Mayor Levine Cava announces Miami-Dade new budget, $400M deficit – NBC 6 South Florida

Miami-Dade County is facing its worst budget crisis since the 2008 recession, with a $400 million shortfall that could directly affect services used daily by residents, such as public transportation, parks and small business assistance.

“It’s the perfect storm,” Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said while explaining the reasons behind the deficit.

The county’s total budget is $12.7 billion, with $8 billion earmarked for operating expenses and $4.7 billion for capital projects.

According to Levine Cava, nearly half of the shortfall is due to the creation of new constitutional offices, which now operate separately from the county government and provide more services.

The five new constitutional offices, like the establishment of the Miami Dade County Sheriff’s Office, is helping drive that deficit.

“So these are six offices where there was one, so you have new offices, each of them with their own requirements to set up their new administration,” she said.

Additionally, the county anticipates a reduction in state and federal revenues, further exacerbating the situation.

To make up for the $400 million deficit, six departments are being consolidated into three, and 350 county positions are being eliminated—though some are not filled. Additionally, fees will see an increase for some park services, golf courses and marinas.

She also planned to reduce executive salaries, freeze salary increases, increase public bus fares by 50 cents and eliminate the MetroConnect program.

While dealing with the deficit, commissioners voted in favor of giving FIFA millions of dollars to bring World Cup matches to hard rock stadium.

“If you have known for years that FIFA is coming, you are the executive, you are the mayor, you need to budget accordingly,” Gonzalez said.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Levine Cava said the county was “expecting up to 1 million visitors, $1 billion in economic impact, so that is the reason that FIFA is good for the economy.”

While the mayor said taxpayers will notice little difference with this proposal, there could still be cuts in the Parks Department and in small business support programs.