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Sep 4, 2009 7:01 pm US/Eastern
No New Taxes In Dade To Fix Budget Gaps
Second Public Hearing: Thursday, Sept. 17th
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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Miami-Dade commissioners cast a final vote just before 4:30 am Friday, deciding not to raise the tax rate and impose further cuts on the county budget.
CBS
Seniors at the Little Havana Activities Center may soon have less to eat. That is one consequence of the tough call Miami-Dade commissioners made after a marathon budget hearing that began Thursday evening and ended in the predawn hours Friday morning.
"The people I represent don't want taxes," said Commissioner Javier Souto. He was one of eight commissioners who formed a majority to block any property tax hike for the 2009-2010 fiscal year beginning October 1st. That move will mean wide ranging program cuts affecting everything from parks to public transit, the arts to the elderly.
That activities center in Little Havana could lose more than one million dollars in county funding. The budget ax could force directors there to cut hundreds of meals to seniors every day. Sahara Boada has gone to the center for years and said, "For us, the elderly, it is very difficult. I need it really. I need this food because it helps pay my other expenses."
Mayor Carlos Alvarez wanted a modest tax hike to take a small part of the sting out of widespread program cuts, 1700 county employee layoffs, and five-percent across the board pay cuts for remaining county workers. He said the increase would have amounted to 72 cents per month for the average homesteaded property. The majority of commissioners would not even go that far.
A flat tax rate means a $427 million budget gap now becomes a $444 million gap. From arts to the elderly, parks to public transit budget choices may add up on paper but they are about to exact prices across the community that you can't plug into a calculator.
The final budget hearing in Miami-Dade will be held September 17th. After that the impact of political and budget decisions will begin to take painful shape.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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