light camera money back to the general fund. All $17,000 of it! She dared her colleagues to do the same. Some of those districts have more schools so they have millions. But nobody took her up on it.
Read related: Miami-Dade County commission set for budget showdown, hearing Thursday
Commissioner Roberto Gonzalez ate up an hour and 10 minutes grilling practically every department director on very specific details about line items. Some of the questions were valid — How many positions do we need for “public engagment” and PR? How many functions overlap? But they also seem to be things he should have asked before the public hearing. Oh, wait… but then he couldn’t use it for an Instagram reel. Or maybe he was showing off for his brother in the audience.
Ditto for the surprise twist near the end when Commissioner Oliver Gilbert — who misses the protagonist role of chair — went on and on about how the county shouldn’t be paying for The Underline (more on that later).
Transit was a big issue, drawing several speakers to blast the commission for proposing increased rates for buses and Metrorail, increasing fees for specialized transportation services to the disabled and cancelling Metro Connect, which would save $11 million (more on all that later). A few speakers also urged the county to divest from Israel bonds (more on that later).
And trash fees were increased by a little less than 1%. That almost failed, with commissioners Danielle Cohen Higgins, René “Call Me Senator” Garcia, Gonzalez, Natalie Milian Orbis and chairman Anthony Rodriguez voting no. (A lot more on trash and garbage later).
Rodriguez said the budget had “come a long way” and patted himself on the back for keeping taxes low. Easy to say when you don’t need MetroConnect to get to your third job, or the grocery store.
But plenty of pain remains in the $12.9 billion budget.
Commissioner Marleine Bastien said it had not come far enough for the people of District 2, which she said has been neglected for too long. “Every year, the budget provides the opportunity to correct those wrongs. Every year, I see that we do not,” Bastien said, citing specifically road resurfacing and storm water drainage improvements that are needed, but not funded.
“You have chosen for decades to underfund communities like mine, and I see that this budget continues this trend,” Bastien told her colleagues. “Enough is enough.”
Read related: Facing $400M budget shortfall, Miami-Dade cuts senior meals, lifeguards, more
Commissioner Milian Orbis, who was appointed to replace Kevin Cabrera — who must be thrilled to have missed this meeting as the new ambassador to Panama — was also upset about cuts in her district, saying that the Ludlam Trail funding had not been restored and asked for it to be put back in time for the second hearing Sept. 18.
Taking notes the whole time, Commissioner Raquel Regalado — who made it very clear she is ready to be the next county mayor — will have had another appropriations committee meeting to tackle more line items. Regalado, who forced a budget workshop at her committee meeting last month, worked hand in hand with Levine Cava to present the new “change memo” budget with the reduced reductions.
“None of it was done lightly and none of it was easy,” Regalado said, speaking around 1 a.m. like an accountant wired on Pilón. She promised to keep hunting for loose change in the couch cushions.
“I’m going to keep looking for more,” she said, referring to efficiencies to find — or projects and expenses to put off for another year. And she agreed with Gilbert about the budget being an every day thing. “We literally change our budget every time we sit on this dais.
“At the end of the day, it’s just a ledger. It’s not magic. It’s math,” she said.
Commission Vice Chair Kionne McGhee, the champion of the non-profits, held the gavel for a while, and offered a kinder, gentler and more encouraging master of ceremonies than King Rodriguez.
“I’m proud of you,” he told more than one speaker, thanking them. At one point, he told the crowd to hush because a woman was speaking. “Beth is about to land this plane. However… Beth needs respects.” He later asked a guy named Samuel if he was nervous. “Don’t be. Ready? Let’s do it.”
Was he pandering a little bit? Yeah. Does it still feel good after the chancletazos we get from A-Rod? Right again.
At some point in the meeting, both McGhee and Gilbert recused themselves because of their association with non-profits. But if everyone who served on a non-profit recused themselves, there’d never be a quorum for the budget vote. And maybe that’s why the CBO grants should not be handled like gifts in what’s become a cottage industry (more on that later).
Read related: Shady charity with political ties gets $450K from Miami-Dade Commission
There was also a little spat between Levine Cava and Commissioner Rene “Call Me Senator” Garcia. , who said she was “a little misleading the way you’re crafting this budget.” He said the public trust had been eroded by the consent change of numbers and the lack of direct answers on figures like the ones he asked for on budgeted unfilled positions. If the positions are unfilled for six months or longer, he reasoned, why can’t those salaries be put back into the general fund pot?
“It’s not an increase here. It’s not an increase there,” Garcia said. “It’s aggregate. And people are hurting.
“We need to shrink the size of government. We don’t have a revenue problem. We have an expenditure problem.”
La Alcaldesa was not shy about pushing back and said it was “not accurate” to say there were not cuts being made. More than 375 positions — including some lifeguards — had been eliminated or disappeared through attrition. The remaining open funded positions — which change on a regular basis as employees in a 31,000-person organization come and go — are needed to keep services at current levels and to keep overtime costs down.
“There are also positions in the commission budget that are vacant and you should look at those as well,” DLC told the chair.
Boom!
At one point it seemed like she almost got up from her seat to confront him. But the daggers her eyes were enough to make Garcia, realizing he sorta looked like a bully, apologize.
