Miami Commissioners Meeting Late To Finalize $472 Million Budget
MIAMI (CBS4) – The city of Miami faces a $62 million budget gap and commissioners spent Tuesday night going line by line to pass a $472 million budget overnight.
"That kind of scrutiny is needed to make sure you have a balanced budget," said Commissioner Francis Suarez.
Suarez says he and his colleagues are actively revising the budget at this hearing.
"We just had an agency budget right now that we slashed $167,000 from their proposed budget," he said.
One key item Tuesday was the funding for the police department. The city and the police union reached an agreement that makes officers pay more for benefits, but save jobs.
"But the way we structured, it's a little less painful than it would've been otherwise," said Armando Aguilar, the FOP president.
"We have a $62.5 million deficit so we need the concessions. And to be fair, all unions have done concessions," said Commissioner Frank Carollo.
In fact, that's part of how the deficit hole was filled. The city manager says $22 million came from union concessions, $29 million came from department cuts, and the rest came from overall expenditure cuts.
While the budget does not call for mass layoffs, about 150 vacant positions will not be filled.
"This is one of the cities in the United States of America that has been able to reduce taxes, maintain services, and reduce expenses, said Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado.
If approved, the new budget goes into effect Saturday.
