Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava defends new budget, service cuts

There are four public budget town halls this week
It’s budget season, and you know what that means: the spin cycle is on high.
Facing a gaping $402 million hole in the county coffers, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava is out here trying to sell her $12.9 billion budget for 2025-26 as “fair and balanced.” But it looks more like it’s failing and bruised.
The mayor has taken to the airwaves and went on WPLG Local 10’s This Week in South Florida Sunday and has had two community meetings so far to defend the 2025 budget. Saturday’s community meeting in at the North Dade Regional Library was standing room only.
There are four more this week where residents are encouraged to go and share their concerns and priorities. The next one is tonight at 6 p.m. at Westchester Regional Library, 9445 Coral Way.
There’s another town hall at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Arcola Lakes Senior Center, 8401 NW 14th Ave., 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Dennis Moss Center, 10950 SW 211 Street and 6 p.m. Thursday at Oak Grove Park, 690 Ne 159th Street.
More information on the proposed budget can be found on the county’s website here.
Packed house at the Miami-Dade budget town hall Saturday at the North Dade Regional Library.
Levine Cava says her budget protects “core services” like garbage pickup and transit. Because, apparently, if your bus still shows up and your trash still disappears, you should just shut up and pay the extra taxes and fees.
And there are plenty of those. It will cot 50 cents more to ride the bus or train. Gas tax goes up 2 cents a gallon. And we will now have to pay a brand-new $5 “get-in-the-park” fee — but don’t expect a lifeguard at the pool. We can’t afford those.
Read related: Facing $400M budget shortfall, Miami-Dade cuts senior meals, lifeguards, more
The county is also shutting down two senior centers and ending some home-delivered meals to the abuelos and abuelas. And it may as well be shutting down some non-profit organizations with up to $40 million in cuts to grants.
Meanwhile, the county has committed $46 million to the FIFA World Cup, which Levine Cava said is an “obligation” once the bid was awarded, which is before her time. And she added that the millions are not going to the billionaire organization itself. The funds go to “local leaders” to raise money to put together programming, she told the Sunday show’s host Glenna Milberg. Was she talking about Rodney Barreto? And does this make it better, or worse?
Also, she did warn us that the allocation could mean cuts in services.
Commissioner Kionne McGhee has asked for his colleagues to support refunding the gift and putting that money into the non-profits whose grant funds have been cut. But Levine Cava suggested on This Week in South Florida that only the last allocated $10.5 million can be withdrawn. How come we are still committed to the $25 million in in-kind services?
La Alcaldesa insists the cuts in the budget are necessary, mostly blaming a state-mandated boogeyman: Amendment 10, which created five new constitutional offices that the county now has to fund — to the tune of nearly half the budget gap. The spotlight is on newly-elected Sheriff Rosanna “Rosie” Cordero-Stutz, who wants $40 million more than the mayor gave her. That’s a tenth of the entire deficit. If she doesn’t get it, she says, the mayor and commission are “defunding the police.”
Levine Cava has said that she has increased police funding each year, and that it’s going up almost 9% this year. That’s not defunding. That’s reinvesting in flashbang grenades and training simulators and expensive software contracts and overtime.
Still, commissioners aren’t all on board with the spending plan. Some even voted for the flat tax rate the first round thinking they can lower it after the public hearings. They can’t raise it, but most people will pay higher taxes because their property values rose.
Read related: Buyer’s remorse: Kionne McGhee wants refund on $46M to FIFA World Cup
Commissioners Roberto Gonzalez, Juan Carlos “JC” Bermudez, Raquel Regalado and newly-appointed District 6 Commissioner Natalie Milian Orbis were particularly concerned that the cuts are not being made in the right places. Regalado has called for a special meeting to go “line by line” through the budget to find efficiencies and waste. Like with an X-acto.
Because when you add up the slight raise in property tax with the other fees and the fare hikes, everyday working people are the ones who are going to feel the squeeze.
The commission will vote on the final budget in September. Between now and then, the public has those four community meetings this week and two public hearings at County Hall Sept. 4 and Sept. 18 before the commission makes a final decision. There will also be a Committee of the Whole scheduled at 9:30 a.m. for commissioners to discuss the budget and make changes.
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