City Commission - public_hearing

13.

Thank you.

We appreciate all the changes. How should we get started? Pledge of allegiance?

It's really the prerogative of the board.

I think we should pledge allegiance. Commissioner Pardo, would you lead us in the pledge of allegiance?

Sure.

All righty. Well, welcome to the first budget hearing starting tonight at September 10th, 2026. I believe the city attorney has a statement to read. And just to the clerk's note that there are three commissioners present, although we know we will end up with all five. Commissioner Escalona, Commissioner Pardo, and Commissioner Rosado. Also, City Manager James Reyes, George Weisan, our attorney, and, of course, you, our city clerk, are present. So, Mr. City Attorney, you would read the statement.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Avi Albon, Deputy City Attorney for the City of Miami. This evening, the City of Miami is holding its first budget meeting and the related first budget public hearing for the purposes of fixing the proposed millage rate, adopting a tentative budget, and approving various agency budgets for the fiscal year beginning this year. October 1, 2026, and ending September 30, 2027. There will be a final budget meeting and final budget public hearing held on September 24, 2026 at 5.05 p.m. at Miami City Hall, located at 3500 Pan American Drive, Miami, Florida, 33133. These hearings were set in compliance with Chapter 200 and Section 166.241 of the Florida Statutes and all other applicable codes, rules, and regulations. Detailed information about the processes, order of business, rules of procedure, and scheduling or rescheduling of City Commission meetings can be found in Chapter 2, Article 2 of the City Code, a copy of which is available online at www.munico.com. Any person who is a lobbyist for Chapter 2, Article 6 of the City Code must register with a City Clerk and comply with related City requirements for lobbyists before appearing before the City Commissions. A person may not lobby a city official, board member, or staff member until registering. A copy of Chapter 2, Article 6 of the City Code entitled Lobbyist is available in the City Clerk's Office or online at municode.com. Any person making a presentation, formal request, or petition to the City Commission concerning real property must make the disclosures required by the City Code in writing. A copy of the City Code section is available at the Office of the City Clerk or online at municode.com. The City of Miami requires anyone requesting approval, relief, or other action from the City Commission must disclose before the public hearing Any consideration provided or committed directly or on its behalf to anyone for agreement to support or withhold objections that requested approval, relief, or other action pursuant to city code section 2-8. Any documents offered to the city commission that have not been provided at least seven days before the meeting as part of the agenda materials will be entered into the record at the city commission's discretion. In accordance with section 2-33 subsection F and G of the city code, The agenda and the material for each item on the agenda is available during business hours at the city clerk's office and online 24 hours a day at www.miamigov.com. The meeting of the Miami City Commission is a limited public forum. Any person may be heard by the city commission through the chair for not more than two minutes on any proposition before the city commission unless modified by the chairperson. Public comment will begin at approximately 5.05 p.m. and remain open until the public comment is closed by the chairperson. Any person making offensive remarks or who becomes unruly in the commission chambers will be barred from further attending city commission meetings and may be subject to arrest. No clapping, applauding, heckling, or verbal outbursts in support or opposition to a speaker or his or her remarks shall be permitted. No signs or placards shall be allowed in the city commission chambers. Persons exiting the Commission Chamber shall do so quietly. Members of the public wishing to address the body may also do so by submitting written comments via the online comment form. 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When addressing the City Commission, the member of the public must first state their name, their address, and what item or items they are speaking on. Any person with a disability requiring assistance, auxiliary aids, and services for this meeting may notify the City Clerk. The City has provided different public comment methods to indicate, among other things, the public's support, opposition, and neutrality on the items and topics to be discussed at the City Commission meeting in compliance with Section 286.0114, Subsection 4, Subsection C of the Florida Statute. The public has been given the opportunity to provide public comment during the meeting and with reasonable proximity and time before the meeting. Please note commissioners have generally been briefed by city staff and the city attorney on items on the agenda today. Anyone wishing a verbatim record of an item considered at this meeting may request it at the Office of Communications or view it online at miamigov.com forward slash miamtv. Notwithstanding the foregoing, pursuant to floor statute sections 200 point 065 subsection 3 and 286.0105 and Florida Administrative Code Rule 12D-17.005 subsection 2, subsection C, subsection 22. No verbatim record is required for the appeal of any decision made during public hearings as required by Chapter 200. This meeting can be viewed live on Miami TV, the city's Facebook page, the city's ex-formerly Twitter page, the city's YouTube channel, Comcast channel 77, and AT&T channel 99. The broadcast will also have closed captioning. Thank you.

very much I don't believe the clerk has to make a statement all right see you're off the hook for one one moment mr. city manager do you have any changes or comments on the agenda so far Thank You madam mayor no changes okay and to the commissioners any changes all right do we need to set the agenda then you need a motion on that no ma'am okay fantastic For the next, we will move to the budget director, who will read a statement, which is also a presentation this evening. Good evening.