Read related: Buyer’s remorse: Kionne McGhee wants refund on $46M to FIFA World Cup
Meanwhile, what is there still money for? Miami-Dade is handing out $46 million in services and subsidies to FIFA for the World Cup parties. Gilbert said this was an “obligation” the county entered into when we lured the games here. But that does not seem as important an obligation as air rescue services, or feeding abuelitos, or providing more domestic violence beds (more on that later). And the Sheriff’s Office is being made whole to the tune of  more than $1 billion while slicing eviction defense funds from $2 million to $1 million. This after the mayor herself promised back in April to increase the eviction project to $3 million. Oops.
By the end of the night, Levine Cava admitted many of her fixes were “unsustainable” — and projected shortfalls don’t get prettier.
Round Two is set for next Thursday, Sept. 18, at the Stephen P. Clark Center, 111 NW First Street. It can also be seen online at the city’s website and on YouTube. If last week’s first hearing was any indication, y’all better pack a pillow.
The post Madness marathon: Observations from the first Miami-Dade budget hearing appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Sheriff gets her millions; firefighters still up in the air
Budget season is usually messy, but this summer has been a full-on disaster. And Thursday night at 5 p.m., Miami-Dade residents get their first chance to sound off at the budget hearing before commissioners take their first vote.
Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has been in cleanup mode for weeks, backtracking on the most controversial cuts she dropped on July 15 like a ton of bricks. Remember? Arts funding, senior services, even mowing the grass at the neighborhood park were on the chopping block. Commissioner Marleine Bastien, usually an ally, called it a “community train wreck” and a “budget without soul.” Commissioner Kionne McGhee said “working families are left out.” And they weren’t wrong.
Now, suddenly, between borrowing some funds from the future and tweaking here and there, La Alcaldesa suddenly found almost enough money to fill her $402 million hole. How does that happen?
Read related: Critics say Miami-Dade 2025-26 budget could possibly put public safety at risk
The loudest battle, of course, was with newly elected Sheriff Rosanna “Rosie” Cordero-Stutz. A change in Florida’s Constitution required Miami-Dade to spin off its police agency into an independent sheriff’s office after the November 2024 election. The Republican lawwoman cried foul earlier, saying that the mayor’s budget was “defunding the police” because she got “only” $55 million more. She wanted $94 million more than what the Miami-Dade Police Department got last year.
Last week, the mayor blinked. Levine Cava announced an extra $31 million for the Sheriff’s Office, bringing Rosie’s total to about $1.1 billion. That fight? Defused. “This is a victory for every resident, family, and neighborhood in our county,” Cordero-Stutz said in a statement. “With these resources secured, the Sheriff’s Office can continue to meet the needs of a growing community.”
So, that means the sheriff must have also done some belt-tightening. She asked for $94 million, got a total of $86 million and can still meet all her needs? So, $8 million was what? Padding?
But don’t think the drama is over. There are still plenty of hot potatoes baked into this budget:

Parks lifeguards: Gone at natural swimming holes like Matheson Hammock. That cut survived.
Charity & arts grants: Some money is back, but nonprofits are still short about $11 million.
Water rates: Levine Cava scaled back her 6% hike to 3.5% after Commissioner Raquel Regalado stepped in. But it’s still an increase.
Garbage fees: They’re expected to go up, even as the future of solid waste disposal in the county is a dumpster fire.
Senior centers: Little River stays open. South Dade? Still slated for closure.
Transit: The MetroConnect shuttle gets the axe, unless an alternative pops up. Bus and rail riders still face a 50-cent fare hike. MetroMover might start costing up to $100 a month for downtowners. Tolls on the Rickenbacker Causeway to Key Biscayne are slated to go up by 200%.
FIFA: The public and some commissioners question if now is the best time for the county to shell $46 million in cash and services to the FIFA World Cup related activities (read: parties).

The big fight now is over the mayor’s plan to dump $28 million in chopper costs onto the fire rescue department to pay for air rescue services themselves through their separate tax. Currently, the county pays out of the general fund to operate the four helicopters that fly critical patients to the hospital to get them there faster and douse brushfires from the skies.
Read related: Mayor Daniella Levine Cava wants Fire District to pay for air rescue helicopters
But here’s the rub: The choppers serve every inch of the county — even the five municipalities that don’t pay a penny into the fire district: Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Hialeah and Key Biscayne. And, basically, Levine Cava’s idea is to let those people ride for free while the other municipalities and the people in the unincorporated county areas foot the bill.
Levine Cava insists she’s protecting “core county services” while keeping the property tax rate low. She says her original proposal was a “snapshot in time” before her staff nailed down more one-time surplus dollars. But her critics aren’t buying it.
Commissioner Roberto Gonzalez mocked her on social media: “It looks like, after the self-induced ‘perfect storm,’ as she calls it, the ayor followed the imaginary yellow brick road to the pot of money that was waiting right where she left it,” Gonzalez wrote Thursday on the platform formerly known as Twitter. “Enough with the games and storytelling, we’re not in Kansas anymore!”
So, now the stage is set for Thursday’s first public budget hearing at County Hall. Residents, nonprofits, cops, firefighters, seniors, and straphangers all get their turn at the mic. Two minutes, if Commission Chairman “King Anthony” Rodriguez feels generous. Otherwise, they’ll get 60 seconds. Then, the commission takes its first vote on the mayor’s ever changing proposal.
