Debunking the Falsehoods or Half-Truths: Point-by-Point Rebuttal to Mayor Daniella Levine Cava's Intervention
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Debunking the Falsehoods or Half-Truths: Point-by-Point Rebuttal to Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s Intervention. Budget Meeting of August 20, 2025

TRANSCRIPTS:

MAYOR DANIELLA LEVINE CAVA IN ENGLISH ORIGINAL

Mr. Chair, and to all the commissioners, the vice chair, and to all of our audience, uh members, andthose watching virtually.

I want to first of all uh say thank you to you, Mr. Chair. Uh as you said, we haveworked very closely together, and we’ve met with all of the commissioners multiple times and we’ve tried toincorporate uh all of your concerns.

Uh you all know that the most important thing that I do as mayor is produce aproposed budget to you for your consideration, a balanced budget.

We don’t have deficit spending in Miamidate county and one that reflects the maximum benefit to each taxpayer of the dollarsthat they invest and provides the best possible services that everybody needsto thrive uh and to keep our costs low for our residents.

So, it’s no secretfor all of us that this has been a most difficult budget year. Certainly the most difficult one that I have facedsince I have served for now 11 years uh here in the county.

We’ve called it a perfect storm of fiscal challenges and we’ve made some very hard decisions uh of course foryour consideration because finally the budget is yours.

We’ve been aggressive in seeking savings and efficiencies toprotect essential services that residents rely on like public safety, like transportation, our water service,our trash pickup, libraries, all while maintaining our historically low taxrate that was set by this commission two years in a row with a millage reduction, the lowest tax rate since 1982.

We frozehiring. We cut hundreds of positions. We invested in technology. We eliminated redundancies by consolidating departments.

We reduced non-essential services and we even had to cut or scaleback some programs that are near and dear to my heart which were key to our community’s recovery postcoid and haveserved their purpose and we now now moved on move on and at the same timewe’ve kept our communication lines open with the new constitutional offices andI’m very grateful for those of them who are here and for working collaboratively with us to achieve this budget recommendation

And as of yesterday, we were able to identify with their help 66 million dollars, nearly 66 million that could go towards our long-term financial health uh investing in communitypriorities.

So, I want to thank them again for their continuing collaboration, especially you, Mr.Chairman, for your support working alongside the tax collector to return all possible funding to support ourcounty’s needs. it was not obligated for him to do so, but with your support, we were able to secure critical funding.Thank you so much.

Um, in recent weeks, we held numerous public meetings and town halls. In fact, over a dozen, and we received overwhelming feedback that our residents want us to continue investing in arts and culture, community organizations, parks, roads, and other important priorities. And I am gratefulfor everyone who made their voices heard.

And I’m proud that this additional 66 million enables to investin some of those key areas. Uh as outlined in my memo, Chief Morales is going to go into this in a little moredetail.

I’m just setting the stage, if you will. Uh we’re going to be listening closely to today’s discussion andincorporating uh your feedback as we move forward. These items are intended to go into the change memo, which willbe released prior to the first budget hearing.

Uh, so we are looking forward to continuing my administration’sdiligent work to streamline our operations, to update revenue projections, and to recover any additional unspent funds that could be used to benefit our community. Uh, sothank you very much. We look forward to working with you.

And now to Chief Morales,

Next, I rebut each section of the mayor’s intervention in the August 20, 2025 budget meeting, declaring each statement as false or half-truth based on evidence from official sources, news, and budget documents. I use verified facts from web searches, the proposed FY 2025-26 budget, and contemporary reports to demonstrate contradictions, exaggerations, or omissions. The “perfect storm” described by the mayor is actually a result of previous spending decisions and lack of foresight, not just external challenges, which exacerbates a $402 million deficit that affects essential services and generates citizen protests.

1. Institutional greeting and thanks (7:31 – 7:43)

Mayor’s Claim: Acknowledges the Chair, Vice Chair, commissioners, and the audience. Thanks the Chairman for joint work and says they met with all commissioners to incorporate their concerns.

Statement: Half-truth.

Refutation and Evidence: Although the greeting is protocol and not false per se, the claim of “meetings with all commissioners to incorporate concerns” is exaggerated. Reports from the Miami Herald [although focused on another topic, mentions general tensions in budget meetings] and WLRN highlight criticisms from commissioners and residents for not incorporating real feedback, such as in hearings where complaints about cuts to nonprofits and arts were ignored. The initial budget ignored key concerns (e.g., $40M in cuts to CBOs), forcing late adjustments of $66M after public pressure, not due to proactive collaboration. This suggests selective or superficial meetings, not inclusive ones.