Good afternoon, Madam Mayor, commissioners, city manager, and city attorney. This afternoon what we're going to do is just do a brief presentation on the budget and also based in accordance with the guidelines for setting the millage, the first discussion, other issues that to be discussed is the percent increase over rollback. That being said, the rollback rate is really the millage that will provide the same property tax revenues as we were living during the previous fiscal year. exclusive of levies on new constructions, additions, deletions, and property added due to boundary changes. So really it's getting the same revenue that you had in the previous fiscal year, which is the fiscal year that we are in currently. The proposed general operating millage currently is 7.1080, which is the proposed millage as well, 7.1080. which is 5.94% higher than state defied rollback rate of 6.7097 mills. Please, if there's any questions, please let me know and stop me. The proposed millage, as I stated, is the operating millage is 7.1080. We also have a general obligation debt millage, which is 0.2536. for the upcoming fiscal year, your total millage will be 7.3616, which is the same millage rate that is in the current budget. For right now, based on the property appraisers, average assessed homestead property is $457,258. So for that, for the proposed millage of 7.3616, an average home will pay paying $3,368 on an annual basis. And if it's a half a million dollar home, $3,681,000 and so on. Every property tax bill that a citizen or residents of the city received, as you can see, if we start with the highest, will be us, we get 37 cents out of every dollar. Out of the 37 cents, three cents is going to pay for the debt, and 34 cents is going for the operating budget. So, if you look at the rest of them, Dade County, is $0.25. The school board gets $0.33 out of every dollar in taxes that you pay. And then we have some other regional taxing authorities that get another $0.05 out of every dollar that you pay in taxes. The proposed—before I forget to also mention, our budget book is online. On an annual basis, we have three budget documents that we distribute. One is the operating budget, one is the capital budget, and also we have a budgeting brief. And we have some copies here on the side, and there was some that was distributed, and there's some on the other side for anyone interested. The city proposed operating budget is $1.862 billion for the operating budget, and the capital budget, which is the six-year capital plan, is $1.8 billion. For new appropriated capital in this coming fiscal year budget is $89.3 billion. The city operating budget is divided up in four categories. As I stated, the general fund is really our major, that's where the taxes goes for the general fund dollars, which is $1.3 billion for the proposed budget, which is about 69.7% of the total operating budget. The next category is the special revenue funds. And the special revenue funds account for revenue that are restricted for a specific purpose. $333.6 million, which is about 18% of the total operating budget. And then you also have your internal service fund, which is internal funds allocations for internal services, which is $138 million, which is about 7.4% of the total operating budget. And then you also have debt service, which makes up some of the debt service that's not part of the geo bond with the debt millage we just discussed, that are being transferred to pay debt is $92 million, which is about 5% of the total budget. When you look at the general fund itself, where did the money comes from? If you look at the property taxes, it's about 53.2% of the total general fund budget, which is $690 million. And then you have franchise fees and so forth, charges for service, licenses and fees, and other fees that comes into the general fund. and where the money goes. If you look at salaries and wages, it's about 46.9%, which is 609 million. Employees benefit, 384 million, which is 29%. And then the rest of them, about 46% of the rest of the, no, about the rest of them for charges for, what am I saying, sorry. I mean expenses. The rest of the categories, which is general government, planning department, community development, housing, the balance of those comes from the general fund, makes up the balance of the general fund. And if you look at the budget by function, Your largest function in the city is public safety, which is about 56.5%, 732.5 million. Then you have public works, general government, non-departmental, and all those items, if you go online and go to our outputting budget, you can see the specifics and the different pieces that mix up those dollars. and then these are hardly broken out. If you can see the largest piece of the pie is police, then it's fire, then we have non-departmental, which covers anything that doesn't directly impact a department directly, and then it goes to Parks and Recreation and so on. Now we're talking about the total capital budget. If you look at the total capital budget, it's resilience and public works about 703.8 million, and then you go to the next category, which is real estate and assets management, and then after that is parks and recreation, and then after that it goes on and on about the smaller departments, how they divvy it up. And if anybody has any questions specifically, if you go to the operating budget, you can see what makes up those dollars. the capital overview, which shows you the total operating, I mean the total expenses for the six-year capital plan that we have. We have some capital expenditures for the future that we have not have funding for, but it is in the plan for future funding. In this current fiscal year, we're adding additional $89 million of new capital projects to the budget. And this is just the capital. It shows you the funding sources and the percentage of where they're coming from, and also the status of the funding, of what's being funded, partially funded, and then the amount that we have that's not unfunded right now in the capital plan. These are just highlights of the budget. In comparison to last, for this current fiscal year, going to the proposed budget, of 1.3 billion from 1.2 billion, it's about $72,983,000. That's the difference in the increases. If you wanted to look at where the increases are coming from, $17.7 million is coming from salaries, positions, and overtime. $4.4 million is coming from operating, which is really contractual services, janitorial services, repair and maintenance, any operating expenditures that is in the general fund. And then when you look at the $15.4 million in transfer out, a lot of it is capital projects funding that's going to the capital funds, because we do have the capital funds separated from the general fund, so the dollars can still be rolled over from year to year until the project is completed. And then internal service costs is 36.3 million, which is insurance, pension, information technology, internal service costs for servicing the individual departments. And out of that, when you do the math, there's an offset of reductions in the capital outlay and also in non-operating expenditures. Further highlights, the budget includes step increases, which is part of our bargaining negotiations. But we have not included cost of living because we halt into going further in negotiations when it comes to COLA. We are waiting to see what happens in November as part of Amendment 3. As part of Amendment 3. And there's no new positions in the proposed budget. In order to balance the budget, we did freeze vacant positions and to the saving of $10.5 million. Any questions for me?

