The Mayor Proposes. The Commission Decides.
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It’s budget time in Miami-Dade County. This is when billions of dollars are put on the table, departments make their requests, the Mayor puts together her spending plan, and the public gets its chance to speak. But before we get too far into the process, let’s make something very clear: the Mayor proposes. The Commission decides. The Mayor can recommend where the money should go, but the final responsibility belongs to the 13 members of the Miami-Dade County Commission. They are the ones who will vote on the budget.
The Tough Questions
That means the 13 commissioners need to be asking some very tough questions — not just about how much money a department wants, but why it wants it. What did the department request? What did it receive? How many new employees are being requested? What programs are being expanded? What programs aren’t working? What projects are being delayed? And what are taxpayers getting in return for all of this spending?
A Dashboard Isn’t Enough
This is where I believe Miami-Dade needs to do a better job of showing taxpayers the money. The County does have a Budget Transparency Dashboard, and that’s a good start. But for a county this size, with this much money moving through government, we need more — a system that a regular taxpayer can open on a computer or phone and understand in a few minutes, not one that requires digging through hundreds of pages of budget documents and government reports.
Look north to Palm Beach County. They have made a lot of budget information available to the public, including line-item budgets by department, revenue and expenditure information, annual budget books, and capital budget information. Their budget office also reports on financial trends, major project status, and departmental performance measures.
So why can’t Miami-Dade do the same thing? Actually, let me put it another way: why can’t Miami-Dade do it better?
We are one of the largest counties in Florida. We have the technology. We have the data. We have thousands of employees, including people who understand computers, finance, accounting, and government. There is no reason a Miami-Dade taxpayer should have to be a government insider to understand the County budget.
What I Want to See
I want to click on a department and see the whole story. What did the department ask for? What did the Mayor recommend? What did the 13 commissioners approve? How much has actually been spent? How many positions are authorized? How many are filled? How much overtime was paid? What contracts were awarded? What capital projects are underway, and how much are those projects really costing? Then tell me whether the projects are on time.
If a project was supposed to cost $50 million and now costs $70 million, I want taxpayers to see that. If it was supposed to take three years and ends up taking six, I want that on the dashboard. If a department receives millions of additional dollars and doesn’t meet its performance goals, taxpayers should know that too.
This isn’t about attacking county employees, most of whom work hard. It’s about accountability. When government spends taxpayer money, the public has a right to know what that money is supposed to accomplish and whether it actually accomplished it.
Look Underneath the Bottom Line
And this is where I think the 13 commissioners have a real opportunity: don’t just look at the bottom line — look underneath it. Ask the department heads why they need the money. Ask what happened to last year’s money. Ask how many vacancies they have. Ask why projects are over budget. Ask why some programs continue year after year without anyone measuring whether they work. Ask what taxpayers are getting for every major increase.
Because once the vote is taken, the excuses get harder to make. The Mayor can say, “This was my proposal.” A department head can say, “This is what we requested.” But the 13 commissioners will have to say, “This is what we voted for.” That’s accountability.
Watching Every Minute of It
The final public budget meeting is coming up, and then the commissioners will have to make their decisions. They will decide what gets funded, what gets cut, what gets added, and what gets left out. They will decide how billions of dollars are spent. And taxpayers should be watching every minute of it.
Miami-Dade has taken a step with its new transparency dashboard. Good. But don’t stop there. Take the next step. Give taxpayers the kind of easy-to-understand information that lets them follow the money from the department request to the Mayor’s proposal to the Commission’s final vote — and then all the way through the actual spending. We shouldn’t have to wait until the next budget cycle to find out what happened to the money.
Show us during the year. Show us what was promised. Show us what was spent. Show us what was delivered. And show us what wasn’t.
It’s Our Money
Because this isn’t the Mayor’s money. It isn’t the commissioners’ money. It isn’t the department heads’ money. It’s our money.
The Mayor proposes. The Commission decides. And when those 13 commissioners vote, taxpayers should know exactly what they are approving — and the commissioners should be prepared to defend every dollar.
That’s what a real budget process should be about — not just spending the money but showing us what we got for it.
Please contact Grant Miller with your comments and ideas via email at grant@cnews.net or by calling 305-323-8206.
