To keep Miami-Dade’s transit system afloat in a tight 2027 budget year, the county mayor wants to cut bus service and drain a $89 million reserve of property taxes set aside for future rail projects.
The transit budget presented Wednesday by Mayor Daniella Levine Cava would use the one-time reserve dollars to delay the steeper cuts needed to sustain Metrorail, Metromover and the bus system in the coming years as the county’s projected costs significantly exceed its expected revenues. Along with rising costs, a change in state law is costing Miami-Dade about $25 million a year in lost sales taxes tied to commercial leases. A half-percent sales tax helps fund the transit system.
“Public transportation remains one of my highest priorities,” Levine Cava said during a Wednesday press conference unveiling her $14.3 billion budget for 2027. “These are very difficult recommendations. And they’ll be part of the public conservations, I know, over the coming weeks.”…