Miami-Dade mayor warns Amendment 3 could cost transit more than $29 million, cut routes, hours

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava is warning that Amendment 3, a proposed state property tax measure, could force cuts to bus routes and service hours, because property taxes are a critical source of money for local transit.

"We are subsidizing it at a rate that is not sustainable," Levine Cava said.

The amendment would lower the taxable value of primary homes in Florida by $150,000 in 2027 and by $250,000 in 2028. The county estimates it could cost the Department of Transportation and Public Works more than $29 million in 2027 and more than $24 million in 2028.

Levine Cava said the state recently took transit funding away from the county, which barely saved 13 bus routes from elimination in its latest budget. That budget also included a 50-cent increase in Metrorail fares.

"With Amendment 3, for sure we will see cuts in routes, cuts in hours for service," Levine Cava said.

Florida International University senior Tiago Abad-Sanchez rides the bus at least six times a week to get to and from class. He said transit is one of the main reasons he voted no on the amendment.

"It's a public good, and if we invest in it right and if we continue to make investments and improvements to infrastructure. Then it really does serve society as a whole," Abad-Sanchez said.

Cathy Dos Santos of Transit Alliance Miami said possible cuts could hit commuters who use more than one kind of transit.

"It's about removing a whole form of moving or arguably 3 different forms of moving from the table," Dos Santos said.

Levine Cava said the transportation department also maintains local roads, where the county already has an $18 million backlog of pothole repairs.

Supporters of the amendment say tax relief will help the local economy. Aaron Brill, a Brickell condo owner, supports it and said he expects the savings to be spent locally and to generate sales tax revenue.

"That puts more money in people's pockets. Especially people who have been living here a long time," Brill said.