Round two comes later this month. And Gonzalez says he wants a change order by the Sept. 18 hearing that fully funds the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department’s air rescue operations. He was flanked by Commissioners Rene Garcia and Natalie Milian Orbis and Congressman Carlos Gimenez — who had to jump into the debate — at the fire union’s press conference last week where he demanded that police and fire be fully funded. The fire union has threatened legal action.
“What we have is no longer a mismanagement of funds,” Gonzalez said in a video posted on his Instagram. “What we really have is a failure to prioritize the things that are important to the residents of Miami-Dade County.
Read related: Facing $400M budget shortfall, Miami-Dade cuts senior meals, lifeguards, more
“I am sick and tired of the shell games,” said Gonzalez, who has seemed to be campaigning for higher office recently. “The mayor says that we’re in a deficit. Then she says that we’re not in a deficit. The mayor says that she lost money. Then she says that she found money. Folks, there is one thing that we cannot play with, and that is the safety and the lives of our residents.”
Some things never change on the 29th floor — and that includes finding magical drawers of money when you most need to.
Speaking of which, enter Gimenez, the former county mayor. Because, por supuesto, he shows up at press conference to wag his finger at his Democratic successor. “They need more money, more units, more firefighters,” Gimenez, a former fire captain and city manager, blasted as he stood with fire union leaders and firefighters.
Excuse Ladra while she coughs up a hairball. Because we all remember when this same Gimenez, as county mayor, proposed rolling “brownouts” at fire stations — putting one or two units out of service every shift and rotating which neighborhoods would lose coverage. That was his idea of fiscal responsibility. Now, he’s suddenly the defender of Fire Rescue’s funding?
Levine Cava’s camp wasn’t having it, either. As Gimenez spoke, her comms team blasted out a slick video of La Alcaldesa, smiling, “setting the record straight,” and praising firefighters as “heroes” while touting the raises and new trucks she’s delivered in her five years. She insists the helicopter shuffle is just an accounting move: “The services remain unchanged, and the public will not be impacted.” Her budget folks point out that Fire Rescue has actually grown 10% under her watch and say delays are about land costs and backlogged fire truck orders, not dollars.
The union isn’t buying it. “Lives hang in the balance,” union president William “Billy” McAllister warned. “When seconds count, sometimes we’re minutes away.”
So, now, we’ve got the firefighter-turned-mayor-turned-congressman tag-teaming with union leaders and Republican commissioners against the current mayor. The same guy who once pitched cutting back fire coverage is now crying wolf about a “dangerously unfair” budget.
Ladra says grab your helmets, gente. The helicopter fight is only fueling the flames as commissioners get ready to take their first budget vote Thursday night in a meeting that might look look less like a policy debate and more like a campaign commercial.
Ladra can’t help but wonder if the congressman is going to make an appearance.
The first public hearing of the Miami-Dade 2025-2026 proposed budget starts at 5:01 p.m. Thursday at County Hall, 111 NW First Street, and can also be seen online on the county’s website.
The post Miami-Dade County commission set for budget showdown, hearing Thursday appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Miami-Dade fire union has threatened legal action
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava may want to check her smoke alarms — because firefighters smell something funny rising out of the 2025-26 budget: A sneaky move to shift the estimated $30 million cost of running the countywide air rescue helicopters to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, which is funded out of a different pool of tax dollars.
These are the helicopters that fly critical patients to the hospital to get them there faster and douse brushfires from the skies. And they serve every inch of the county — even the five municipalities that don’t pay a penny into the fire district: Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Hialeah and Key Biscayne. In previous budgets, the county reimbursed the fire department for air rescue out of the general fund.
But facing a $400 million deficit after the expiration of federal COVID rescue funds and the costly birth of constitutional offices — like the shiny new sheriff’s department — Levine Cava is pitching a “fair and balanced” budget that’s light on fluff, but heavy on cuts. Arts and culture grants? On the chopping block. County layoffs? Not off the table.
Air rescue helicopters? That’s on you, now, La Alcaldesa told the fire department. That it will likely cause the fire department to divert funds from other needs. And it could put lives at risk.
Read related: Facing $400M budget shortfall, Miami-Dade cuts senior meals, lifeguards, more
International Association of Firefighters Local 1403 President William “Billy” McAllister says Miami-Dade Fire Rescue is already stretched thin, needing more trucks and more boots on the ground to serve the ever-sprawling western frontier of the county. Response times are suffering. Density and traffic are clogging up everything — and now, they say, the mayor wants to defund the rescue squad in the middle of a slow-motion emergency.
This could mean less firefighters on duty and less trucks on the street. “The goal was to open four units this year,” McAllister told Political Cortadito, adding that they have trucks sitting out of service. “With this, it will be zero.”
He understands that there’s a huge hole in the budget that would be bigger — $430 million — if the county were to take responsibility for air rescue again. But this is going to have a ripple effect across all fire rescue services, McAllister said.
“We’re at a crossroads right now in Miami-Dade County,” he warned. “They are obligating us to carry a portion of their shortfall and disallowing us from increasing service.”
McAllister told Ladra that the budget cut comes as a surprise, again, at the last minute. “The reaction has been one of stalling to try to figure out what to do,” he said, adding that it’s typical of the administration to “run the clock” on something and try not to meet on it.
McAllister almost wasn’t allowed to speak at one of the public town halls the mayor had last week throughout the county. He was told that because he spoke at the public meeting in Westchester Monday, he couldn’t speak at the one in South Dade Wednesday. He eventually did get to speak after telling county staff that the audience was a different group of people.
