The sequence of events surrounding Coral Gables and the Underline’s maintenance costs is almost the inverse of what might be expected.
More than a year ago, when the city first confronted the prospect of having to help pay for operating and maintaining the three-mile section of the linear park, Mayor Vince Lago acknowledged that the city disagreed with how the obligation had come about – but also said the city could not simply walk away from it.
By May, Lago’s tone had changed considerably. The mayor told commissioners, “I don’t want to give a dollar,” as the city began pressing The Underline Conservancy for more financial information and seeking conditions on any contribution.
Now, as the Underline’s final three-mile stretch through Coral Gables nears completion, city officials are questioning a five-year funding request of $4.49 million and seeking a number of safeguards before agreeing to provide the money. The Miami Herald reported last week that the city and the Underline organizations are negotiating over the funding.
But the city’s own discussions from September 2025 show that maintenance and operations costs were already an issue then.
At a Sept. 25, 2025 budget hearing, Lago acknowledged that Coral Gables had not understood the arrangement the same way the Underline organizations and county officials apparently did. He nevertheless told commissioners that the city had reached a point where it would have to address the costs.
“Imagine we’re the only city that doesn’t put it in for maintenance,” Lago said. “It’s not what we agreed upon, I understand, but that train has left the station already. We’re beyond that.”
Lago also made clear that he would not allow the park to be left without adequate maintenance, telling commissioners he would not permit the three-mile stretch in Coral Gables to go without being properly maintained.
The discussion that night was not about whether maintenance would be necessary. It was about how the city could pay for it. Lago proposed using impact-fee money, but the city attorney cautioned that park impact fees are subject to legal restrictions and generally are intended for land acquisition, expansion, and improvements associated with increased demand, rather than routine ongoing maintenance.
City Manager Peter Iglesias then suggested a possible workaround: The city could potentially reallocate eligible impact-fee money to park projects that were already funded and use money from the general fund for the Underline’s maintenance and operations.
By May 2026, however, Lago was taking a markedly different position.
“I don’t want to give a dollar,” he told commissioners. “We need the money to take care of our own projects. But we’re being put in a position where we have no other choice.”
Lago said Miami and South Miami had already committed funding and that Miami-Dade County was providing support, but argued that the county was not going to provide enough money to maintain the facility.
At the same time, city staff began laying out a series of conditions for any agreement, including greater financial transparency, audit rights, government representation, service metrics and protections against the city having to cover future shortfalls. The current proposal calls for $180,000 for fiscal 2026 followed by $1 million annually, with a 5% annual increase, for a five-year commitment.
There is a legitimate difference between the costs originally envisioned for the project and what the city is now being asked to contribute. City staff has cited a roughly $358,000 annual figure associated with the Underline’s original maintenance framework, while current estimates for the entire system’s annual operating, programming and maintenance costs approach $9.5 million.
But Underline leaders dispute the notion that the city was promised it would never have to contribute.
Eulois Cleckley, chairman of Friends of The Underline and CEO of The Underline Conservancy, has said there is no record of such a promise and that something may have been “misinterpreted or lost along the way.” Underline leaders have characterized the project from the beginning as a public-private partnership in which government and private fundraising would share responsibility.
Meg Daly, CEO/President of Friends of The Underline and Chairwoman of The Underline Conservancy, has also said the project is reaching completion years earlier than originally anticipated because of federal funding. That is good news for the project, but it has also accelerated the point at which the full cost of operating the completed park must be covered. Underline supporters say they are increasing private fundraising and are targeting private sources for 60% of next year’s operating costs.
Miami and South Miami have already agreed to multi-year contributions without raising the same concerns about the basic obligation to participate in maintenance and operations. South Miami committed $300,000 initially, with annual increases, while Miami has committed $1.5 million annually for five years, also with annual increases.
Coral Gables, meanwhile, is acknowledging that money will be tight and seeking greater control over how its contribution is spent. The city’s position has evolved. But so has the project.
More than a year before the current negotiations, Coral Gables officials were already discussing the maintenance obligation, possible funding sources and the consequences of leaving it unfunded.
The disagreement now is less about whether the Underline will need to be maintained than about how much Coral Gables should pay, how long it should commit to paying it and what protections it should receive in return.
The commission is scheduled to take up the issue again Sept. 29, when commissioners are expected to vote on how Coral Gables will move forward with the Underline’s maintenance and operations funding.
