The public will have six opportunities this week to hear details about the proposed $11 billion, 2023-24 Miami-Dade budget — which includes a proposed $36 annual garbage fee increase — beginning Wednesday in North Dade. But will they have a chance to make any meaningful input? That is the real question. Are these just futile […]
The Miami-Dade Commission talked about garbage this week. Not the usual garbage. Real garbage. Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has suggested a $36 annual garbage fee increase — or $3 a month — as part of her 2023-2024 $11.6 billion budget. To keep the current $509 annual fee would mean a cut in services, she said. […]
Commissioners likely to discuss mayor’s gas tax gaffe Late Monday, with less than 24 hours for county commissioners to review it, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava released her proposed $11 billion 2023-2024 budget — the largest ever, with a 20% increase in capital improvement spending, due much to federal dollars. She boasts about a 1% […]
But county ‘ambassadors’ program with $25K stipends was killed Ka-ching! Right after denying property owners an additional percentage or two in a tax break, Miami-Dade Commissioners on Tuesday approved a budget that more than doubles their compensation to a whopping $138,000 a year in a sneaky move that took many — including commissioners — by […]
About six hours after the first public hearing began Thursday, Miami-Dade Commissioners gave preliminary approval to the mayor’s $10 billion budget, which focuses on affordable housing, infrastructure and clean water while cutting the tax rate by 1%. “This year we will continue rebuilding our community and economy stronger than ever by prioritizing critical investments in […]
Miami-Dade Commissioner Keon “Pay-to-Play” Hardemon showed his true petty colors on Tuesday when he tried to take $550,000 allocated in the county budget from the Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center in North Miami — which just so happens to be operated by Gepsie Metellus, who ran against him last year for the seat vacated by […]
County employees get a 2% bonus and a 6% raise The second and final public hearing on the 2021-22 Miami-Dade budget was another love fest, just like the first hearing earlier this month, with so many congratulations and thank yous that it seemed more like a baby shower than approval of a tiny tax increase […]
COVID-19 relief funds plugged the hole in the budget but what about 2022? Don’t let them fool you when they say there is no tax increase in Miami-Dade this year. The tax rate remained flat, but it didn’t roll back, which means property owners will pay a bit more because property values continue to increase […]
Even as they talk about the tough times to come and budget shortfalls expected in the wake of the COVID19 pandemic, Miami-Dade Commissioners could spend an additional $19 million on furniture this year — because $21 million is evidently not enough. That’s right, the total amount in the annual budget for furniture could be increased […]
Newly elected Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, the first female mayor in the county’s history, has already hired four of her top chiefs — and none of them are women. But she told Ladra this week that she was getting ready to make more announcements and that at least one of them would be a […]