Coral Gables commissioners tentatively approved a $323.3 million budget and held the city’s property tax rate at 5.559 mills, advancing both measures on 4-1 votes with Commissioner Melissa Castro casting the only dissent on Sept. 15. The measures return Sept. 29 for the second and final budget hearing, before the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
The rate would remain unchanged for a 12th consecutive year. But because Coral Gables property values have risen, a flat rate does not mean flat property-tax bills. The ordinance itself states that 5.559 mills is 6.94 percent above the state’s rolled-back rate of 5.1982, the rate that would generate roughly the same revenue as last year excluding new construction.
What a Nov. 3 ballot measure could cost the city
City Manager Peter Iglesias used part of the hearing to put a number on a separate fiscal issue: Florida’s Amendment 3, the Homestead Tax Exemptions, Property Assessments, and Spending Restrictions Amendment, on the Nov. 3 statewide ballot. The measure would raise the homestead exemption for non-school taxes and lower the annual assessment-increase cap on non-homestead properties, such as rentals and commercial buildings, from 10 percent to 5 percent. City officials said the amendment would not affect the budget now before the commission, since it would not take effect until Jan. 1, 2027. But Iglesias estimated a future Coral Gables budget could lose about $5.7 million from the expanded exemption and another $2 million from the lower assessment cap, a combined $7.7 million hit.
A dispute over the stormwater fee
During public comment, resident Maria Cruz told commissioners her water bill includes a $75 stormwater charge each quarter, which she said is higher than any other Miami-Dade municipality charges, and argued residents continue to see drainage problems despite paying it. Those comparative figures were Cruz’s own; they were not independently verified during the hearing. Iglesias responded that Cruz was combining two separate funds: the city currently holds about $34 million in a sea-level-rise reserve it hopes to grow to $100 million, while a separate fund pays for ongoing drainage work and maintenance. Lago followed with a sharper rebuttal, calling Cruz’s framing “misinformation” and pointing to the city’s AAA bond rating and its general fund reserve, which has grown from about $21.1 million in 2013 to just under $65 million today, as evidence the city’s long-term approach has worked.
Castro’s dissent
Before the millage vote, Castro proposed cutting the rate to 5.390 mills, a reduction of about 3 percent, funded by reducing roughly in half the city’s $8.65 million voluntary extra payment toward its pension liability. The required annual pension contribution, separate from that extra payment, is about $24.9 million. Castro said the change would save the average taxpayer $171 a year, and argued the city could still make a substantial extra pension payment while giving residents relief. “We will still continue funding an extra payment to the pension,” she said. “We will not be cutting services.” The proposal did not get a second, and the commission voted on staff’s original 5.559 rate instead.
Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson responded directly, accusing Castro of gaslighting residents and playing “politics of distraction,” and pointed to a prior vote on a garbage fee reduction that Castro had opposed. She characterized Castro’s proposal as tied to a “campaign flyer,” telling her, “Stop lying to the residents.” Commissioner Richard Lara said he had heard no speaker at the hearing ask commissioners to lower the millage. Commissioner Ariel Fernandez declined to engage further in the dispute, saying residents who spoke had urged the commission simply to leave the rate unchanged. Lago, later in the meeting, said he intended to “avoid being an Instagram hit this evening” — notable given the Gazette’s earlier reporting on his own use of video clips of Castro’s past positions at last year’s hearing.
When commissioners turned to the budget ordinance itself, Castro again voted no, explaining specifically what separated her from the rest of the spending plan. “I agree with everything in the budget,” she said. “The only thing that is my concern is that extra payment to the pension… for that reason, I vote no.”
What’s next
Coral Gables holds its second and final budget hearing at 5:01 p.m. Sept. 29 at the Police and Fire Headquarters Community Meeting Room, 2151 Salzedo St. Commissioners will take final votes on the budget and millage rate before the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
