Miami Voters to Decide $450 Million Police and Fire Bond as City Carries Heavy Debts and Pension Bills

City of Miami voters will decide on Nov. 3 whether to let the city borrow $450 million to replace its aging police headquarters and repair and build fire stations, a measure Mayor Eileen Higgins calls overdue and critics say would pile more debt on a city already carrying large pension and retiree health obligations.

The proposal, branded Safe and Ready Miami, appears as Miami Referendum 1 on the city's special election ballot. Early voting begins Oct. 19, according to WLRN.

What the ballot asks

The official sample ballot published by the Miami-Dade Elections Department asks whether the City of Miami should issue $450 million in general obligation bonds to improve deteriorating facilities for firefighters and paramedics through renovations, modernizations and new construction, and to build a modern public safety headquarters for police and first responders.

The bonds would be repaid from property taxes, issued within maximum lawful interest rates, and carry an independent annual audit. The ballot states there would be no increase to the city's current capital projects debt millage rate of 0.5935 mills.

A second measure, Referendum 2, asks voters to amend the city charter to create a permanent advisory oversight committee for all general obligation bond projects, with authority to monitor and publicly report on their status, cost, timeline and remaining funds. A third item, Referendum 3, concerns a proposed lease of Virginia Key marina land and is unrelated to the bond.

Where the money would go

About $300 million would pay for a new public safety headquarters at Miami Freedom Park to replace the roughly 50-year-old Miami Police Department headquarters downtown, according to WLRN. The remaining $150 million would go to fire rescue, covering seven new-station or major-renovation projects and 12 repair or modernization projects citywide. WLRN reported that four of the fire station sites will require land purchases. The city plans to sell the existing police headquarters, with proceeds going toward new solid waste trucks.

When Higgins first pitched the bond in April, Police Chief Manuel Morales described water intrusion and flooding at headquarters, including in the generator and evidence rooms. Fire Chief Robert Hevia said Fire Station 5 in Allapattah has a breaker box so old that replacement parts must be hunted down online, and that a broken air conditioning system had crews relying on a diesel generator for cooling. The city has said no money is set aside for those repairs without the bond.

The case for the bond

Higgins, who took office in late 2025, argues that construction costs have risen sharply since 2018 and that the city cannot pay for a new headquarters out of its operating budget. She told WLRN in April that without the bond, replacing the police headquarters "is simply too costly." She has also argued that the bond structure lets the city borrow as it spends, and that the 2017 Miami Forever Bond put much of its money into design without enough funding to finish construction.

The Miami-Dade Democratic Party has endorsed Referendum 1.

The case against

The City Commission voted 3-2 on July 9 to send the bond to voters, after deferring it in May by a 4-1 vote that kept it off the August primary ballot. Commissioners at the time hesitated in part because the city had not finished spending the $400 million Miami Forever Bond approved by voters in 2017.

In an Oct. 5 opinion piece in the Miami Herald, Commissioners Christine King and Damian Pardo urged a no vote on Referendums 1 and 2. They wrote that with interest and issuance costs, the true burden "approaches $800 million." They called the promise of no millage increase a "shell game," arguing the bond would lock up property tax revenue that could otherwise fund tax relief, operations or flood control, and that rising property values would automatically send more money to debt service.

King and Pardo also argued that more than two-thirds of the borrowing would go to a headquarters that is still conceptual, that the plan bypassed the city's Finance and Audit Advisory Committee, and that the Referendum 2 oversight board would be appointed by the same officials running the projects.

Former City Manager Emilio Gonzalez, who lost the 2025 mayoral race to Higgins, told WLRN the city is already too indebted. "We're gonna bond ourselves into oblivion," he said.

Miami's balance sheet

The vote comes as Miami faces long-term liabilities that dwarf the bond. WLRN's review of city financial documents found the following:

The watchdog group Truth in Accounting labeled Miami a "sinkhole city" in a 2023 analysis and gave it a D grade. Its chief executive, Sheila Weinberg, told WLRN little has changed since then.

The city's proposed budget for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1 totals $3.6 billion, including operating and capital spending, and keeps the property tax rate flat. Higgins has described the millage as the lowest in 60 years, though rising property values can still push individual tax bills higher.

The Amendment 3 wild card

The bond shares the Nov. 3 ballot with Amendment 3, a statewide property tax measure that would sharply expand the homestead exemption. Property taxes make up more than half of Miami's operating budget, and city and county leaders oppose the amendment. King and Pardo wrote that the city estimates Amendment 3 would cost more than $45 million a year in revenue in 2027 and 2028.

What's next

Early voting starts Oct. 19, and Election Day is Nov. 3. If Referendum 1 passes, the city could begin issuing bonds for the headquarters and fire projects, subject to the independent annual audit promised on the ballot. If it fails, the city has said no money is set aside for the fire station repairs, and Higgins has said replacing the police headquarters without the bond is too costly. Either way, the result will shape how Miami pays for public safety at a time when Amendment 3 could shrink the property tax base that funds it.