The City of Miami government is worth nearly $3.5 billion — at least according to their proposed budget for fiscal year 2025.
In a time when property values in the Magic City continue to go up, Miami’s property tax base continues to swell and the government’s budget continues to improve. Even with a plan to cut the property tax rate, the city’s proposed operating budget at roughly $1.8 billion is still up by about 12% from last year. The city’s capital budget, which includes money that goes to larger projects like construction plans, is up to about $1.7 billion.
READ MORE: Two decades of civilian police oversight in Miami is coming to an end
This Saturday marks the start of the City of Miami’s budget hearing season. Starting at 10 a.m., city commissioners will deliberate on Miami’s and residents are encouraged to speak their thoughts on how the city should spend their tax dollars, including the nearly $379 million budget for the Miami Police Department (MPD).
The city is looking to lower its millage rate — the property tax rate that residents pay each year — going into fiscal year 2025. A lower millage rate does not necessarily mean property owners will see a lower tax bill, as property values have gone up. Tax bills also include charges from the county, school board and other government entities.
The city's proposed budget packet is attached at the end of this story.
New innovation department
Every city department on the budget has received an increase, except for one. The City Manager’s office’s budget was cut by more than a quarter of the previous year’s budget down to about $3.7 million — a cut of about $1.3 million from 2024. The office eliminated six positions, but they’re not going away.
Those positions and their funding will be transferred to a brand new city office: the Department of Economic Innovation and Development. The new department will be made up of the former employees of Venture Miami, a group previously under the purview of City Manager Art Noriega.
is an entity whose stated mission is to attract tech-related businesses to Miami, encouraging them to relocate to the city and then supporting those businesses by connecting them to the existing tech market here.
Venture Miami’s Senior Advisor to the City Manager for Economic Development, Keith Carswell, will now serve as the head of the Department of Economic Innovation and Development.
The department has a proposed budget of just under $1.8 million. The majority of that will go towards personnel expenses, with $958,000 earmarked for regular salaries and wages, not including benefits. The department’s operating expense budget is proposed at $360,000, which includes $20,000 for travel and per diem and $100,000 for promotional activities.
Other budget highlights
The biggest line item in the city’s budget is by far the police department. At $378,574,000 — a 9.4% increase from last year — the police department takes up the largest slice of the Miami tax dollar pie. Nearly a third of the city’s total budget goes to MPD.
For comparison, the city’s , will get just under $1.4 million next year under the proposed budget. The office is meant to work with Miami-Dade County and other city departments to promote environmental resilience in the city’s projects and planning to address issues like climate change and sea level rise.
The department’s budget for 2025 makes up less than 1% of the city’s total proposed spending.
The city administration also recently announced plans to dissolve Civilian Investigative Panel (CIP) – an independent body that reviewed and investigated allegations of police misconduct in MPD.
In previous years, the city provided the CIP a budget of about $1.3 million, but a new state law prohibits local governments from maintaining independent offices to investigate law enforcement. The city said it would no longer fund the CIP in 2025, arguing that the state law bars it from allocating budget funds to the watchdog group. The panel has since taken the city to court, arguing the administration misinterpreted the state law.
The first budget hearing is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 7 at 10 a.m. at Miami City Hall. A livestream will be available on the
