Photo courtesy of pixabay.com

By David L. Snelling
South Florida Times

MIAMI – As Miami-Dade Mayor Daneilla Levine Cava and Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero‑Stutz clash over the county’s new $12.9 billion budget for the 2026-2027 fiscal year in which law enforcement requested an additional $42 million to effectively run the department, the tax collector is willing to chip in.

During the budget hearings in September, Miami-Dade Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez pledged to direct an additional $20 million from his own office’s budget specifically to fully fund the portion of the sheriff’s budget covering deputy payroll and overtime.

The commitment was developed after discussion with Commission Chairman Anthony Rodriguez and is contingent on approval from the Florida Department of Revenue.

The new $20 million comes on top of the $20 million early payback to the county that Fernandez had already pledged for 2027, the second consecutive year his office has advanced funds ahead of schedule.

“This year, for the second time, our administration advanced $20 million ahead of schedule because the County needed it,” Fernandez told commissioners. “Tonight, we are doing that again, and going further, because our deputies cannot wait on a budget dispute to get paid.”

In the days and hours leading up to the hearing, the Tax Collector’s Office identified further operational efficiencies and additional savings, freeing up funds the office had not previously counted as available.

“I have to give credit to this team,” Fernandez said. “They went back into our own operations, found real savings, and did it the right way without cutting a single service residents rely on. We are a lean office, and we are blessed to have people who take that seriously enough to always find savings for our taxpayers. That’s what our office is all about.”

Fernandez added: “I ask this Commission to use this money to protect what matters: lower taxes, police, fire rescue and emergency response. Put it where residents can see it.”

The county approved $1.2 billion for the Sheriff’s Office but Cordero‑Stutz said she needs an additional $42 million to meet existing labor and benefit obligations, pension and health insurance costs and hire essential sworn deputies and civilian employees.

She said the sheriff’s office currently has 172 vacant civilian positions.

The department provides countywide law enforcement services to approximately 2.8 million residents across more than 2,000 square miles.

“My responsibility is to protect the people of Miami-Dade County and to be honest about the resources required to do that safely and effectively,” said Cordero-Stutz. “Miami-Dade County does not have to choose between public safety and higher taxes or fewer services. Miami-Dade County can fully fund law enforcement without either, and through the appeal, I will show exactly where the savings are.”

Cordero-Stutz said she plans to appeal the county’s budget decision to Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet acting as the state’s Administration Commission to force Miami-Dade to cough up the $42 million.

As part of that appeal, the sheriff will show where Miami-Dade County can find the savings needed to pay the obligations it created before she took office and provide the resources the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office needs to protect and serve the public, without raising taxes and without cutting needed Miami-Dade County programs.

Cordero-Stutz said the funding gap will also force the department to rescind academy classes, lose 325 planned deputy hires and 289 civilian positions.

She said the Sheriff’s Office could have about 180 less deputies on Miami-Dade streets and the crime rate could spike.

Last month, Cordero-Stutz and Brett Skiles, the Special Agent in Charge for the F.B.I. in Miami, announced the county reduction in crimes during a news conference at Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office headquarters in Doral.

The two law enforcement agencies released the figures showing that there were 106 homicides in Miami-Dade in 2024 and 78 in 2025, a decrease of 26 percent.

Cordero-Stutz said there were 1,157 robberies in 2024 and that number dropped to 967 in 2025, a decrease of 16 percent.

She said aggravated assaults dropped from 2,191 in 2024 to 1,933 in 2025, a decrease of 12 percent.

Burglaries dropped from 1,180 in 2024 to 1,101 in 2025, a drop of 7 percent, and homicides are down 45 percent for the first seven months of this year.

Aggravated assaults are down 32 percent.

Levine Cava told reporters after the county adopted the new budget that the Sheriff’s Office fully funds the department needs despite Cordero-Stutz’s claim.

According to Cava, the approved allocation includes 200 new positions and represents a 6 percent increase over the prior year and a 36 percent increase over four years.

She stressed that the sheriff’s office also has other revenue sources — such as contracts with the airport, the port, and the Department of Parks — that supplement the county’s funding.

Discussing the shortfall, Cava stated that the commission “has the ability” to work on budget amendments in the future, but it would “not be really fair” to take the sheriff’s $45 million request off the table.

According to economic experts, the county would be forced to cut additional services including transit and parks and recreation to find the $42 million for the Sheriff’s Office.

Miami-Dade is also bracing for deeper cuts if voters approve property taxes reform called Amendment 3, on the November 3, 2026 ballot, which could give homeowners a $150,000 homestead exemption in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028.

Miami-Dade could lose roughly $500 million in tax revenue the first year.

Levine Cava, a Democrat, and Republican Cordero-Stutz have been butting heads since she was elected sheriff in 2024.

Levine Cava endorsed her opponent James Reyes, also a Democrat, who is currently the city manager for Miami.

The two top elected officials clashed during last year’s budget hearings over funding and personnel decisions.

Their strained relationship played out at a press conference after an Amazon jet overran the runway at Miami International Airport on September 6, 2026, and struck several vehicles, killing five people and seriously injuring five.

Cordero‑Stutz stepped up to speak first, defying the mayor’s chief of staff’s request that Levine Cava go first.

The incident drew national attention and criticism over the two sparring during a tragedy.