Miami Beach commissioners voted 4-3 Wednesday to scrap a referendum question on the Nov. 5 ballot that sought voter approval to allow the city to collect a 1% tax on food and beverage sales to benefit mostly the homeless.
The commission's decision means no votes will be counted — even as thousands of voters have already cast ballots in early voting.
The tax was only be levied on businesses that sell alcohol and earn at least $400,000 per year. It excluded hotels and motels.
The money would’ve gone towards funding programs for residents who lack housing through the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust, as well as programs for domestic violence victims.
Commission members voting to kill the measure said the city did not stand to gain anything and risked having no control over the money.
Mayor Steven Meiner voted in favor of canceling the ballot item, following the lead of Commissioner David Suarez, who questioned whether the city would benefit from funding the county's Homeless Trust, “an organization outside the city of Miami Beach that has no written obligation to allocate any funds back to our city."
"This proposed homeless tax is a master class in bad governance,” Suarez said.
Suarez pointed to large developers who have donated to the political action committee supporting the ballot item, called “Residents United to End Homelessness," like Lennar Corporation, which has donated $100,000.
"Ask yourself, why are developers pumping big money into this? It's not out of compassion or charity. It's a money grab. It's like a reverse Robin Hood taking from hardworking local hospitality businesses that aren't part of luxury hotels, and handing it right into the interest of billionaire developers, lobbyists, and special interests."
Commissioner Laura Dominguez rejected Suarez's argument, saying she met with Homeless Trust officials and was confident the money would go to help the city's most vulnerable population.
"They are an honest organization that really tries hard to help with the homeless issue," Dominguez said.
WLRN reached out to Homeless Trust officials but they did not immediately respond for comment.
But Homeless Trust Chairman Ron Book told the Miami Herald Wednesday that the city commission “totally ignored” fact-based information presented at the meeting, saying that the agency would be “exploring all options” to ensure the voice of voters gets heard on the measure.
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Commissioner Tanya Katzoff Bhatt said she voted against rescinding the ballot item to respect the votes already counted. City officials said more than 20,000 Miami Beach voters had already already cast ballots during early voting.
“I think it is a terrible practice and a God awful precedent for small ‘D’ democracy to start telling voters that we're just kidding," Katzoff Bhatt said. "You're not smart enough to make a decision. You're not smart enough to see through the political b-s that we are all subjected to whether or not we're candidates."
A city attorney told commissioners that the previous commission approved the ballot item and that it was expected to raise $10 million annually for the services.
Commissioner Joe Magazine, who voted against the ballot item, questioned whether the money raised through the tax would alleviate the homeless crisis. He pointed to an alleged rape on a morning earlier this month by a homeless man, according to local media reports, suggesting the money would not reduce crime.
"Would putting $10 million of our taxpayer money to the Homeless Trust have prevented that?" Magazine asked rhetorically. "The most serious issues that we're encountering in our city, I don't think are solved by putting more and more money towards a non-government organization."
Bal Harbour also has a similar item on its Nov. 5 ballot. If the city approves the tax, Miami Beach and Surfside will be the only municipalities in Miami-Dade that do not contribute to the county's homeless and domestic violence tax program.
Late Wednesday, the Miami Herald Editorial Board slammed commissioners for the "anti-democratic" move.
"The 11th-hour move to rescind a question on the November ballot that would ask voters whether to authorize the tax smacks of an anti-democratic effort by commissioners to cancel a potential electoral outcome they disagree with."
The influential Board had recommended voters in Miami Beach and Bal Harbour approved the ballot items.
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