On behalf of the City Commission and the City of South Miami, I write to extend our invitation to residents of the High Pines and Ponce Davis neighborhoods to consider joining the incorporated City of South Miami.
The concerns of High Pines and Ponce Davis are shared with all South Miami residents. You want fast police response, quiet streets and gentle traffic, clean neighborhoods and prompt trash pick-up, zoning and neighborhood protection codes that protect your quality of life but without intruding too much on household decisions or requiring uniform appearances. You’d like to see some improvements to the neglected parts of your neighborhood, such as SW 76th Street and SW 54th Ave. And, for these services and improvements you are willing to pay a reasonable tax rate, but not an excessive one.
We offer a significant improvement over your current local services at a low cost. Further, should your neighborhoods join South Miami, our City Commission has committed to lowering the City’s property tax rate by an additional 20%. I have attached the resolution, which formalizes that commitment for your reference.
As our City continues to attract successful families, we have improved our services to keep up with the heightened expectations. We are more than prepared to significantly improve the municipal services in your neighborhood and to give you a say in how it’s done. The City always seeks educated and engaged citizens to serve on city boards and advisor committees, and we’d expect people from your neighborhood to serve on the City Commission.
South Miami’s downtown is your downtown. Joining the City gives you a say in how it’s run. The Mayor and Commissioners of South Miami and our department directors make their email and cell phone contacts available to residents, and we pride ourselves in our high level of responsiveness to our community.
The attached sheet summarizes the services and cost differences you would experience as a resident of South Miami. We will be arranging information meetings in the months ahead, so that you can meet the City leaders and our excellent staff, and get answers to any questions you may have for us.