Okay. All right. Thank you. No questions?

I guess we'll do this as we go to the items. Yes.

Thank you very much. Thank you. All right. Let me bring up MJ Green to give a presentation on the DDA's budget. Good evening. Welcome.

Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for having me. Madam Mayor, members of the City Commission, My name is Michael John Green. I'm the acting executive director of the Downtown Development Authority in the city of Miami. Our proposed tentative millage rate this year for the Miami DDA is 0.38 mills for the purpose of financing operations at the Miami DDA and for the fiscal year beginning October 1st, 2026 and ending September 30th, 2027. The Miami DDA's tentative millage rate of 0.3800 mils is 1.47% greater than the statutory defined rollback rate of 0.3745 mils. Thank you. I'm available to answer any questions.

And Chair, just for the record, I'll be submitting backup documents for the DDA for BH2, backup documents only.

Okay, thank you very much. So they don't change the substance of anything?

Yes, ma'am.

Okay, thank you very much. All right. Colleagues, so items BH1 and BH2 were discussion items that, correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Attorney, are satisfied by the two presentations that we just saw, correct? That is correct. Okay. So, colleagues, we have a number of items that can be taken as a block and some that cannot be. So, oh, public comment. Lord have mercy. I'm getting ahead of myself. Thank you. Public comment. Well, welcome. We're glad you all are here. So if you all would start lining up. If you're interested in commenting, everybody will have two minutes. And just form lines on both sides. This way we can keep the podiums moving along. No one? Somebody has to be first. Come on. Good evening. You have two minutes. Just need everyone's name and address for the record before they start. Welcome. Thank you.