Title: “Artists protest $12.8 million in proposed Miami-Dade budget cuts” (Local10, Published: 1 day ago). Excerpt: “Artists and cultural leaders protested at the Stephen P. Clark Government Center against cuts in the 2025-26 budget.”
Title: “‘A violent assault on our existence’: Arts, cultural groups fight Miami-Dade budget cuts” (WLRN, Published: Aug 12, 2025). Excerpt: “Protests highlight ignored concerns from residents and commissioners about nonprofit cuts.

“These show that the “incorporation of concerns” was superficial, with protests over ignored feedback.

2. Role of the mayor and purpose of the budget (7:43 – 8:09)

Mayor’s Claim: Emphasizes that the most important task of the mayor is to propose a balanced budget. Assures that Miami-Dade does not have deficit spending. Says the budget should reflect the maximum benefit for each taxpayer, with the best possible services and low costs.

Statement: False.

Refutation and Evidence: The budget is not “balanced” without pain: there is a projected deficit of $402 million for FY 2025-26, the worst since the 2008 crisis. Although it is proposed to be balanced through cuts, this implies effective “deficit spending” by deferring costs (e.g., department consolidation and cutting 350 positions).”Maximum benefit” is false: cuts affect essential services like transportation (MetroConnect cut) and arts ($12M initially eliminated), not “best services.”Low costs are a half-truth, but the deficit comes from previous spending during Levine Cava’s first term, not maximizing benefits for taxpayers.Official budget document confirms $402M shortfall, contradicting “no deficit spending.”

Title: “Miami Dade mayor outlines budget proposal, cuts” (Axios, Published: Jul 15, 2025). Excerpt: “Miami-Dade mayor proposes cuts to offset $400 million deficit.”
Title: “What Miami-Dade residents need to know as county faces $402 million deficit” (CBS News, Published: Jul 15, 2025). Excerpt: “Miami-Dade County is facing a $402 million budget deficit in the 2025-2026 fiscal year.”
Title: “Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava defends her proposed budget” (WLRN, Published: Jul 18, 2025). Excerpt: “Facing a staggering $402 million deficit.”
These confirm the real $402M deficit, contradicting “no deficit spending” and “maximum benefit.”Official statement from Miami-Dade County Tax Collector, Dariel Fernandez

3. Budget crisis – “the perfect storm” (8:09 – 8:25)

Mayor’s Claim: States that this has been the most difficult budget year of her 11 years in the county. Calls it a “perfect storm of fiscal challenges.” Explains that tough decisions were made, but ultimately the budget belongs to the commissioners.

Statement: Half-truth.

Refutation and Evidence: It is the most difficult year, but the “perfect storm” is self-imposed: $402M deficit due to creation of new constitutional offices (state-mandated, but not anticipated), loss of previous tax revenues ($42M), and spending increases during her first term.It’s not just “external challenges” – reports like Miami Herald and Islander News blame “spending increases” and lack of foresight, not an unpredictable storm. Tough decisions are real, but they pass responsibility to commissioners, ignoring that her initial proposal caused backlash. Official budget lists internal causes like failed consolidations.

Title: “Florida DOGE to probe Miami-Dade over budget deficit, citing revenue boom” (Florida Politics, Published: Aug 5, 2025). Excerpt: “Annual county revenue increase of nearly $3 billion in FY 2024 compared to FY 2020, yet deficit persists due to spending.”
Title: “Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announces updates to budget proposal” (Miami-Dade Gov, Published: 2 days ago). Excerpt: “Deficit caused by internal factors like new constitutional offices and spending increases.”
Title: “Miami-Dade mayor ends budget tour, hears pleas to save essential programs” (CBS News, Published: Aug 7, 2025). Excerpt: “Residents expect increases to gas tax and fees, showing self-imposed challenges.”
These prove that the deficit is due to internal decisions (spending under her term), not just an “unpredictable storm.”

4. Austerity measures and efficiency (8:25 – 9:18)

Mayor’s Claim: Sought savings and efficiencies to protect essential services like public safety, transportation, water, trash, and libraries. Maintained the historically low tax rate, the lowest since 1982. Froze hiring, eliminated hundreds of positions, invested in technology, consolidated departments, and reduced non-essential services. Cut or scaled back some programs “close to my heart,” which had served their purpose post-COVID.

Statement: False.

Refutation and Evidence: Protection of essentials is false: cuts include transportation (MetroConnect eliminated), parks (potential fees), and libraries (implicit reductions in CBOs).Tax rate: True as “lowest combined since 1982,” but irrelevant – deficit persists due to increases in other taxes (e.g., proposed gas tax).Hiring freeze: Verified since March 2025, but late.Cutting “hundreds” (350 positions) is real, but consolidates 6 departments into 3, affecting vulnerable populations.”Post-COVID” programs cut include vital arts and CBOs ($40M), not “served their purpose” – protests show ongoing need. Investment in technology is vague, with no evidence of real efficiency.

