We can’t have a deficit budget…there are reductions that I wish we did not have to make, but which were necessary to achieve a $402 million savings,” she said.
The mayor’s proposed budget calls for some administrative belt tightening by consolidating six offices. It also will recommend, for the first time in more than a decade, a fare increase for public transit. Riders would see a 50-cent hike.
She said part of the reason for the budget shortfall was linked to this year’s opening of five state-mandated, independent constitutional offices that included the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office and tax collector’s office. The cluster of new offices makes up nearly half of the total budget gap, according to the mayor’s office.O
Overthe last five years, we’ve worked hard to build an efficient, effective government that delivers the services our residents need to thrive – while keeping taxes low,” Levine Cava said in a statement. “Since I became Mayor we have made historic investments in public safety, housing, transit, and more, and we passed two consecutive years of tax cuts that brought our combined tax rate to the lowest since 1982