Thanks. Good evening. Chris Watson, I live in District 2 at 335 South Biscayne Boulevard. I've been a resident here in Miami for 13 years. I've worked in tech for 16 in data storage, cybersecurity, and most recently for the world's fastest growing AI governance company. With my experience and perspective in tech and AI, I've become gravely concerned about the money that the city of Miami has spent and is planning to spend on automated license plate reader systems, commonly known as ALPR cameras, A lot of people call them FLOC. There are a number of different varieties. These systems open the door to widespread abuse from local, state, and federal authorities and can lay the groundwork for surveillance state. Last year, the city of Miami allocated $786,000 towards Motorola Vigilant Systems, which is essentially the enterprise version of FLOC. And this year, the capital budget asks you to spend more with $614,000 in new capital expenditure for surveillance and license plate readers. Specifically, new appropriation number 24, which budgets $465,000 for camera expansion and systems that typically work alongside ALPR cameras across the city, and new appropriation number 25, which is called investigative tech upgrades, but if you look at the details, it specifically calls out license plate readers. So I'm asking for two things as you consider the new capital budget. that you strike these two appropriations from the budget, and that you join the example set by Governor DeSantis, Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz, the city of Doral, and the city of Pembroke Pines in suspending every ALPR program in the city. To quote one of our founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin, those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security. So I ask you to consider these words as you look at the revisions to the capital budget. And remember that we live in the United States, not the surveillance state. Thank you.

Let's step up to the podium here. Great. And I presume there are other people that want to speak. So please line up and be ready. Thank you. All right, go ahead, ma'am. Appreciate you being here.

Good evening. My name is Laura Okamura. I live in downtown Miami at 50 Biscayne Boulevard. I'm here to comment on the DDA and its budget. My question is, why should downtown and Brickell have to rely on the DDA, which views its purpose as an economic development agency, to provide additional basic services such as police, sanitation, and homeless relocation that the city should be providing directly. Residents should no longer be taxed to support the DDA, and the city should just directly provide the increased police sanitation and other required services. In the mid-1960s, when the DDA was established to end urban blight, the estimated population of downtown and Brickell was approximately 15,000, and there were 18 police officers patrolling downtown. The downtown Brickell population has increased more than 670% to 101,000 in 2023. Physical patrols have not kept pace with the growing populations, crowds, extended business hours, and other needs. Today, with a population over 101,000, there are only two more police officers patrolling downtown. That's against a backdrop of a population that has increased more than 670%. This is the most densely populated area in the city, but we don't have the requisite police force and other basic services such as sanitation. Downtown and Brickell are the densest generators of property tax revenue within the Miami city limits. Miami's property tax collections more than doubled over the last decade, projected to reach $691 million for this upcoming fiscal year, with total taxable real estate value of more than $110 billion. In downtown and Brickell, the taxable real estate value has reached $32.5 billion, driven by luxury residential skyscrapers. Residential properties alone contribute an estimated $370 million a year in real estate tax collections. Downtown and Brickell are funding a disproportionate share of citywide services. Thank you very much, Laura.

Appreciate it. Thank you.

May I just?

Everybody gets two minutes. Thank you very much. Mr. Kennedy, welcome.

Thank you. My name is Tomas Kennedy. So I wanted to talk about two things briefly. One is that I was recently reading an article... Mr. Kennedy, we also need your address for the record.

Thank you.

Sure. 6601 Northwest First Place, Miami, Florida, 33150. So I was reading an article on the Coconut Grove Spotlight that talked about how close to 80% of the budget is going to salaries, benefits, and pensions. I think people deserve to be... compensated fairly and accordingly to their jobs, but that's just too much. I think that's just too much of the budget going to those salaries and those benefits. And if we wouldn't spend 80% of the budget on that, perhaps we wouldn't need to borrow money through bonds and other mechanisms. So I hope that that gets addressed in this proposed budget. The other thing I want to echo what the gentleman over there said about the surveillance infrastructure and the funding for it. We have a bipartisan coalition now that's standing up against these flock cameras and other license plate readers. So I would also encourage that you guys follow the lead of the governor and other officials in curtailing the deployment of the surveillance infrastructure, particularly because the commission has so far, and the mayor, has so far failed to act on the 287G contract establishing police-ICE collaboration. So until that gets addressed, I think we need to limit the dragnet that's being used to aid the witch hunt against immigrants in our city and our state. So that's all. Thank you.

Good evening, Anthony Rozo. I'm going to be deferring my two minutes to James Torres.

So, Mr. Torres, sir, can you just come up and say your name and address for the record a little more clearly for us?

Anthony Rozo, 2575 Southwest 27th Avenue, Miami, Florida, 33133.

Thank you. So, you're yielding your two minutes. So, Mr. Attorney, I can give Four minutes to Mr. Torres. Try not to take all four minutes, James, if you can. I promise I'll stick to point.

Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it. Good evening, everyone. My name is James Torres, president of Downtown Neighbors Alliance. We're here to oppose the budget for the DDA, and I'd like to go through their budget. This is not our Excel. This is what they provided in several town hall meetings. We've been pushing back on this, and I want you guys to understand the why. So we start out with an item that's titled Reserve Study of 218,000. That gets to get increased to 3,329,000. That's a 15% increase. If you look at the carryover, they take 2.6 million. That number now becomes $5.7 million. That's a 26% increase. If you look at their overall budget, it goes from 18.865 to $22.3 million. That is $3.4 million. That is 100% increase. These are the things that we are questioning. We've been to pretty much every town hall meeting. We've done surveys. The community is not happy with this agency. We're asking for relief. The thing and the arrogance that happens at this agency is that they're not listening that Amendment 3 will implement this entire budget. And they're not listening to its residents. Because if this goes through, you're gonna have a huge issue. Legal services, they go from $30,000 to $230,000 because they say they have no confidence in city staff attorney. They're a quasi-governmental agency. That number should not exist based on what we're seeing here today. Office rent. 26th floor, city bank building, downtown Miami, $516,000 goes to $540,000. There is no agency here that has a high rise on the 26th floor looking down on its peasants, the people that pay this very tax. This is where the heartburn starts in this entire budget. You look at enhanced services that they have, they go from $3.1 million, that is a line item that they constitute at 14%. This is where we have asked that they take $2 million and give to the Miami Police Department with a memo of understanding for safety and security. We all know what happened in our district, Commissioner Pardo, where Caitlin was almost murdered by a homeless. And everyone turns around and says, oh my God, that's because we have all these other things. Well, guess what? We have the money in this DDA budget. That should be allocated. We've asked for a meeting with the interim executive director, with the chairman Rosado, to sit down a second time. And we've been denied that right to talk about this because safety and security is key to our city. and they claim to be listening, but they're not listening to the very people that pay this tax, this hostage tax, that for 60 some odd years, Madam Mayor, and you're a downtowner just like myself, we see the challenges that we have. We cannot keep sugarcoating the real issues that are here in our city. This agency has the money to shift and give to the Miami Police Department. It also has the ability on this budget to give the immediate relief of $3 million to the residents that are paying this hostage tax. Again, the key word here is they're not listening to its residents. They claim, and they're gonna sell you butterflies and rainbows, but that is not the case here. When you also look at one thing that we're asking for, It is not that I, as president of the DNA, am coming here day in and day out. It is the residents that I adhere to. I was voted in by the residents. And they make this a very personal issue. This budget is something that you guys need to look at. Based on some of the numbers that I looked at, this could require a four-fifths vote because of the simple fact that it is at higher than the amount. Thank you very much, and I appreciate it.

No, no, I appreciate you being here. And one final thing, Todd, if you can pass this. Sir, thank you. Send that to the clerk. All right, Stanley, welcome back. You've been with us all day. Good to see you again.

