Giménez, who ruled the county for almost a decade and faced a crisis similar to the start of his mandate, said that “a deficit of more than 400 million dollars is something serious, and that does not come from one day to another; so that could be seen for many years.”
In an interview with Diario Las Américas, the legislator was overwhelming in expressing his concern and his retrospective vision of the current situation.
“Two or three years advanced it could be seen that the county would have a problem this year if certain actions were not taken,” said the former mayor, suggesting that the administration of Mayor Daniella Levine Cava would have postponed “difficult decisions.”
Giménez compared the current problem with the crisis he inherited in 2011, when he assumed the mayor’s office with a similar deficit, but “much larger in percentage” with respect to the total county budget.
“She (Levine Cava) has already been here for five years. So, let’s see how this problem is going to be solved. Hopefully it is not raising taxes,” he said.
In fact, the Miami-Dade County faces its most severe budget crisis since the 2008 recession, with a projected deficit that ranges from $ 387 and $ 400 million for the next fiscal year.
From her experience, Giménez advised the mayor to prioritize expenses, renegotiate with unions to lower employee and county costs, and evaluate which services are not essential.
“It may be that there are some services that are provided today that cannot be done because they are not essential. They are things that are good, but they are not essential,” he explained.
He recalled that during his management he managed to reduce the workforce of employees from 28,000 to 26,000 and the number of departments from 42 to 26. He also suggested that an “exercise” should be implemented to look at operations and see “if there are too many employees or if things are being done that should not”.
The congressman Giménez, in his role as Mayor Condal, is remembered for renegotiating contracts with unions to reduce spending on wages and benefits, which at the time generated conflicts with unions. Additionally, he ordered cuts in services and personnel, especially during the years of budgetary problems.
Context of the crisis
The current budget deficit, which affects the general fund of $ 3.6 billion of Miami-Dade, was described by Mayor Levine Cava as a “perfect storm.”
Part of the problem, according to the mayor, dates back to decisions that had to be made during their first year of mandate, in full Covid-19 pandemic.
At that time, the Bonanza of Property Securities and an injection of more than $ 1 billion in federal aid allowed two modest reductions in property taxes. However, these extraordinary resources are no longer available.
A significant structural factor is the recent conversion, earlier this year, of three departments of the county (elections, tax collector and police) in autonomous agencies, the result of constitutional changes voted by residents in 2018.
These new constitutional offices have requested additional funds that could raise the deficit to $ 473 million. The Sheriff’s office, for example, has requested $ 100 million more than the previous year, adding considerable pressure to the budget, according to the mayor.
Levine Cava strategy
Given the magnitude of the challenge, Mayor Levine Cava has opted for a “total transparency” and citizen participation approach. This is how it has organized a series of public meetings to explain the situation and collect community contributions before finishing its budgetary proposal that will be presented in July.
“We are in the process of facing difficult decisions, and (residents) need to know that this is real,” he said.
Its key initiative to address the deficit is WISE 305, acronyms that represent “initiatives of the workplace, investments in technology, savings for companies and residents, and efficiency”.
Under this strategy, the Condal Administration has implemented an almost total freezing of hiring. He has also suspended salary increases, promotions and trips, according to the mayor.
Similarly, Levine Cava requested cost savings ideas to county employees, systems with artificial intelligence and digital tools are being updated to improve efficiency in processes such as permits and, he said, “obsolete or unnecessary policies are being eliminated to reduce bureaucracy.”
The mayor emphasized that her approach is not to “cut and burn”, and in fact it was explicitly distanced from extreme austerity models that, according to the county holder, could eliminate vital services without careful evaluation.
Other criticisms and controversies
Criticisms of county management are not limited to congressman Giménez. Commissioner René García questioned the electric bus program valued between $ 40 and $ 50 million and that, with 75 buses out of service, according to the legislator, it is a “guaguas cemetery” that symbolizes the “contempt for the taxpayer’s money”.
For her part, Commissioner Eileen Higgins also criticized the mayor’s decision to withdraw $ 16 million future railway projects to cover budgetary gaps, which described as “stealing from the future of transit”, especially when voters have expressed their support for the expansion of public transport.
Another controversy point has been the decision to maintain and increase the subsidy for the FIFA 2026 World Cup. Despite the general cuts, the administration recommended delivering another $ 10.5 million in FIFA subsidies, which add up to $ 10.5 million in cash and $ 25 million in services already approved.
In this way, the budgetary crisis in Miami-Dade is a strong challenge that could demand complex decisions.
The next budget hearings, scheduled for September 4 and 18, will be crucial to determine the final plan and if the administration of Levine Cava manages to balance the vision of efficiency without extreme austerity.
Note: Diario Las Américas Public will in the next edition printed the complete interview with our morning by congressman Carlos Giménez, in which other issues related to the United States, Latin America and the world are addressed.
