A proposal to reinstate a waste hauler fee in Miami Lakes was initially greeted with opposition at a budget hearing and voted down at a subsequent Town Council meeting, but got new life after one lawmaker changed his mind.
Facing a $1 million deficit for 2014-2015, town staff suggested imposing a five percent franchise fee to help offset the budget shortfall by generating $50,000 a year for roadway improvements.
But councilmembers opposed it at last week’s first budget hearing fearing the payment may lead to an additional tax for residents living in apartment complexes, townhomes and business owners.
On the same night during a regular council meeting, lawmakers initially put the issue to rest by narrowly rejecting an ordinance to restore the franchise fee.
Vice Mayor Manny Cid and Councilmembers Tony Lama, Ceasar Mestre and Frank Mingo cast the dissenting votes, while Mayor Slaton and Councilmembers Nelson Rodriguez and Tim Daubert supported the measure.
But Mestre later changed his mind and made a motion to reconsider his vote and the council discussed the polarizing issue on first reading of the ordinance.
Mestre, who embraced the fee at the budget hearing, said he wrestled with his ambivalence over the charge but changed his vote for two reasons.
No public opposition on the matter during the budget hearing, and he didn’t want to tie the hands of Town Manager Alex Rey and his staff to find $50,000 when they already were instructed to find another $50,000 to restore the expenses of town’s committees by the second budget hearing.
“This is one fee I have a dilemma with but since this is first reading I don’t want to tie the town manager’s hands at this point,” Mestre said at the council meeting. “We all made it well known that $50,000 could be found elsewhere in the budget. Unlike the previous attempt to reinstate the fee, we have not heard any opposition or residents not wanting the franchise fee. Based on those two reasons, I will be changing my vote from no to yes.”
But Lama, Cid and Mingo stood behind their vote.
Lama said residents probably were unaware of the issue because they were kept in the dark.
“We didn’t do a good job communicating in the town,” he said.
Lama said residents most likely want to eschew an additional tax by not imposing a solid waste fee.
“They probably prefer for us, as a council, to find the $50,000 elsewhere instead of penalizing them.”
Cid, who owns a business in Miami Lakes, said he is torn by the issue but is hoping the town manager can resolve it to benefit residents instead of taxing them.
“At this point I still can’t support it,” he said. “But I look forward to the town manager sitting down with the business owners as part of an equitable system because this is beyond taxation. Is it equitable for our residents?”
Mingo said he vehemently opposes levying any additional taxes to residents and business owners.
“I can’t support it,” he said at the budget hearing. “It is a burden on multi-families and the businesses.”
The town suspended the fee in 2001, which was 15 percent, because the town increased the rate for property taxes and deemed the franchise fee unfair to residents and business owners.
One attempt was made in 2010 but to no avail.
Slaton said the franchise fee should be restored because it’s time for the waste haulers to pay their fair share to Miami Lakes, and it wouldn’t place a financial burden on residents and town employers.
“The issue is not direct to residents or the town,” he said.
On behalf of Miami Lakes, Slaton said Miami-Dade collects the payments from the same companies doing business in the town but keeps the money.
Slaton said the $50,000 in revenues would help repair the town’s roads that are being destroyed by the waster haulers’ trucks.
“If we are not charging them, we are paying for the roads,” said Slaton. “To me, it’s a matter of who is responsible and who should pay for it. It’s the waste haulers.”
Rodriguez said he gave his initial approval for the ordinance to take some pressure off town staff.
“I have family members living in the multi-residential areas who could be affected by this,” he said. “But at the end of the day, I want to give town staff the opportunity [to resolve the matter] because I don’t want to tie their hands.”
A public hearing and final vote for the ordinance is scheduled for October 7.
Also for the $15.8 million budget, town staff was given marching orders to find the $50,000 to restore monies for the town’s committees following their plea to not cut their funding.
Lynn Matos, chairwoman of the Youth Activities Task Force (YATF), said the $15,000 that was cut from their budget can do wonders, including expanding the Scavenger Hunt program, which has become popular in Miami Lakes, and the new board games at the Mary Collins Community Center.
“I don’t ask for much but this is for the kids,” she said.
Nancy Rodgers, a member of the Elderly Affairs Committee, asked councilmembers to recover the $10,000 in the group’s budget to keep the senior field trips to the Miami Marlins home games as part of the town’s partnership with the organization, and the Meet and Eat events.
“The seniors are really enjoying that,” she said.
Neil Robinson, chairman of the Cultural Affairs Committee, also requested the same budget from last year, saying Miami Lakes wants to continue to make the Fourth of July the best event in South Florida.
“This year was the largest celebration in the town’s history,” he said. “The police and town did a great job to make sure the event went very well.”
Daubert said Miami Lakes can find the money for the committees starting with cutting $132,000 in expenses to build an entrance feature at N.W. 67 Avenue near 138 Street.
“I think that’s a lot when compared to the town spending $60,000 for the other entrance features,” he said at the budget hearing. “I am not comfortable with spending that much money on an entrance feature.”
In support of the franchise fee during the budget hearing, Mestre suggested using $35,000 of the money for a joint venture marketing program with two of the biggest landowners in Miami Lakes.
The left over funds, $15,000, and a total of $29,000 in savings he and Rey cut in the budget for town’s financial institution fees ($5,000), a garbage contract ($4,000), public works permit costs ($8,000) and town engineer fees ($15,000), can be used for the committees.
Mestre, a member of the town’s Economic Development Committee, said each party would submit a budget of about $35,000 for an advanced marketing plan to bring new restaurants and retail businesses to the town and help fill vacancies on Main Street and other shopping centers.
“It would be a joint venture, something that has never been done before,” Mestre said.
Lama, however, opposed using the money for marketing and instead would rather it be used to restore the funding for the committees.
He said he doesn’t see the town benefiting from joint marketing because The Graham Companies and another developer own most of the properties and buildings in Miami Lakes.
“I am having a hard time with this,” Lama said at the budget hearing.
Mingo agreed, saying the marketing plan would mostly help “the landlords. The committees need the money more,” he said.
Slaton said new businesses and restaurants are what Miami Lakes is all about.
“In a small town, residents are happy when restaurants and retail shops come to Miami Lakes,” he said. “I see this as a way to get the private sector involved and leverage private dollars with what the town is doing.”
Based on the recommendation of Cid, councilmembers agreed to spend about $50,000 in carryover money for a canopy cover for Royal Oaks Park, which has gone unfunded in the town’s short-term capital program for several years.
“I know we have been holding back on it for sometime now but it is badly needed,” Cid said.
Slaton agreed, saying the recreation activities without the structure is a health issue for kids.
“It can prevent skin cancer and it’s important to have shade and a canopy over the park equipment,” Slaton said.
At the budget hearing, councilmembers unanimously approved the property tax rate of 2.3518, which would generate about $7.5 million in ad valorem revenue, and the budget for the next fiscal year.
The $1 million budget shortfall was caused by a reduction in franchise and utilities revenues ($400,000), and a four percent increase ($600,000) for police services for union concessions.
Miami Lakes’ contact with Miami-Dade for public safety services will cost the town $7.2 million for next year.
The town begins the year with a fund balance of $4 million, placing 15 percent of the fund, $2.3 million, in emergency reserve, and an additional $500,000 reserved for hurricane emergencies.
The new fiscal year commences on October 1.
The second and final budget hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m., Tuesday, September 23 at Town Hall.