Miami's $3.6B Budget Ties Capital Plans to a $450M Bond Vote

Miami city commissioners opened hearings on a $3.6 billion FY2026-27 budget on September 10, with a $450 million public safety construction bond and Florida’s Amendment 3 both still unresolved heading into a November 3 referendum that will decide each. The first hearing, held September 11, cleared several department budgets with little debate; a second and final hearing to adopt the budget and set the property tax rate is scheduled for September 24.

Why it matters

For developers, the budget outcome sets the capital and entitlement climate for the next fiscal year in the Miami market. The $450 million Safe and Ready Miami bond, which the commission sent to voters on a 3-2 vote in July, would fund a new public safety headquarters and seven new fire stations, replacing a downtown police headquarters built in 1976. Separately, Amendment 3 would cut into the property-tax base that funds roughly half of the city’s operating budget, and commissioners have already flagged that solid-waste fees and other service charges could rise if it passes. Either outcome changes what the city can afford to build, permit and staff around new development for years.

The numbers

The proposed budget totals $3.6 billion in combined operating and capital spending, with the millage rate held flat at its lowest level in 60 years, though rising property values still mean higher tax bills for most owners. The bond, if approved, would be repaid within the city’s existing maximum debt millage rate of 0.5935 mills, so the city says it would not require a separate rate increase. The current police headquarters houses about 1,390 sworn personnel against a design capacity of 560, and 8 of the city’s 17 fire-rescue stations are more than 50 years old, with two over 60. Amendment 3 would raise the state’s homestead exemption on primary residences from $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027 and to $250,000 in 2028.

What’s next

The second and final budget hearing is set for September 24 at 5 p.m., when the commission adopts the final millage rate and budget. Both the $450 million bond and Amendment 3 go before voters on November 3, and Miami’s budget office has said the city would need to revisit spending, and possibly fees, once those results are known. Commissioner Christine King warned that Amendment 3’s passage could force higher solid-waste fees as early as 2027, a signal that capital and service costs for anything built in the city over the next two years remain contingent on this fall’s ballot.