FYI Miami: September 5, 2024

Below are some of the FYIs in this week’s edition. The entire content of this week’s FYIs and Insider sections is available by subscription only. To subscribe click here.

COUNTY SETTING TAXES: Miami-Dade commissioners are to vote at 5 p.m. today (9/5) on adoption of the tax millage for the countywide general fund, with the ordinance on the table setting the rate at 4.574 mills on each dollar of taxable value of all property in the county, the same level as last year. But county taxable property value overall increased 10.7% over last year’s level, providing a substantial increase in general fund revenues. The countywide taxable value of existing property rose 9.2%, with the rest of the increase coming from new construction. This year’s proposed millage is 9.77% over the state-defined rolled-back rate of 4.167 mills. Commissioners will also set a tax rate to repay bonded debt on county projects, which is 0.4271 mills, down from 0.4355 last year. 

BUDGET, LIBRARY VOTES DUE: County commissioners today (9/5) will approve the annual county budget and a number of tax rates ranging from the Unincorporated Municipal Services Tax to the tax for the libraries that serve most but not all of the county. The library tax on the table to be voted on is 0.2812, the same as last year’s rate but 9.72% above the state rolled-back rate. Taxes for the public schools, water management districts, the Florida Inland Navigation District, The Children’s Trust and local municipalities will be set at hearings by other bodies this month.  

ANNUAL JOB GAINS: The Miami area added the third-most jobs year over year of any metro area in the nation in July, according to figures released last week by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Miami area added 75,300 jobs from July 2023 to July of this year, the bureau reported. That total was exceeded only by the New York City area, with 202,900 added jobs, and Los Angeles, which added 105,000, The other nine largest metro areas had these job gains: Houston 74,500, Philadelphia 66,200, Phoenix 61,600, Dallas 55,400, Atlanta 51,200, Boston 30,700, Washington 287,400, San Francisco 20,300, and Chicago 6,600.

ELDER BOARD TO GET YOUNGER: A 10-, soon to be 14-member Elder Affairs Advisory Board advocates “for the interests of the older adult community in Miami-Dade County … to promote an age-friendly community where our older residents are safe, respected, active and engaged.” An ordinance that county commissioners are expected approve this week adds four at-large members and lowers the age necessary to be a member to 50, from 55. When the board was established in 1984 the minimum age was 62. It later was reduced to 55. Now it’s to be 50. As the ordinance explains “the age when a person transitions from young adult to middle aged or older person varies greatly depending on the entity defining the age.”