So the union hired Holland & Knight to prepare a legal challenge — and speak for them. The firefighters are lawyered up.

Love letter from McAllister, President, Metro‑Dade Firefighters Union Local 1403, to Mayor Levine Cava:
“Dear Alcaldesa, we’re putting you on notice: This budget proposal is dangerously short‑sighted.
By forcing Miami‑Dade Fire Rescue to fully fund the county’s air rescue helicopters, you’re sacrificing public safety on the altar of accounting gymnastics. This financial gambit doesn’t just threaten our ability to serve — it actively jeopardizes lives. We intend to hold you and the county accountable.
Our lawyers at Holland & Knight are standing by.”
Love, Billy

Okay, so that’s how Ladra might have said it. Lawyer Miguel De Grandy (who f-ed up the city of Miami redistricting and, well, did it have to be him?) put it differently in his 5-page warning to the mayor.
“This inappropriate and illegal transfer of funding obligations will result in placing an undue, unfair and ultimately damaging burden on the district,” De Grandy wrote. “The proposed additional shift in the funding of the debt service for purchased equipment (namely, fire rescue helicopters) is clearly contrary to the representations and the pledges made in the commission resolution approving the issuance of bonds to purchase this equipment.”
In other words: You bought it, you pay for it.
Read related: Gov. Ron DeSantis sends Florida DOGE squad to sniff out Miami-Dade budget
In 2020, Miami Dade Fire Rescue replaced its aging fleet of helicopters with four new ones, borrowing $70 million to repay over 20 years. The county had previously agreed to contribute to the payment of these costs, but now, that funding has been diverted to offset the budget shortfall. McAllister said that 4 or 5 million of the $28 to $30 million in costs go to debt service for the helicopters. The rest is for operational costs.
Levine Cava issued a statement last week defending her decision because, hey, it isn’t the first time the county slashes its contribution to the fire district. Last year, the county cut $18 million from the funds it provides to the pay for air rescue services,
“Public safety, including fire rescue, remains my top priority as mayor. Regarding the air rescue fund, these costs were moved to the fire budget in the current fiscal year (24-25),” the mayor said in her statement. “It is important to stress that this change had no impact on vital fire rescue services or public safety, and the proposed budget for the coming fiscal year continues to increase funding for Miami Dade Fire Rescue as we have done every year.”
In other words, you get what you get and you don’t get upset. This is nothing new. And you won’t feel a thing.
¡Ay, por favor! The mayor “moved” the cost of air rescue into the Fire District budget last year and now she is patting herself on the back for “increasing” fire funding — when in reality, you just shifted the tab to the 29 municipalities that pay into the district. The helicopters still serve everyone, including the cities that don’t chip in a dime because they opted out of the Fire District and have their own fire rescue departments.
“Ironically, wealthier cities like Coral Gables, Key Biscayne and Miami Beach that opted out of the district would now obtain Air Rescue services at nearly no cost, while several other cities with a significant percentage of residents at or below the poverty line, like Sweetwater and Florida City, pay an inequitably higher cost for these countywide services,” De Grandy wrote.
It smells like the mayor is balancing the budget on the backs of firefighters and taxpayers — and calling it an “increase.” Meanwhile, the FIFA World Cup hosting committee is still getting $46 million to spread among themselves.
Read related: Buyer’s remorse: Kionne McGhee wants refund on $46M to FIFA World Cup
De Grandy also reminded Levine Cava that commissioners said last year that they didn’t want to this be an eternal flame burning away the fire department’s reserves. In other words: Fix this before next year.
“I feel like they are being punished for good bookkeeping,” Commissioner Raquel Regalado said last September of the fire department. Ladra is sure Regalado is going to have a lot to say at the Aug. 20 committee of the whole meeting — which is another way to say special commission meeting — which was her idea in the first place. This one is going to be really special.
The county’s $12 billion budget won’t be finalized until after that meeting — where commissioners aim to tweak and snip at inefficiencies to replace proposed cuts and fee hikes —  and two public hearings in September. The new fiscal year starts Oct. 1.

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Rosie Cordero-Stutz says she inherited rising costs
The newly-elected Miami-Dade sheriff is not happy about the dollar amount that Mayor Daniella Levine Cava‘s proposed budget sets aside for her new, constitutional office and has sounded the alarm in recent days, warning that proposed cuts could leave the sheriff’s office disarmed and dangerously under-resourced at a time when public safety concerns are rising like the summer heat.
Sheriff Rosanna “Rosie” Cordero-Stutz put in a request for fiscal year 2025-26 for a hefty $936 million — nearly $94 million more than what was budgeted when it was the Miami-Dade Police Department last year. According to a sheriff’s spokesperson, Levine Cava allocated $50.4 million, leaving a significant shortfall of $43.4 million.
Cordero-Stutz says it’s not for new bling. She needs more in order to keep 911 response times from rising and fill up to 200 vacancies.
“Make no mistake,”the sheriff wrote in a sharply-worded plea disguised as an “open letter” published in Community Newspapers. “A reduction of this magnitude puts the safety of our entire community at risk.
“The proposed budget reductions for public safety threaten to undermine the very foundation of our operations. These cuts will force us to reduce the number of sworn deputies and hinder recruitment at a time when demand for service continues to rise.”
