Miami-Dade County Fights Unemployment Deficit

With Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s veto of the County Commission’s vote against imposing a 5-percent cut on two unions, commissioners have the opportunity to keep 550 people — including 299 police and corrections officers — off the unemployment line and working, providing crucial services to residents while contributing to the economy while fighting unemployment.

By voting against the 5-percent cut in pay for those two unions, which would save $35 million, commissioners set the stage for every one of the county’s unions to join the “Just say No” strategy — potentially increasing the budget hole to $65 million this year.

We don’t blame the unions. Their mission is to protect every benefit their members get, and they have gotten many over the years when times were flush. As it is, the mayor crafted the 5-percent contribution toward the healthcare fund in a way that would not lower workers’ salaries for retirement calculations, yet unions still refused and went to impasse.

Commissioners have a responsibility to the voters who elected them to find a reasonable way to keep county services running without raising taxes on weary residents still struggling in this economy. The majority who voted against the 5-percent contract concession are failing in that respect.

At last week’s commission meeting, some commissioners questioned the legality of a 5-percent cut to go toward health insurance on top of another 5 percent that county workers already contribute, even though a legal analysis gave the green light.

Other commissioners decided it was better to have fewer cops on the street and to close a jail if needed so long as the union’s benefits remained so that workforce “morale” wouldn’t suffer. It’s hard to fathom how unemployment wouldn’t affect the morale of those let go. Supervisors, who belong to the other union, also got a pass.

Another difficulty: Union contract rules require that those last hired must be the first fired, meaning more people will have to be let go to get to the bottom line because the most recent hires earn less than the long-timers.

Some commissioners want the mayor to squeeze other parts of the budget to get to the needed savings, but it’s tough to find other Florida unemployment programs to squeeze without hurting county services. As it is, the county has laid off workers several times since the Great Recession hit South Florida, and the mayor’s reorganization of departments is looking to strategically let go of supervisors in top-heavy departments — not to cut willy-nilly across the board. Commissioners should press the mayor to deliver a timetable on that initiative.

Complicating the matter: This is an election year. A majority of commissioners voted to back Mr. Gimenez’s proposal last summer to set the property tax rate back from former Mayor Carlos Alvarez’s controversial increase that commissioners narrowly approved a year earlier — a move that prompted the historic recall of the mayor and a commissioner. The effect of these changes on the Florida unemployment rate is yet to be seen.

Overriding the mayor’s veto might make good politics for commissioners running for re-election this year or wishing to be mayor, but it’s fiscally irresponsible and dangerous to force layoffs, particularly when unincorporated areas count on county police for protection. Neighborhoods in unincorporated areas in or near Liberty City, South Miami, Kendall and Westchester are among those likely to lose out the most on safety.

The mayor has been meeting with commissioners to get their ideas. Good. When they meet Jan. 24 they can vote, head high, for keeping workers on the job.

Author: Mark Quinones, Unemployment-Extension.Org.

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