![\"Miami](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777418706_975_MIA_MiamicommissionmeetingAGS184.JPG\" "\\"Miami")
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Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins said on April 28, 2026: \u2018We\u2019re going to budget like we normally budget, but we have to have contingencies.\u2019<\/p>\n
Alie Skowronski<\/p>\n
askowronski@miamiherald.com | April 23, 2026<\/p>\n
Miami is preparing a budget scenario that would cut a quarter of the city\u2019s spending.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to budget like we normally budget, but we have to have contingencies,\u201d Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins said Tuesday morning at a Bisnow real estate event moderated by WLRN\u2019s Tom Hudson.<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s budget year begins in October. It will be the first since Higgins was elected mayor this spring, becoming the first Democrat in the office in 30 years. She said the city is working on three spending plans \u2014 one with no cuts, one with a 10% reduction in spending and a third \u201cthat would have an immediate 25% cut in services.\u201d<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s current operating budget totals $1.8 billion in spending. It expects to collect close to $650 million in property taxes in the year ending Sept. 30. That would be a 10% jump from the previous year. Some of that growth is driven by newly built properties; the rest by raising property values.<\/p>\n
Just over half of the city\u2019s general fund comes from property taxes.<\/p>\n
A 25% cut in the city\u2019s operation budget would eliminate close to a half billion dollars.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know what that means?\u201d Higgins asked. \u201cYour parks are going to be closed. There\u2019s going to be no after-school arts. We\u2019re not going to be having little camps for kiddies. Your drainage projects are going to be canceled.\u201d<\/p>\n
Higgins says the different scenarios are necessary because of the uncertainty around property taxes. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has pledged to have a constitutional amendment on the fall ballot to reduce or eliminate most non-school property taxes for homeowners. The governor has not released a plan for how he would like to go about it. In the spring, the House passed a bill that would gradually cut non-school property taxes on owner-occupied homes over the next decade. The measure did not pass the Senate.<\/p>\n
Any plan that gets out of the Legislature would have to be approved by 60% of voters in November.<\/p>\n
The House-approved plan prohibits local governments from cutting public-safety spending in response to any reduction in property-tax revenue. Miami expects to spend $686 million on public safety this fiscal year \u2014 by far the largest spending category for the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to have contingencies,\u201d Higgins said. \u201cIf the voters vote for this in November, we have to be ready to go. It\u2019s not going to be a joke.\u201d<\/p>\n