At the county commission meeting last week where they approved a flat tax rate for next year and a budget that currently reflects a $402 million shortfall countywide, the sheriff warned the board about the consequences and “respectfully asked” for her full budget.
“Anything less is defunding the police,” Cordero-Stutz said.
Read related: Facing $400M budget shortfall, Miami-Dade cuts senior meals, lifeguards, more
The funding is not for shiny new toys or some bloated cop wish list. Well, not her wish list. More than two thirds of the increase ($64M) is just to honor existing contracts the county signed before the sheriff’s office even officially existed, Cordero-Stutz says.
In other words: It’s the county’s tab. And now they’re sticking her with the bill.
So, when voters decided in 2020 to bring back the elected sheriff — and 57% of Miami-Dade voters said yes — the county’s reaction was to go on a spending spree? Of course, the handoff is now coming with strings attached and unfunded promises.
One example Cordero-Stutz cited are the collective bargaining agreements the commission approved in 2023, which locked in raises, cots of living hikes for retirees and training incentives, among other things.
There were also zero academy classes this year because of budget shortfalls, Cordero-Stutz explained. That means no new recruits. “As a result, we are currently carrying more than 200 vacant sworn positions, as of July 15th, with more expected by year’s end,” Cordero-Stutz wrote.
That means whole areas — like Kendall, which has just 180 deputies to cover 42 square miles and over 80,000 residents — are left stretched ‘very thin,’ just like we like our Serrano ham sliced at Publix.
With the next potential field of recruits not coming in until mid-2026, “we face a serious staffing gap that impacts service and safety,” Cordero-Stutz wrote. Her proposed budget is focused on filling all existing vacancies. The request also includes 54 new civilian positions. Not because she’s building an empire — but because decades of backlogged staffing have left critical operations understaffed and overworked.
“Full staffing is essential to enhance public safety, improve response times, strengthen investigations, and support the well-being of our deputies,” she wrote.
With the FIFA World Cup on the horizon and cyber threats lurking behind every login, is this really the moment to penny-pinch public safety?
Read related: Miami-Dade could cut back services, give millions to FIFA for World Cup
Apparently, that’s a question the county commission will have to grapple with. Last week, after some debate, they approved the mayor’s proposal for a flat tax rate, which means that property owners will pay more taxes, but only because property values increased. To pay the same amount of taxes, the county would have had to adopt a “rollback” rate, and they didn’t do that. Commissioner Roberto Gonzalez was the only one who voted against the budget because he said residents needed and deserved a break.
It also means that commissioners will have a lot of work to do before the budget is finalized after two hearings in September to find the funding for the sheriff’s office needs within the existing revenue parameters.
Levine Cava said in a press conference last week that the county had increased spending on public safety by 8% each year while she has been the mayor.”Today, we are facing a new and difficult fiscal reality,” she said, placing much of the responsibility for the $402 million countywide shortfall on the rollout of the five new constitutional offices.
But the sheriff isn’t taking the blame sitting down.
“Let me be clear,” she says. “I am not asking for enhancements. I am asking the board to fund a budget that meets the financial obligations made before the Sheriff’s Office even came into existence—and allows us to continue protecting this great county to the best of our ability.
“Every dollar in this proposed budget is directed toward one goal: keeping the people of Miami-Dade County safe,” Cordero-Stutz says. “These investments are not about expanding government — they’re about ensuring we have the trained personnel, resources, and infrastructure required to meet the challenges of modern law enforcement and deliver the high-quality service our residents expect and deserve.”
In other words: She’s just trying to pay the bill someone else racked up, keep the lights on, and maybe — just maybe — run an academy class or two so she doesn’t have to answer emergency calls with an empty bench.
So, Miami-Dade voters got their brand-new sheriff. But what else did we get? A bill due that isn’t funded, a public safety system teetering between ‘responsive’ and ‘underwater’ — and a county mayor and commission that has a little more than two months to decide whether it wants to back the badge or balance the budget on it.
“At the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office (MDSO), our mission is clear: to protect and serve this community with integrity, dedication and compassion,” Cordero-Stutz wrote. “From the 911 call takers who answer your most urgent cries for help, to the deputies on the streets, from our Cyber Crimes Bureau tracking digital threats, and to our Strategic Response Team handling the most high-risk situations — we show up, every single day, committed to keeping this community safe.”
Well, as long someone pays the bill.

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The post Miami-Dade Sheriff to county leaders: Budget cuts handcuff public safety appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Meanwhile FIFA still gets $46M from taxpayers
Say goodbye to addiction outreach teams, and hello to more overdoses and addicts, if Miami-Dade commissioners approve the 2025-2026 budget proposed this week by Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. It proposes a number of cuts to fill the $402 million budget shortfall that the county is facing now that all our federal COVID cash has dried up.
Abuelito‘s subsidized lunch? No más, as three food programs for seniors are on the chopping block. Two senior day care centers — one in Little River and one in South Dade — could be closed.
Also, everybody may have to pay $5 to park at Tropical Park or A.D. Barnes Park. And if you go to a public county pool, well, swim at your own risk or take your own personal lifeguard. But mosquitos and rats will get their time to shine as the county cuts down on landscaping in public areas.
And there are about $40 million in cuts to non-profit grants, some of which may be justified but others that will definitely affect safety nets for thousands of people who live and work in Miami-Dade and fall through the government cracks.
