Raises and Taxes

In the wake of the news that Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez gave significant raises to 12 of his employees weeks after instituting a 5% across-the-board pay cut for county employees, I received my property tax notice in the mail yesterday. Here are the results:

- Assessed value of my home plummeted - predictably.

- Taxable value remained virtually the same, predictably, thanks to Save Our Homes.

- Property taxes will INCREASE by at least $200 over last year. Whoa!

Mayor Alvarez is going to have a hard time explaining this in light of his select pay raises while the rest of the county workforce swallows a cut in pay. I've always liked Mayor Alvarez and he's pretty much a straight-up guy, but on this issue he's totally blown it. Hugely disappointing.