Miami Beach passes $942M budget in late-night hearing. What it covers, means for taxes
The Miami Beach City Commission gave final approval to a $942 million budget late Wednesday night, an increase of nearly 18% funded by rising property values and a bump in the millage rate.
The budget incorporates new spending to address a host of hot-button issues, including traffic, homelessness and public safety during spring break in South Beach.
The brief final budget hearing began at 10 p.m. after a lengthy City Commission meeting that had begun at 3:30 p.m. It passed unanimously after receiving initial approval Sept. 13.
Miami Beach will add 10 full-time positions to help direct traffic along major corridors, pilot a traffic signal optimization project, and bring back a water taxi to provide an alternative method of crossing Biscayne Bay to get to Miami.
The budget also adds four positions to the city’s “homeless outreach team” and continues to beef up its park ranger ranks. City officials recently gave initial approval to a measure to subject unhoused people to arrest for sleeping outside if they refuse a shelter bed.
Miami Beach police will also have additional money for all-hands-on-deck staffing during the second and third weekends in March, typically the peak period for spring break crowds.
After property values rose by 10.8% in the last fiscal year, the City Commission approved a slightly increased millage rate of 6.1481 — up from 6.0515 in each of the past three years — to pay for the city’s general obligation bonds.
That includes $439 million in bonds approved by voters for capital projects in 2018, of which more than $152 million has been issued. Voters also passed $159 million in bonds last year for arts and culture projects.
The tax increase for the median homesteaded property owner in the city, valued at about $248,000, will be $67, City Manager Alina Hudak said in a memo. For a homesteaded property valued at about $684,000, the city average, taxes will go up $187.
For non-homesteaded properties, value increases each year are generally capped at 10%.
Despite financial success in recent years, including record-high resort tax dollars, Miami Beach has struggled to fund capital projects amid inflation and rising construction costs. Among those are critical infrastructure projects designed to mitigate flooding and fight sea-level rise.
The 2024 fiscal year spending plan approved Wednesday features nearly $114 million for capital projects, up from $69 million last year.
The operating budget will be $829 million. It was $733 million in the prior fiscal year.