Meanwhile, FIFA still gets $46 million from the taxpayers in cash and in-kind services for their World Cup. Because, you know, priorities.
Read related: Miami-Dade could cut back services, give millions to FIFA for World Cup
Subsidies for billion dollar brands and “economic incentives” do not seem to be as expendable as park programming or, say. senior meals when it comes to the recommended cuts to the $402 million budget shortfall that the county is facing now that all our federal COVID cash has dried up.
The proposed budget “reflects the needs of our community, with responsible, accountable fiscal leadership,” Levine Cava said, with a straight face, in a press conference at County Hall Tuesday that looked more like a funeral. She was flanked by her bloated cabinet of chiefs of this and that, including Public Safety Chief James Reyes — who is doing what, exactly, now that we have a sheriff? — and Chief Operating Officer Jimmy Morales, who was hiding behind the sign language interpreter in the corner.
None of them looked very happy.
It seems they should be smiling more if they are really “building a stronger, more secure Miami-Dade for tomorrow and delivering essential services, spending every single taxpayer dollar efficiently and being accountable to the residents we serve,” as Levine Cava said.
The mayor bragged long-delayed improvements made to Miami International Airport — which still has a long way to go (more on that later) — increased investments in law enforcement and the public transit system, residential and business assistance programs and a spike in the county’s bond rating, which saves more than $500 million over the life of the bonds. She also said these investments made Miami-Dade “one of fastest recovering economies in the country” after the pandemic.
Levine Cava thanked the commission for two consecutive years of decreases in the county’s millage, or tax rate, bringing it to its lowest since 1982, and “easing the burden for many families in our community who are struggling to help ends meet.”
“But today, we are facing a new and difficult fiscal reality,” Levine Cava said. “This budget year brings extraordinary challenges.”
This year’s proposed flat rate will mean that almost everybody pays higher taxes due to increased property values (more on that later).
La Alcaldesa laid the blame for nearly half of the shortfall on the five constitutional offices for the elected county sheriff, supervisor of elections, clerk, property appraiser and tax collector, which are now separate entities, the result of a “mandate,” which is what she called the state charter amendment that was passed by 58% of county voters in 2018.
“The expansion of essentially one county government into six has come at a great cost,” Levine Cava said.
She also said that there has been an increase in the demand for services as well as in the cost of goods and services that affect the government just like it affects families. This has created what she called “the perfect storm.” And like any household, the county has had to tighten its belt, “making sure that every single taxpayer cent is spent” wisely.
Read related: Miami-Dade elected officials say they went to Panama on their own dime
Departments have cut their budgets between 10 and 35 percent, Levine Cava said, adding that some would merge to streamline services, combine functions and create savings while maintaining services. Some park programming would be sacrificed and grants to nonprofits, which has become a controversial process recently, are also going to be “scaled back,” she said.
While Metro Connect — an on-demand, shared-ride service designed to fill the “first mile, last mile” gap in public transportation — will also be scaled back, there are no proposed cuts to Metro Rail, Metro Mover and Metro Bus. In fact, the county expects to launch the South Dade Bus Rapid Transit line later this year. Seniors can also continue to get their Golden Passport for free, which allows them to ride for free.
Maybe they can go get something to eat.
“We did everything possible to protect essential services and employees,” Levine Cava said. Really? Ladra knows where you can find $46 million.
Miami-Dade Commissioners seemed surprised by the proposed budget at Wednesday’s meeting, where they were tasked with setting the tax rate. But each of them have met with the mayor or someone from her office. Commission Chairman Anthony Rodriguez said said he met with Levine Cava weekly on the budget and that she told him more than once that “she’s lost a lot of sleep” over it. “As have I,” Rodriguez said.
So, they knew this was coming. It’s not a surprise. Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez issued a statement that said the county commission had misplaced the blame.
“Miami-Dade County had seven full years to prepare for this transition—to plan, budget, and make sure everything was ready. But they failed to act,” Fernandez said, referring to the lack of preparation following the voter-mandated transition to constitutional offices in 2018, which was approved by 58% of the voters in Miami-Dade.
“Miami-Dade County does not have a revenue problem,” said Fernandez, a Republican. “It has a spending problem.”
The county commission was also split pretty much along partisan lines: Republicans like Roberto Gonzalez are suddenly fiscal hawks, accusing the mayor of being too generous with other people’s money. This is rich, coming from the guy who spent $1 million of other people’s money getting a second district office because the first one didn’t meet his standards.
Read related: Miami-Dade taxpayers fund $1 mil move for Commissioner Rob Gonzalez
Commissioner Raquel Regalado called the proposed budget a “work in progress” and wanted the commission to cut the tax rate by the tiniest percentage, again. It’s just a habit with her. She does it every year.
“I understand that this is a painful year,” Regalado said, agreeing with the tax collector on the constitutional offices. “We started talking about the impact of the constitutional offices five years ago. And three years ago we established a fund and started talking about what we needed to put away.”
She suggested that the commission have an appropriations committee meeting in August “to go line by line” and find more places to cut. “I don’t think this is a budget we can leave until the week before the budget hearing.
“This is not a year when we can just disagree with the mayor’s recommendation,” Regalado added. “This is a year where we have to provide alternatives to her.
