There should be tax relief for homeowners in the Miami-Dade budget, says Mayor Levine Cava | Editorial

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava knows county residents are in a severe financial squeeze as inflation bears down on them — and she’s proposing to ease the pain.

Wednesday, the mayor announced the unexpected: a 1% cut in the property-tax rate for homeowners, proposed in the 2023 budget. We commend her for opening the door to this idea.

“We owe it to residents struggling with the rising costs of living to provide immediate relief,” Levine Cava said in an introductory video message posted to the county’s website. “That’s why our proposed budget is offering relief to homeowners by reducing the millage rate for the first time in a decade.”

This is smart move that acknowledges the challenges many residents face. But is 1% enough?

Commissioners Raquel Regalado and Joe Martinez, and even the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser Pedro Garcia, have said the tax break to Miami-Dade homeowners should be closer to 3%.

Should it be more?

After all, with inflation, most homeowners will face higher valuations, too, offsetting a 1% break. The exact cost saving has yet to be determined, but for homeowners with a home with an assessed value of $150,000, the savings is about $7. Obviously, not enough.

“The 1% is just a starting point,” Regalado told the Editorial Board. “We need to help people. The idea is to have a millage rate that will put homeowners paying the same they did a year ago, or a little less so they can offset the higher fuel costs and insurance rate,” Regalado said.

It’s concrete help now, she said, not pie in the sky. That’s refreshing.

The fruits of the local real-estate boom should be shared.

The latest numbers from the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser’s Office show the total value of properties countywide increased 12% this year to nearly $380 billion.

The county budget had forecasts only a 3% increase. That’s a big difference.

‘Great opportunity’

Garcia, the elected property appraiser, has urged the county and other taxing bodies in Miami-Dade to reduce tax rates by 3% to compensate for the higher valuations homeowners face on their bills in a year where they have been left speechless at how much their once modest homes are now worth, but that comes with a higher tax bill.

“This is a great opportunity to reduce the millage and help a lot of people,” Garcia told the Miami Herald.

Levine Cava’s $10.3 billion spending plan for the budget year that starts Oct. 1 has a countywide property-tax rate of $462 per $100,000 of taxable value. That’s compared to the current rate of $467.

Florida caps increases counties can assign to primary residences at 3% or the inflation rate, whichever is lower at the start of the year.

At the start of 2022, inflation was at 7%, so the 3% cap will apply on estimated tax bills sent out this summer. In 2021, the cap was 1.4% because of low inflation.

Under county rules, Levine Cava has until Friday to propose her final budget plan, but the budget will be discussed all summer. It will must be approved by Sept. 30.

Levine Cava’s opening bid leaves room for negotiation — as well as compromise and, perhaps, even a 3% break. But let’s let the county’s numbers crunchers and bean counters take the lead.

Editor’s note: This editorial has been updated to correct the name of the Miami-Dade County property appraiser, Pedro Garcia.