Thank you, Mayor, Commissioners. residents who are passionate about their community. That's a beautiful thing. Chaplain Stanley Young 500 Northwest 2nd Avenue. As I just glanced through the budget, and it just amazed me how the city of Miami can run a city with just under $2 billion to run a city. That really sounds very small to me for a city that is an international city that's drawn in, that's having people from various countries that are coming here and spending their money and living here It's just amazing how that you could do it with, to me, it seems like a small budget. And my proposal is that now for this budget, because we just, it ain't perfect, but it's what we got. And it's what we're going to have to go with until we do better. And to do better is to, you know, before I was a minister, I was a businessman. I owned real estate and rented out houses and what have you. In other words, I went out and tried to make a dollar. And I implore you to do the same for the city of Miami. Let's figure out some more ways. how we could market this city, how we can have more venues where people will come, live, play, and spend their money. Because, you know, to me, it's Miami, Los Angeles, I mean, it's New York, Los Angeles, and Miami, as far as the cities to go to here in America. And so we're an international city. Let's get out there and make some more. Revenue for this. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much Good evening madam mayor Billy Corbin box 403 double of four Miami Beach three three one three nine chief please chief I'd like to report a robbery Of course, they don't call it a robbery. They call it a budget. And instead of ski masks, some of them got skinny jeans. But do you hear some of these numbers? Hundreds of millions of dollars, billions of dollars in a city where the median household income, according to... The city's own data is $63,000. These are some staggering figures. You've got a general fund that has doubled in the last 10 years. Salaries and benefits have doubled in the last 10 years. Employee benefits alone up by 114%. Police and fire spending up 105%. Fire rescue up 135%. Fire pension contribution has tripled. The workforce has only increased by about 12% and the population only by about six. The commission didn't double in size. The population didn't double in size. The workforce didn't double in size. The cost of government doubled. I think we need to take a closer look at this, guys, because it proves the adage that once a municipality grows to more than 30, 40, 50,000 people, the government isn't working for you, you're working for the government. Nearly 80% of this budget goes to salaries and benefits. You have $1.85 billion in unfunded capital needs. So the capital needs of the city aren't getting funded, but everybody's pocketbooks are getting funded. You guys, you expanded the firefighter pensions without a public cost estimate. You voted to give Joe Carollo $770,000 when he owes the city millions. You voted on a mid-year budget increase for this year by $43 million. Makes you wonder why we bother with these budget meetings when you're just going to have a mid-year increase next year. And three of you voted to double the debt of the city to $2 billion. In that same period, residents in Miami, we only saw our wages go up by about 2% or 3%. It's got to stop, guys.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Corman. Appreciate you. Go ahead.

Welcome back. Thank you, Mayor, Commissioners. I'm Silvio Pupo here, District 1. I'm here in my personal capacity, but also, as you may know, I'm your economist for the Climate Resilience Committee. And as somebody that's been almost two years in the role as an economist for the Climate Resilience Committee, I really haven't been able to get any information from the city that can help me give you a recommendation today. It's a little bit of an embarrassment. But I understand that I'm not the only one that's facing this challenge. Commissioners, you yourselves struggle to understand what's happening within the city. Mayor, you now have to wrap your arms and your head around it, although you have a lot of firepower there to do so. I recommend a 1% recommendation. A 1% recommendation considering that we might have a multi-billion dollar loss by what's called Amendment 3. So I have three bullet points. Number one is 1%, and percentages are new, we do it with things like the arts all the time, 1% for digital infrastructure. Commissioners, especially Gabela, Kristin King, Escalona, Rosado, most of your constituents don't come because they don't know what's going on. This dashboard is this digital infrastructure to reach them in their homes, to their kids, in their schools. This 1% could help us create that digital infrastructure to help them understand what's going on. It can give you the dashboard that's being requested on the Forever Bond. It can help us understand the Tree Trust Fund dollars and where they're going. It can just bring bigger trust. Number two, and if I may go over just 30 more seconds, please. Number two... We still have 30. Thank you. Number two is the fact that... We need to really stress test all of these things as opposed to what's happening with Amendment 3, like I mentioned. We might lose billions of dollars of income. The CRAs are going to be impacted. The Southwest, Overtown, all of you will be incredibly impacted by that. And so I think we should ask the Office of Management and Budget to understand what your cash reserves are in number of months so that you can better understand. And remember, today you set the ceiling.

Now that's two minutes.

On how much you can ask.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much.

Appreciate it.

Hi, Chris Alger, 2784 Southwest 29th Avenue, 33133. I want to make a comment about our park budget and our fire rescue budget. I'm going to give you a fact. It was in the Herald on the opinion page two weeks ago. 4,000 kids a year are dying in the United States from drowning. 11 per day, leading cause of death in Florida of kids age 1 to 4. So when you're considering your budget, We need to do more of what we're doing at the Aquatic Center here in the Grove now. We're giving swimming lessons to little kids, okay? And so when you're considering our, who do you call when there's a kid laying in the pool upside down? You call Fire Rescue, okay? But we can teach these kids to swim. That's our parks. That's our park money. So please keep that in mind when you're talking about those expenses. Thank you.

