When Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava launched a campaign this week to oppose November’s ballot proposal to cut property taxes, she warned that the decrease in local government revenue “threatens everything from public safety and emergency response to our roads, parks, our libraries.”
She’s correct — property taxes fund big-ticket items such as police and fire, among others. But here’s another item that might be on the chopping block but doesn’t get the same buzz: mosquito control.
At least 60% of voters must approve Amendment 3 to increase Florida’s homestead exemption on primary homes from $50,000 to $250,000 by 2028. If that happens, the mayor expects the county’s mosquito control program to lose $1 million of a budget that’s projected to be $13.6 million in 2026-27.
That number looks small when you consider that Amendment 3 would eliminate an estimated 20% of the $3 billion Miami-Dade collects in property taxes annually, the Herald reported. But the county already underfunds mosquito control compared to places like the Florida Keys, Phil Goodman, a representative of the Florida Mosquito Control Association, told the Herald Editorial Board.
South Florida is essentially a big swamp and mosquitos aren’t just a nuisance that ruin outdoor activities. They are a public-health concern. Among the viruses they can spread: Zika, dengue, chikungunya.
For voters, reducing mosquito control may seem like a reasonable trade-off for lower taxes, and if you look at it in isolation, maybe. But consider how Amendment 3 would force local governments to chip away — at varying degrees, depending on each community — at other programs such as parks, libraries and animal shelters.
Maybe it’s fewer sheriff’s deputies who are hired or fewer fire trucks purchased. Perhaps some parks and libraries close or reduce operating hours or eliminate after-school programs. Social services for the elderly could be hit with cuts. The waiting time to obtain a building permit may increase if county hall layoffs take place. And we cannot forget that 9% of Miami-Dade’s property taxes go toward Jackson Health, the county’s public hospital system, according to a Herald analysis.