World Cup’s 2026 games in Miami Gardens are bringing some early sticker shock to Miami-Dade’s County Hall over the $46 million in expenses that organizers want taxpayers to fund.

Legislation to endorse the subsidy package easily advanced through a County Commission committee on Monday, despite some pushback on the government spending that’s been requested for the seven international soccer games coming to Hard Rock Stadium in two years.

“Why are we giving them this money?” Commissioner Marleine Bastien asked ahead of the unanimous vote by the commission’s Policy Council to advance the public funding to a final vote before the full board. While she asked questions about the item, Bastien joined other committee members in voting for it.

READ MORE: World Cup could cost Miami-Dade’s government $46 million in cash, donated police pay

Mayor Daniella Levine Cava helped pursue the Miami area’s bid to win some of the World Cup games, with decisions on public spending left for after the host slot was secured.

With Hard Rock’s hometown county commissioner, Chairman Oliver Gilbert, proposing the legislation for the $46 million package, Levine Cava issued a statement Monday saying she has “concerns” about the price tag for the seven games — which is well above the roughly $10 million that Miami-Dade said it budgeted for the 2020 Super Bowl.

“While we know the World Cup matches will generate increased tax revenues with millions of visitors coming to participate in the excitement, the amount of the county obligation is significant,” the statement read.

“I have concerns about the proposed resolution,” the mayor added.

Backers of the funding said the public dollars are simply the price of bringing the World Cup to Miami-Dade, with local governments required to shoulder the costs that organizers can’t raise from private-sector sponsors.

“We’re giving them the money so we can actually have the event,“ said Gilbert, a former Miami Gardens mayor whose district includes Hard Rock Stadium. “It will push hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars into the economy. But it also requires a financial commitment from us as a county.”

Gilbert’s legislation, based on a request from the local World Cup organizing committee, breaks out the county support into cash and waived government expenses. It includes money to pay off-duty police and paramedics to provide security and medical help at the World Cup games — expenses that event organizers and venues typically must pay for themselves at rates set by Miami-Dade.

Under Gilbert’s proposal, Miami-Dade would pay World Cup organizers up to $21 million in cash support for the seven matches held between June 15 and July 18, 2026. The county would also provide free services worth up to $25 million, with Gilbert saying the bulk of the cost would come from public safety staffing expenses.

Rodney Barreto, the head of the local World Cup committee, told commissioners his outfit needed to raise more than $100 million to meet organizers’ requirements for a host city. That doesn’t count the donated office space, legal expenses, on-loan staffers and other gifts to World Cup that Barreto said he has already secured from local businesses.

He said Miami-Dade should expect a flood of visitors far beyond what can fit in the sold-out stadium.

“Not all of the people come for the games. A lot of people come for the parties,” said Barreto, a veteran Super Bowl organizer and an owner of a lobbying firm that represents the Miami Dolphins. “What’s the benefit to Miami-Dade County? It’s immeasurable — the amount of people who come to our airports and hotels and restaurants.”

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While Miami-Dade’s yearly spending tops $11.7 billion, most of that is tied to fixed expenses required to maintain existing government services. That leaves a smaller pot of tax dollars to cover new costs or absorb unexpected revenue losses.

A planned $46 million additional expense for World Cup is larger than some of the dollar amounts from notable expenditures from recent budget cycles.

When Levine Cava pushed through a 1% cut in the county’s four property-tax rates in 2022, that amounted to about $25 million in lost revenue. A paperwork error that caused Miami-Dade to briefly stop collecting a gas tax last year resulted in a two-week suspension for the mayor’s budget director. That lapse was forecast to cost Miami-Dade $17 million. Levine Cava’s 2023 tenant-relief program offering subsidies to landlords for keeping rents at affordable levels was budgeted at $15.5 million.

Levine Cava did not attend Monday’s hearing, and her deputy, Chief Operations Officer Jimmy Morales, did not ask for changes to Gilbert’s resolution before the committee unanimously voted to send it to the full commission for a final vote. Morales said the administration would be reviewing the proposed spending plan.

“This is a significant ask compared to other events,” Morales said. “We want to make sure we handle that correctly.”