All right, I don't see anyone else. Okay, public comment is now closed. Okay, so now I'm not ahead of myself and I'm back on track. Thank you for the correction, Mr. Attorney. BH1 and BH2, the discussion items I believed are disposed of based on the presentations. So colleagues, there's a couple of items that have to be taken separately. and some that can be taken as a block. The DDA items must be taken separately, as well as the City of Miami's budget items. So BH3 and 4 are DDA, and the ones at the bottom of the agenda, 18, 19, 20, and 21, are City of Miami. Everything else in the middle, from B5 to B17, can be voted on as a block. And those are the outside agencies. There'd be the Midtown CRA that we just did, Southeast Overtown Park West CRA, and a few others. So my suggestion is, if you concur, that we deal with all of those ones that we could take as a block. So if you would look down the list between BH-5 and BH-17 to see if there are any you would like to bifurcate. And Todd has some very minor amendments on a few, but we'll do that after you decide which ones you'd like to take separately. Any takers on bifurcations? I see some very intense reading going on over here on the commission. BH 18. BH 18, we have to take separately. So that is not, we're stopping at BH 17. So no bifurcations. Everybody ready? Okay, I would entertain, well, to the clerk, we have a few amendments, I believe, on BH 11, 12, and 17. Is that correct? Would you read those for us?

Yes, ma'am. Thank you, Chair. BH 11 will be amended to add the following resolution number to the body of the legislation. Resolution number MCRA-R-26-0001. BH 12 will be amended to add the following resolution number to the body of the legislation. Resolution number CRA-R-26-0041. And BH 17 will be amended to add the following resolution number to the body of the legislation. Resolution number CRA-R-26-0042. Thank you, Chair.

All right. I would entertain a motion on all of those as amended.

So moved.

Seconded by Commissioner Rosado. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Show those items passed unanimously. Commissioner Rosado, would you like to start with the DDA items? Yes. BH-3 would be the approval of the proposed additional tentative millage for the DDA.

I'd like to make a motion to approve the item.

Okay, there's a motion. Is there a second?

Second.

All right, any discussion? All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? So that motion carried. BH-4, the tentative budget for the Downtown Development Authority?

So moved. Second.

Moved and seconded. Is there any discussion?

Chair, my apologies. No, absolutely, please. BH4 will be amended to add a resolution number in the second whereas clause.

At a later date?

Yes.

Okay, okay. So as amended, we have a motion and a second on BH4. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? Show that motion carried unanimously. All right, thank you. Now we move on to the bottom of the agenda, BH 18, 19, 20, and 21. Despite the orders of those items, we have to take them in a different order. I think I'm right. We have to start with BH 20. That is establishing the tentative millage rate for the city of Miami. I believe you have to read the title since it's a first reading item, correct?

That is correct. PH 20, in ordinance, the Miami City Commission related to taxation, defining and designating the territorial limits for the city of Miami, levying an ad valorem tax on all real and personal property in the city at a total tentative rate of 7.3616 mils on the dollar of the taxable value of such property for the purposes of funding the general operating budget and payment of debt service for the fiscal year beginning October 1st, 2026 and ending September 30th, 2027, containing a severability clause and providing for an effective date.

Is there a motion?

Motion.

SECOND?

SECOND.

THE MOTION IS SECOND. ANY DISCUSSION? COMMISSIONER KING. DISCUSSION.

MADAM BUDGET DIRECTOR? YOUR TENTATIVE MILLAGE RATE, IT'S STAYING FLAT?

YES.

It's staying flat. I recall from a couple of budgets, we were concerned about how we're going to pay fees. Like, for example, you have the solid waste assessment on here. How are we going to address the Amendment 3, if that goes, and we stay flat? How are we going to continue to provide services for

our residents. There's some discussions we have on behalf of the city manager. One of the things that, because it doesn't hit us until fiscal year 27, 28. So we will be working as soon as whatever happens in November. If it passes, that's when we start really looking at everything and look at the fees and how to increase them, if there's fees to be increased. Because when you look at the amendment itself, there's stuff we cannot fund with the tax dollars anymore. So we believe one of them would be solid waste that we really need to take a deep dive in and look at how we're gonna start, we're gonna continue to fund solid waste.

And the, I'm gonna skip around a bit to see with our proposed budget and the $10 million savings for freezing salaries. Correct. I'm sorry, freezing positions. Positions. Freezing positions.

Sorry, yeah.

But how do you address services that need staff? How are we going to address that? For example, there's shortages in different departments that we need that. So you have this savings of $10 million, but you're going to add a burden on the already short staff that we have Because they're going to have to do double work.

