The Miami Lakes Town Council tentatively kept the same rate for property taxes and approved a $20 million budget for next year, but the town doesn’t have enough money to add two police officers or increase the committees’ budgets as the mayor’s lawsuits to pay off his attorneys’ fees put a strain of the spending plan.
And residents may pay a slight tax hike because property values rose from the previous year.
The 2.3518 tax rate for property taxes is expected to generate about $6 million in revenue, which is $2.351 per $1,000 of assessed property value.
At the town’s first budget hearing last week, Town Manager Alex Rey said the committees’ request for a $65,000 increase to their $200,150 budgets was rejected and Miami Lakes is seeking private funding and sponsors to help bankroll some of the town’s events, including the town’s 15th anniversary celebration in December.
“Because of the legal fees, we can’t raise their budgets at this point,” Rey said.
Pizzi filed two lawsuits against Miami Lakes to force the town to pay his attorneys’ fees for his federal bribery trial and reinstatement cases.
His lawyers are seeking $3.2 million but the town is hoping its insurance company, Brown and Brown, will cover most of the legal costs.
Meanwhile, the town has set aside about $400,000 for the mayor’s legal fees, which kept the town from adding two police officers to Miami-Dade’s detached unit.
The $7.2 million police expenses constitutes the bulk of the town’s budget, which has increased about $1 million over the past three years due to compensation and pension benefits hikes, Rey said.
“It’s something not controllable by Miami-Dade, it’s set up by the Florida Retirement System,” Rey said.
Council members alluded to the significance of more police officers since the town experienced two recent shootings.
A man shot two women who were sitting in a parked car outside an office building, and a standoff between police officers and a military veteran, who fired a gun at the police from his apartment.
To save money from the police budget to add more law enforcement, Rey said less experienced police officers can replace the veterans who earn better salaries.
"We can ask for rookie cops but the veterans are better to handle incidents like the ones we had in the town," said Councilmember Nelson Rodriguez.
With a tight budget for 2015-2016, Miami Lakes wasn’t able to squeeze $20,000 to underwrite the senior classes at the two community centers.
Pizzi, however, said Miami-Dade County Commissioner Esteban Bovo Jr. has pledged to fund the classes for half of the fiscal year.
“I met with Bovo and his office has pledged to fund the classes for the next six months,” Pizzi said.
The town budgeted $150,000 to operate the new dog park for fencing, pads and shelters, but the amount is not enough to operate a full-fledged dog-leased recreation area. “But it’s enough for the residents to use it,” Rey said.
The Par 3 golf parcel, which The Graham Companies donated to the town for use only for a passive park, is not funded for next year.
Rey said Miami Lakes is seeking private and state funding to clean up the area, conduct a study and create the blueprints for the passive park.
He didn’t give an estimate but other cities with passive parks throughout Florida pay an average of $1.2 million a year to operate and maintain their nature parks, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Florida Division of Parks and Recreation.
Also not budgeted for next year is the town’s Black Olive Tree Removal program, which was funded last year with $29,000, Rey said.
“We couldn’t find the money this year,” Rey said. “But the tree trimming program is at the same level for next year and the tree planting is at a reduced level.”
The town’s budget includes transportation and storm water improvements for Lake Martha, Lake Sarah and Lake Hilda and $878,500 for the town’s canal bank stabilization program.
Miami Lakes’ budget also includes the salaries and benefits of 36 full-time workers, seven part-time positions, nine seasonal positions and seven part-time seasonal positions.
The town’s second and final budget hearing is scheduled for 5:01 p.m., Monday, September 28 at Miami Lakes Town Hall, 6601 Main Street.