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The ink on Miami-Dade County’s $12.9 billion FY 2025-2026 budget is barely dry, but the conversation about next year’s financial storm should already be underway. After months of brinkmanship, political sparring, and late-night sessions, the County Commission managed to close a $400 million gap without raising property taxes. That feat deserves recognition. But the tools that made it possible including dipping into reserves and one-time returns from newly independent constitutional offices are not a replacement for disciplined spending.
That’s why it’s time to get ahead of the next shortfall now, while the lessons of this painful process are still fresh.
Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and commissioners avoided catastrophic cuts this time, but only through measures that cannot be repeated indefinitely. Those are not signs of sustainable fiscal health – they’re warnings. The county is already carrying higher costs, including a sheriff’s office now topping $1 billion, and the ripple effects of new constitutional offices mandated by the state.
If there’s one lesson from this year’s chaotic budget season, it’s that Miami-Dade residents want and deserve a transparent process. Public trust erodes when budget numbers arrive too late for meaningful input, or when programs serving the elderly, artists and vulnerable communities appear on the chopping block with little warning.
As Commissioner Rene Garcia noted in a recent column, “The budget process itself is broken. Commissioners received the budget on July 15, leaving little time for meaningful discussion before public hearings. Too often, the information we need to make decisions arrives late, incomplete, or vague. This is not just frustrating, it undermines trust. A process that should be transparent and honest instead feels rushed and opaque. That must change.”
For the 2026-2027 fiscal year budget, the county should create an online, public-facing dashboard – where residents can see exactly where the money goes and propose ways to save. Invite civic watchdogs, nonprofits, business groups, and ordinary taxpayers to flag inefficiencies. Open-source fiscal accountability isn’t radical – it’s responsible governance.
State leaders, including Florida’s Chief Financial Officer, have already launched reviews of “wasteful spending” in local governments. Miami-Dade should not wait to be audited from Tallahassee. It should take ownership of identifying savings itself, publicly, before the headlines do.
The FY 2026-2027 budget will not build itself. Starting now – this fall, not next summer – Miami-Dade should begin the process of reviewing departments, identifying recurring gaps, and inviting public comment. The goal is not just to balance another spreadsheet, but to build a culture of fiscal foresight and civic inclusion.
Closing a $400 million gap this year was an act of endurance. Preventing the next one will require something rarer in government: early, open and honest collaboration.