We are looking at all that. Because we will continue to have vacancies moving forward. Something that we need to look at to see what the upfront staffing that is needed. And when I did the presentation, something I did lift out by... and I apologize for that, there are some exemptions to the freeze, like police, public safety, police, fire, and the front line for solid waste because they are upfront operating the collectors. We did not freeze those positions. Also dispatchers for 911 calls were not frozen.

Thank you. Any more discussion? I believe we have a motion and a second on the table. All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? So that motion carried. All right, Mr. Attorney, correct me if I'm wrong, we have to move to BH21, is that the correct order? That is correct. All right, so just skip around folks, we're going to BH21. This is the approval of the tentative budget for the city of Miami. Do I have a motion? There's a motion from Mr. King and a second from Commissioner Cabela. Is there any discussion or comments on this? Okay, seeing none, all in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? So that carried. And correct me if I'm wrong, we now move to the capital plan, which is BH-19, correct? Do I have a motion on the proposed 27 multi-year capital plan? Motion.

Second? Second.

The motion is second by Commissioner Gabella. Any discussion on this? Seeing none, all in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? That motion carries unanimously. And then last but not least, because they keep our streets and our houses clean every day, BH 18 on the solid waste assessment for fiscal year 27. Do I have a motion?

Well, I... What do you want to discuss first?

Just briefly. Sure. Commissioner Gabella.

Okay, so what I want to know is what percentage in percentage terms and the dollar amount that we are subsidizing the solid waste operation from the general fund.

It's approximately about 24, 25 million.

And represents what, 60 something percent of their budget?

Oh, I don't remember what the total budget is.

I don't have that number, but I can get while you're doing that, I can get staff to look at that.

Okay, all right, thank you. That's all my question.

Okay.

I do have a question.

Commissioner Escalona.

Sorry. Have you compared us to any other mayor cities in Florida?

We did, and the information that you had asked, we did send that to you. And I'm trying to remember, I think we compare ourselves to maybe Tampa, Jacksonville, okay. I do not have that information in front of me.

So we have Miami, Tampa, Orlando. Population in Miami is 489,000. Tampa, 412, and Orlando, 340. And the difference in money is $515 million. So how do we explain to our residents, and this may be a bigger question to discuss in the second hearing, how do we explain to our residents that for 77,000 more residents that we have, we're spending $515 million more. That's, I think, some of the comments we hear here that need to be addressed. Because I do believe spending 76% on salaries and benefits, I believe that is a lot. And if we continue going into this direction, believe the number would increase, and we cannot let that happen. Maybe you want to go over this, and then in the second meeting, we can have a larger, bigger discussion on this.

The problem, one of the problems, Commissioner, that we have that I wanted to talk to, I mean, I don't want to be an alarmist, is that we've been subsidizing the solid waste situation for now, I understand, 16 years, because prior commissioners and administration did not want to You know, take the heat politically, right, I guess, from raising the 380. Solid waste fees. Solid waste fees. 380 has been there for 16 years, I understand what I've been told. But what I'm concerned about is that if we lose, I think there's a scope. in the sense of what you can use the money for if the referendum passes through. And this is what I'm concerned about, because then that means that we cannot subsidize the trash situation any longer. That means that we would have to raise the fee on the trash side, so we would be giving the seniors a break on this side or wherever, and then we'd be raising it on the other side. I'm just concerned about that situation and if it has to unfold. That's why I was asking the question. All I need now is from 24.75 is what we subsidize now. What's the total outlay? I'll do my own math. What's the total operation of the solid waste per year?

$62,732,560. Thank you very much. Yes, sir.

All right. So, colleagues, just to recap, I think it sounds like we need a few more comparisons with larger cities in perhaps Florida. You know, maybe you're going to go beyond on that. Is that assessment? And is that? recap kind of what folks are interested in knowing more about? Mayor, metropolitan cities. Okay, fantastic. All right, so do I have a motion on this item then?

Motion.

Motion is second. Second by Commissioner Rosado. Any more discussion? All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? So that motion carried unanimously. Mr. Clerk or Mr. Attorney, is there anything else we need to work on?

No, ma'am.

No, okay. Well, this concludes our very first budget hearing. We will see anyone back for our second hearing on, oh my gosh, what's the date? September 24th. So we will see you all then. Thank you very much, everyone.