Michael Lewis of Miami Today has it right in his editorial on getting rid of UMSA in Miami Dade county (the Unincorporated Municipal Service Areas) and letting the whole county incorporate like in Broward. Lewis says:
"The commission is diverted because most residents live in the nation of Umsa, the Unincorporated Municipal Services Area that taxes them while everyone else pays Miami, Coral Gables, Aventura, Palmetto Bay or the other municipalities. The county commission is the unofficial city council of Umsa. Every commissioner whose district has unincorporated land is that area's de facto mayor."
Further:
"Size doesn't determine government honesty and efficiency. But waste is easier and quicker to spot in smaller units. More important, smaller governments are more likely to do what voters need. That, not cost or honesty, is their allure. And that division of local needs from area-wide action is what our charter team should zero in on.
If we can't get rid of him, at least let's get Javier Souto out of the pothole business -- where he is stuck. He is the most parochial of the lot of them, Pepe "le pew" Diaz is a distant second.
4 comments:
There is a neighborhood pocket of UMSA entirely within the city boundaries of Hialeah, and those people would rather not be annexed to Hialeah. What do you do with an area like that?
Five years ago, the Country Club of Miami area had a public hearing about incorporation and the community overwhelming rejected the idea.
Lewis wants the County to impose incorporation. How can that be done in a way that respects the will of the residents that live in the unincorporated areas?
Some like that fact that their 2011 "municipal" tax rates (2.008 Mills) were lower than every city except Aventura. Some people prefer the Miami-Dade Police Department.
Should the UMSA residents only vote on the proposed Charter change, or should city residents be allowed to determine their fate? Inquiring minds want to know. Have a nice day.
Create 13 Cities?
2011 Florida Statutes
CHAPTER 171
LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOUNDARIES
PART I
MUNICIPAL ANNEXATION OR CONTRACTION
(ss. 171.011-171.094)
PART II
INTERLOCAL SERVICE BOUNDARY AGREEMENTS
(ss. 171.20-171.212)
PART I
MUNICIPAL ANNEXATION OR CONTRACTION
171.071 Effect in Miami-Dade County.—Municipalities within the boundaries of Miami-Dade County shall adopt annexation or contraction ordinances pursuant to methods established by the home rule charter established pursuant to s. 6(e), Art. VIII of the State Constitution.
History.—s. 1, ch. 74-190; s. 31, ch. 2008-4.
If cities are better, how do explain North Miami? Or Homestead? Or Miami Beach? Or Hialeah?
With the exception of the two extremely wealthy cities of Key Biscayne and Aventura, every other city has a millage tax rate for municipal services HIGHER than the millage tax rate for municipal services in UMPSA.
Most people would agree that UMSA delivers better municipal services than Miami, Hialeah, Homestead, etc.
Here is the millage chart. By the way, the only way to compare apples-to-apples is to look at the second from the last column labeled "total millage 2011." The differences in the total millage reflect differences in the cost of municipal services. This approach also properly credits those cities have their own fire service by including the fire district millage in the UMSA millage for purposes of comparison.
http://www.miamidade.gov/pa/library/millage/2011%20Adopted%20Millage%20Chart.pdf
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