“This year and next year are going to be very different and we’ve known that for a very, very, very long time. We either have to reduce services or we have to reduce growth.”
Newly-appointed Commissioner Natalie Milian Orbis agreed that the tax rate should go down. “The proposal as it stands today, asks working families to pay more while getting less,” she said, adding that she was concerned about landscaping cuts leading to illegal dumping and the increased park fees.
“That’s one of the free and safe places families can go and spend time together,” Milian Orbis said.”Our budget reflects our values and this one right now sends the wrong message.”
Commissioner Juan Carlos “JC” Bermudez said he would also make himself available to find efficiencies but he didn’t want to shrink the tax rate just a tad to save few dollars at the expense of more service cuts.
“If we are going to lower it to be the equivalent of a Happy Meal at McDonald’s for our residents and hurt the services provided to the residents of  Miami-Dade County, that smacks to me of politics, it doesn’t smack to me of practicality,” Bermudez said.
Commissioner Senator Rene Garcia agreed with a special meeting to try to lower the flat rate and that the timing was perfect for it. “It’s important for all of us to really take a deep dive and find savings,” he said.
Read related: René García ditches Hialeah mayoral race — after stirring the political pot
But Wednesday’s meeting was eight hours long. How long will a line-by-line review of the budget take? Ladra would guess around three days..
The Democrats on the dais were already shocked at the cuts that are already proposed and are unlikely to support more “adjustments” to services. Commissioner Marleine Bastien called it “a budget without soul.” Commissioner Kionne McGhee said “working families are left out.”
Commissioner Oliver Gilbert, who still doesn’t realize he is no longer the chair, urged the commission to pass the flat rate because they can always reduce it later. They can’t increase it. He said he feared that “base services” like transportation and parks would be hit harder if any more cuts were needed.
“When people talk about austerity and talk about ‘tighten your belt,’ it’s figurative. They’re saying it, but they’re not actually literal. This isn’t one of the talk shows like MSNBC or CNN or FOX. This isn’t any radio show. This isn’t a newspaper. This isn’t a speech in congress. This isn’t a speech in Tallahassee.”
No, but apparently it is a speech at Miami-Dade Government Center.
Gilbert said he was willing to meet in August to work on reductions. “But I think it’s prudent for us to make sure we can at least staff and fund the government at this level,” he said. “When we take in less money, we have to provide fewer services. when we provide those fewer services, typically that accompanies layoffs.”
La Alcaldesa insists she is cutting where she can without eliminating bus routes, firing employees or closing entire parks — yet.
“They were all very hard choices, but they were the right choices,” she told commissioners at Wednesday’s meeting, asking them not to cut the tax rate. “Making any millage cuts now when we have prepared a far balanced budget despite unprecendedn financial restraints would be fiscally irresponsible and would only cause residents to experience deeper service adjustments.”
Meanwhile, residents are left asking why abuelito can’t get his meals delivered but we’re still footing the bill for international soccer.
There will have a chance to ask at two public budget hearings, Sept. 4 and Sept. 18. The appropriations committee when commissioners go line by line, with one of those combs for lice, to find more savings will likely be Aug. 20. Regalado wanted to have it sooner but the mayor said she won’t be here.
Find more information about the 2025-26 budget and the budget process here.
To support Ladra and keep Political Cortadito brewing, make a contribution to watchdog journalism here.
The post Facing $400M budget shortfall, Miami-Dade cuts senior meals, lifeguards, more appeared first on Political Cortadito.

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Pressure mounted after weeks of inaction, soft words
Finally! After weeks of soft punches and lackluster response, Miami-Dade Mayor Danielle Levine Cava has found her spine and is fighting back against the fascist forces that built and are operating a secret immigration jail in the middle of the Everglades — on an abandoned airstrip that we, the people, own, by the way — without so much as a whisper of due process or transparency.
As far as Gov. Ron DeSantis is concerned, Miami-Dade can go pound sand. Who needs local government or Home Rule when you have emergency powers and delusions of grandeur?
Up to now, Levine Cava has been too polite, citing mostly environmental and financial concerns in very bureaucratic messages. But on Tuesday, she demanded the state provide the county with actual accountability and a peek into the 3,000-bed detention compound plopped down like a giant slap in the face — or federal middle finger pointed at Miami-Dade leaders and residents.
It was almost like she had no political aspirations after this.
But that changed this week, just as the first detainees were getting uncomfortable in their new digs, perhaps in response to a letter sent to the mayor from a coalition of community groups and a pair of billboards that called her out and told residents to urge her to sue the state. Maybe she had to poll first?
In the sharply-worded letter of her own to Attorney General James Uthmeier (a.k.a. DeSantis’ old chief of staff turned full-time enabler), the mayor asked for monitoring access, remote video, weekly updates, and in-person inspections of the sprawling complex, which the AG himself proudly branded “Alligator Alcatraz.” That name ain’t even creative or ironic. It sounds like the punchline of a bad Florida Man joke.
They even have merch. For $30 you can own a t-shirt and for $27, a “trucker’s hat.” Proceeds go to the Republican Party of Florida. Because they see Alligator Alcatraz as a revenue source. Maybe that’s the punchline.

To be fair to the mayor, this quiet power and land grab has happened faster than the cafecito turnaround at the Versailles ventanita. The state took over the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport on June 23, and poof — that was the end of local authority. One minute it was county land in the middle of Big Cypress swamp; eight days later, it was a DeSantis internment camp, complete with chain link cages, a 10,000-foot runway to sneak people out of the country and zero press access.
