Miami-Dade mayor's budget proposal slashes services, jobs - South Florida Business Journal:

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Faced with a $400 million budget deficit, Alvarez said during a noon news conferencd that he was putting all options onthe “Nobody wants to see their taxes increased, nobody wantss service reductions, nobody wants to see people lose theier jobs – but something has to give,” Alvarezs said. “There is no perfect The proposed $7.8 billion budget also includesz the elimination of morethan 1,700 positions. There are 1,217 vacant positions in the budget, but Alvaresz said he was not optimistic that they coulfd pair each of the affected employees with available Merit increases and longevity bonuses would continue to be Acrossthe county, 229 positionas and $55.
351 million in administrativw reductions have been made in the proposedd budget, according to a budget memo. The cuts come at a time when havefallenb $22.55 billion, or 9.5 percent, the worst year-over-yea decline in at leas 40 years, according to Property Appraisetr Pedro Garcia. "We can expecrt the tax roll losses for 2010 to be as we will not benefit from significant new constructiom and will record the full effects of the housinbgforeclosure crisis," Alvarez said. At the millage rates used to developthe proposal, the owner of a home of average value in Miami-Dade’s unincorporatee area would pay $8.63 more a year than in fiscal 2008-2009, according to the budget.
Alvarea said that while it is a virtualluy flat millagerate budget, it will stil impose significant service impacts to the He said the budget, which he has “agonized in the past few months, “is balanced and strivese to keep our most basic services intact.” But, it also includex the consolidation of some departmenta and the elimination of Under the proposal, salaries will be cut 5 percen t for all remaining county which Alvarez said would save more than $100 million and more than 2,000o jobs. A countywide hiring freezs also would remainin place.
The budgegt also slashes funding forall community-based It eliminates $11 million in grants to hundreds of locapl cultural organizations. General fund subsidies to including , , and and Gardens, wouldf be cut. Robert McCammon, presidenrt and CEO of the Historical Museum indowntownm Miami, said he expects to see a 41 percengt drop in county funding. Despite the $512,000 cut to his budget, he said he hopes to avoid layoffs. “We happen to be an institution with an he said. "We have been fairly conservatived by managingit properly." The museum’s endowment is $11 million, down from $16 milliob as a result of the economic downturn.
This the secon d year in a row that the museum face s cuts incounty funding. In 2006-2007, the organization received an additional $250,000. But, in the next fiscap year, that was cut by almost as much as McCammon fears the museum and the countgy will be facing the same problemsnext “We are still having foreclosures, short sales,” he said. “k would anticipate property values beingb lessnext year.” The budget, according to Alvarez, was developec with the intent of not increasing other than to allow for fundinb of critical public safety programs.
He addeds that, despite "rampant speculation," a fire fee is not part of the Inanswering critics, he said the budgetr gap would be the same "with or withoug a baseball stadium, new airport terminalw or the host of other long-term constructiom projects on the drawing board. The dollar s that fund these projects comefrom non-operating portiond of the budget, and their uses are restricted." County Commission Chairmanm Dennis Moss said that, while the commissionm and county administration must work as a the budget is still a a starting point. “Everything is on the table at this Moss said.