Miami library supporters to fight for funding amid Amendment 3 cuts
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Miami-Dade libraries face big budget cuts after voters passed Amendment 3 — and now advocates are figuring out a path forward.
Why it matters: Amendment 3 will deliver a tax break to homeowners but slash funding for local governments, including the Miami-Dade Public Library System, which is funded through a special taxing district.
Threat level: Friends of the Miami-Dade Public Library has warned that the amendment could lead to mass library closures and job cuts.
- Amendment 3 is expected to slash library funding by $21 million next year, or about 17% of their budget, according to county projections.
- That gap would increase to $38.7 million, or 31% of the budget, by 2028.
The latest: The nonprofit plans to lobby state and county leaders, and work with partners to find long-term funding solutions.
- The group is also asking the community to chip in with donations, write letters of support and visit their local libraries to demonstrate the demand.
What they're saying: Kristy Quiros, a board trustee and advocacy chair with Friends of the MDPL, tells Axios she hopes private donors "will rise to the occasion, but everybody is about to have their hand out because this is so much more far reaching than I think people recognize."
- She says her immediate focus is the special legislative session that Gov. Ron DeSantis will convene to implement Amendment 3.
- Quiros says she wants state lawmakers to include libraries among the core services that can be funded through property taxes under the amendment.
Ava Habif, executive director of the nonprofit, wrote in an email to supporters Wednesday that cutting libraries would go against the affordability message that dominated the pro-Amendment 3 campaign.
- "Libraries make every part of life more affordable, are fair and open to everyone, and give everyone a fair shot at opportunity," Habif wrote.
- "Cutting the Library doesn't make life more affordable. It takes away one of the best deals our community has."
The other side: Supporters of Amendment 3 say homeowners deserve a tax break and governments should make do with less money.