With Labor Day now safely in the rearview mirror, the Miami City Commission is back at work, starting on Saturday September 7 at 10 a.m. with the first budget hearing for the fiscal year that begins October 1.
Worried about rising property taxes, wasteful spending, or misguided priorities at Miami City Hall? Residents will have a chance to comment on the city’s proposed budget in person at 3500 Pan American Drive or online at this link.
Highlights from this year’s proposed budget include:
- Miami’s proposed tax rate for general operations – $7.1364 for every $1,000 of assessed property value – is unchanged from last year. Once debt service is factored in, the combined rate is slightly lower than last year ($7.39 vs. $7.46).
- The city’s proposed garbage fee of $440 represents a 16% increase from last year’s fee of $380.
- Total proposed spending of $3.5 billion includes $1.8 billion for operating expenses and $1.7 billion for capital improvements.
Although the proposed tax rate (combined) is lower than last year, that doesn’t mean taxes are going down. In fact, the city will collect more in taxes this year from property owners, even with a lower tax rate. The reason: property values are rising (which raises the assessed value of a home) and new construction is being added to the tax rolls.
“This year alone, our property tax revenues were $59.57 million higher than FY 2023-24 and our property tax roll grew by 11.5 percent,” City Manager Art Noriega said in a budget statement.
If the city wanted to collect the same amount of tax revenue this year as it did last year, the commission could cut the tax rate (not including debt) to $6.4447, the so-called “roll-back” rate that would produce the same amount of tax revenue this year as last year.