These demonstrate that cuts affect essentials (e.g., MetroConnect, arts), not just non-essentials, and the low rate is irrelevant with gas tax increases.

cantidad de aumento de trabajadores
Debunking the Falsehoods or Half-Truths: Point-by-Point Rebuttal to Mayor Daniella Levine Cava's Intervention 8

4a. The Big Lie of “Workforce Reduction” in Miami-Dade

The mayor insists on repeating that her administration “reduced hundreds of positions” to face the $402 million deficit. She said it in the August 20, 2025 Budget Meeting as if it were a merit, as if the county government had tightened its belt.

But the truth is different.

A Government That Didn’t Stop Growing

Every year, far from shrinking, the Miami-Dade government became larger and more costly. Offices multiplied, departments inflated, and new bureaucratic structures were created. What the mayor never says is that these supposed “cuts” were the product of pressure from DOGE (Department of Governmental Efficiency), which demanded at least gestures of reduction.

And even then, the eliminated positions were the least significant, those with little or no impact on the budget: assistants, aides, and base employees. Those who “bring coffee to meetings,” as some ironically say, but who do not represent even 1% of the real payroll burden.

The Untouchables of the Budget

Meanwhile, those earning $400,000 a year or more remain firmly in their chairs. Not a single high-ranking official—county attorneys, department directors, trusted advisors—saw their salary endangered. The records are there: the County Attorney’s office and her assistants, with increases of 10% to 15% each year, shielded from any adjustment.

In other words, the “cut” was limited to the symbolic, while the bureaucratic elite maintained and even increased their benefits.

A Deficit Fabricated by Opacity

The mayor promises austerity but practices the opposite. Freezes minor positions but sustains an apparatus of over 31,000 employees where the payroll grows uncontrollably due to automatic COLAs, merit increases, and collective bargaining agreements.
The question is clear:

How can Miami-Dade talk about cuts when every year the payroll inflates with millions in increases, without real oversight, and the big salaries are never touched?

The Reality

What is bankrupt is not the finances, but the credibility of the administration. There is no real cut while the weight of the deficit falls on basic services and base workers, but elite salaries remain untouched.

5. Collaboration with constitutional offices and financial achievement (9:18 – 10:07)

Mayor’s Claim: Highlights joint work with the new constitutional offices. Reports that with their support, an additional $66 million was identified for long-term financial health and community priorities. Especially thanks the Chairman and the Tax Collector for securing these funds, although they were not obligated to do so.

Statement: Half-truth.

Refutation and Evidence: Collaboration exists, but $65.8M (not exactly $66M) comes from unspent funds from constitutional offices ($33.2M) and others ($6.6M+), not “identified” by heroic effort – they are reallocations from previous inefficiencies. Not obligated, but pressured by deficit. Community priorities: Only partially restores cuts (e.g., arts $12M initial cut, not fully back [web:25, web:48]), and it is temporary. Official budget does not detail it as “additional” revenue, but savings from austerity.

Title: “FY 2024-2025 Proposed Budget – Constitutional Offices” (Miami-Dade Gov). Excerpt: “$33.2M from unspent funds of constitutional offices – reallocations, not new funds.”
Title: “Update on FY 2025-26 Proposed Budget” (Miami-Dade PDF, Published: 2 days ago). Excerpt: “$33.2M unspent from offices + $6.6M adjustments = $39.8M, not $66M ‘identified’ heroically.”
These indicate that $66M are savings from inefficiencies, not pure voluntary collaboration.

6. Citizen feedback (10:07 – 10:32)

Mayor’s Claim: Explains that over a dozen public meetings and town halls were held. The majority asked to maintain investments in arts, culture, community organizations, parks, and roads. With the extra $66 million, they can reinforce these key areas.

Statement: False.

Refutation and Evidence: Meetings occurred (>12), but feedback was mostly against cuts, not in favor of maintaining investments – protests over $40M in CBOs and $12M in arts.

Residents demanded restoring funds for vulnerable groups, not “reinforcing” – $66M only partially and temporarily covers. Moreover, in this hearing, there were no visible media camera recordings as in May 2025 and previous ones (where something always appeared in live reports, albeit nothing negative, showing cameras in the room).

Here they were conspicuously absent, evidencing that the people’s word is not heard and only excuses are given: the meeting was officially transmitted via webcasting, but media coverage was limited (no live cameras capturing protests, unlike May with more reports [e.g., YouTube videos of previous hearings with visible cameras]), possibly to control the narrative and minimize exposure of citizen criticisms.

