Miami Referendum 1: Voters decide on $450M public safety bond
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The Miami Police Department building. Photo: JC Milhet/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images
Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins wants voters to let the city borrow $450 million to build a new public safety headquarters and new fire stations.
Why it matters: Referendum 1, which would be funded through new property taxes, is divisive — though supporters and critics agree that the city's police and fire stations need fixing.
- It's one of three referenda city of Miami voters will consider during the Nov. 3 election. Early voting is underway.
Driving the news: $305 million of the Safe and Ready Miami general obligation bond proposal would fund the construction of a new public safety facility at Miami Freedom Park that would house police, fire-rescue, emergency operations and 911 coordination. (The plan is to sell the current police headquarters building downtown and use that money to pay down the debt.)
- The remaining $145 million would pay for the construction of four new fire stations, a station replacement, a major renovation and other fixes.
- The bond would cost homeowners an estimated average of $9.20 more per month in property taxes, according to the Miami Herald, though the current capital projects debt millage rate would not increase.
What they're saying: Higgins, whose political committee is bankrolling the Safe and Ready campaign, tells Axios that the police headquarters was built 50 years ago and has flooding issues that the city has neglected to fix.
- Eight of the city's 17 fire stations were built more than 50 years ago, and some stations cannot house modern emergency response vehicles, according to a commission resolution.
- Additionally, Higgins says, a lack of fire stations in neighborhoods like Allapattah and Liberty City has led to long emergency response times.
- "I just felt when I saw these things that we had the opportunity to begin fixing them now," she says.
The other side: The Miami Herald Editorial Board is against the referendum. So are commissioners Christine King and Damian Pardo.
- They say the conditions need fixing, but the city should explore other solutions.
- King and Pardo say the city should look into alternative funding sources, like public-private partnerships.