Even Immigration and Customs Enforcement is trying to distance itself from this abomination, pointing fingers at Florida. This is all the state’s doing.
So, what’s changed Levine Cava’s tone in two weeks? Let’s see…
Read related: Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s fluoride veto was carefully cast
National horror story newscasts about the inhumane conditions in ICE facilities and poor treatment of detainees, including a 75-year-old Cuban man who was detained for deportation because of an 1980s marijuana arrest and died in custody in Miami, may have gnawed at her. Half of the deaths in ICE custody since the beginning of the year, by the way, have been in Florida. And that’s before they built a concentration camp of soft-sided tents on a patch of flood-prone wetlands at the edge of the Everglades to keep immigrants that are being snatched off the streets.
Videos have been posted of water pooling around electrical wires at the grand opening tour taken last week by President Donald Trump and DeSantis, which was catered — gotta have finger food for the hungry haters — by local eateries that are now being boycotted. Family members of the first detainees have reported their loves are lacking food (they get one meal a day), basic hygiene and access to legal representation. A group of state legislators were denied entry, even though they have a legal right to come up in for a surprise inspection whenever they want.
Digital billboards shaming the mayor into action — at I-95 and NW 135th Street and on the Dolphin Expressway, facing west — followed a letter sent by a coalition of more than 50 organizations asking La Alcaldesa and the commissioners to sue the state and get Alligator Alcatraz shut down. The letter points out how the whole deal is rips off the county, which is smart because the way to our electeds hearts is through their wallets. The state has offered to pay just $20 million for land worth ten times that, and that would be paid out of disaster funds allocated for things like hurricane relief. The annual operation is estimated at $450 a year, while the state expects to see a $2.8 billion budget shortfall next year.

“DeSantis’s move to seize land owned by Miami-Dade County worth an estimated $195 million has been met with almost no resistance by local officials,” starts the letter from the organizations — which include the ACLU, the Florida Immigrant Coalition, Florida Rising, Community Justice Center, Dream Defenders and Engage Miami, among others. They expect more from our leaders in a county with the highest percentage of immigrant residents in Florida, where more than 54% of residents are foreign-born and more than 70% are Hispanic. They criticized Levine Cava’s “meek resistance” and said her previous communication with the governor had been “technocratic.”
They pointed to “catastrophic” potential impacts, which range from environmental to fiscal to humanitarian.
“The mad dash to open a 3,000 person detention camp is irresponsible and dangerous. Confining immigrants in cages within tents on the ancestral land of the Miccosukee and Seminole Tribes during Florida’s extreme summer and hurricane seasons is a deliberately cruel scheme designed to inflict suffering on those held there. That kind of cruelty is reminiscent of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s inhumane tent city in Arizona, which was shut down after years of lawsuits from mistreated prisoners.
“Environmentally, Alligator Alcatraz threatens one of the most ecologically significant and fragile landscapes in North America. The proposed development site is surrounded by sensitive habitats that are already under increasing pressure from climate change, invasive species, and human encroachment. The heavy infrastructure and increased activity associated with a high-security detention camp, including lighting, road traffic, noise pollution, water discharge, and waste generation, would further fragment wildlife corridors and degrade ecosystems protected under federal and state law.”
Then there’s the slap in the face to the native Americans who were in the Everglades before we were. For Florida’s indigenous peoples, the site is priceless sacred ground. Miccosukee tribal member Betty Osceola has been out there protesting almost every day.
Read related: Miami-Dade commissioners sit silent as resident is dragged out of County Hall
“There are also serious questions about how such a site would protect any semblance of due process for immigrants,” the letter states. “Will those detained in this Everglades Detention Camp have access to lawyers? Will loved ones be able to visit and keep in touch with those in detention? Will there be any oversight by third-party groups on the conditions at this detention camp and the treatment of those detained there? Considering the horrific conditions at other detention facilities in Florida, like Krome Detention Center, the mistreatment and death of detained immigrants seems inevitable – and intentional.”
It’s almost certain that people will die at Alligator Alcatraz. If they haven’t already. Authorities denied that there was a medical emergency even after an ambulance was seen leaving the compound this week. A local hospital official confirmed that they had treated a detainee from the brand new facility. Once caught, authorities admitted someone was transported, without providing any details. But they said he came back and was fine. How can we believe anything they say?
“Authoritarianism festers when executives like Ron DeSantis are allowed to rule by decree. Even before Alligator Alcatraz, DeSantis had defined his political legacy by gleeful cruelty against immigrants. Miami-Dade officials have to unequivocally stand up for all their constituents and push back against those profiting from human suffering in Florida. While we appreciate that Mayor Daniella Levine Cava offered some mild resistance with her letter to the Governor outlining environmental and financial concerns with the project, this moment requires leadership and courage and unequivocal opposition by this body to stop the state law enforcement descension on the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport site in the Everglades.
“We call on Mayor Levine-Cava and the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners to file a lawsuit to stop the operation of Alligator Alcatraz, the dehumanization of Florida residents, and the destruction of our shared natural resources. Any failure to act now implies complicity for the human rights abuses and deaths that will follow if Alligator Alcatraz is allowed to operate.”
What’s she gonna tell her grandchildren?

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