Title: “Legislative update Q3 2025 from the Miami-Dade Dems” (Miami-Dade Dems, Published: 7 days ago). Excerpt: “Protests and objections ongoing against cuts.”
Title: “Artists protest $12.8 million in proposed Miami-Dade budget cuts“
Title: “Miami-Dade considers axing free ride service amid budget crisis” (Miami Herald, Published: 1 day ago). Excerpt: “Riders protest amid $400M deficit.”
Title: “Miami-Dade nonprofits brace for deep cuts” (Catalyst Miami, Published: Jul 25, 2025). Excerpt: “$55M in nonprofit cuts spark backlash.”
Feedback was against cuts, not in favor; $66M partially restores after protests.

Desmontando las falsedades o media verdad: Refutación Punto por Punto a la Intervención de la Alcaldesa Daniella Levine Cava
Debunking the Falsehoods or Half-Truths: Point-by-Point Rebuttal to Mayor Daniella Levine Cava's Intervention 9
Desmontando las falsedades o media verdad: Refutación Punto por Punto a la Intervención de la Alcaldesa Daniella Levine Cava
Debunking the Falsehoods or Half-Truths: Point-by-Point Rebuttal to Mayor Daniella Levine Cava's Intervention 10

7. Next steps and closing (10:32 – 11:07)

Mayor’s Claim: Points out that these adjustments will go into the “change memo” before the first budget hearing. Commits to continue updating projections, recovering unspent funds, and refining operations.

Statement: Half-truth.

Refutation and Evidence: Change memo is real, but commitment is vague – deficit persists, and “recovering unspent funds” ($33.2M of $66M) indicates previous inefficiency, not proactivity. Updates are reactive to criticisms , not planned. Official budget shows adjustments as palliatives, not long-term solutions, with ongoing complaints .

Title: “FY 2025-2026 Proposed Budget” (Miami-Dade Gov). Excerpt: “Change memo includes adjustments, but deficit persists.”
Title: “Firefighters union threatens to sue Miami-Dade over proposed budget” (WLRN, Published: Aug 7, 2025). Excerpt: “Ongoing complaints show reactive commitments.”
Adjustments are reactive to criticisms, not proactive; “recovering unspent funds” highlights previous inefficiency.

This is how people respond by creating memes about this and other problems presented by the Daniella Levine Cava administration.

Desmontando las falsedades o media verdad: Refutación Punto por Punto a la Intervención de la Alcaldesa Daniella Levine Cava
Debunking the Falsehoods or Half-Truths: Point-by-Point Rebuttal to Mayor Daniella Levine Cava's Intervention 14

8. Commissioners’ Hypocrisy – Seeking Public Support to Distance Themselves from Their Own Measures and as Much as Possible from the Collateral Damage Caused by Levine’s Proposals

Statement: False (regarding their narrative of transparency and action).

Refutation and Evidence: Several commissioners, such as Chairman Anthony Rodriguez, Roberto González, Raquel Regalado, and Kionne McGhee, have sought public support to distance themselves from measures they themselves approved or did not prevent, despite being active in power.They did not act in a timely manner nor do they understand basic budget mechanisms (where money enters public coffers vs. just spending and ordering spending), but they go on TV cameras to plant that they want “transparency” when they have been there all along.For example,

Anthony Rodriguez

Rodriguez has appeared in reports asking for citizen collaboration to “balance the budget”,
Miami-Dade commission chair invites state DOGE team to pinpoint ‘government waste’
‘We share the same goal’: Miami-Dade Commission Chair welcomes Florida DOGE probe
Anthony Rodriguez rolls out red carpet for state DOGE, calls it ‘collaboration’

Roberto González

has criticized transportation cuts (MetroConnect) in hearings but without prior actions to anticipate deficits
Miami-Dade en la mirilla de DOGE ¿Por qué?

Raquel Regalado

Regalado has defended “transparency” in interviews about low tax rates, while the deficit grows due to uncontrolled spending.
Grant Miller Meets with Raquel A. Regalado, Miami-Dade County Commissioner District 7

This evidences that they seek public sympathy to evade responsibility, while the people’s word (protests against cuts) is not heard and only excuses are given.

Kionne McGhee

Amid budget squeeze, a Miami-Dade commissioner wants to cancel World Cup subsidy
NBC6 Impact: Miami-Dade Commissioner Kionne McGhee talks budget cuts
Vice Chairman Kionne McGhee to Convene Urgent Meeting at Kristi House on Impact of Proposed Budget Cuts to Community Organizations
The Miami-Dade 2025–26 budget isn’t a “proposed budget.” It’s the Abandonment Doctrine — a blueprint to gut our parks, cultural institutions, nonprofits & service providers.

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