MIAMI — The new Florida budget signed Monday by Gov. Ron DeSantis eliminates some $200 million in state funding for the proposed Miami-Aventura commuter rail project, the Miami Herald reports.
The state money, along with Miami-Dade County funding, was intended to match $389.5 million in federal funds for the 14-mile, seven-station service planned on the Florida East Coast Railway/Brightline route from downtown Miami. A late change in the language the $115 billion state budget eliminated a provision setting aside some real estate taxes to provide matching funds for rail projects, according to a budget summary by Miami-Dade staff.
“I find it mystifying that the State legislature would defund a transit project that Miami-Dade’s Congressional delegation has made a priority and is included in the President’s budget,” Miami-Dade County Commissioner Eileen Higgins said in a statement to the Herald.
Higgins said she would push for “a correction to this mistake” when the legislature reconvenes later this year.
Florida House Speaker Danny Perez (R-Miami-Dade) told the Herald that the funds for the service — formally known as the Northeast Corridor Rapid Transit Project — were not at risk. If the Florida Department of Transportation “or any other entity attempts to shut down major Miami-Dade projects,” Perez said, “the Florida House will consider launching an investigation into abuse of office and political retaliation.”
But the Miami-Dade legislative staff noted that the new budget ended a rule that set aside up to $50 million yearly for the rail funding, instead sending the money into the general fund to offset revenue lost from newly passed tax cuts.
Another of those cuts — ending a 2% sales tax on business leases of commercial real estate — will eliminate another $27 million for Miami-Dade transportation projects, the Herald reports.
The Federal Transit Administration made the $389.5 million preliminary commitment for the Maimi-Aventura project last year when it approved the project’s advance into the engineering phase [see “Miami-Aventura commuter rail project …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 31, 2024]. The state is supposed to provide the $200 million to go with $337.9 million from Miami-Dade County. A final federal funding award is dependent on a review of factors such as environmental benefits and mobility improvements, and ultimately would require federal approval.
The project has been in development since 2020, when a proposal called for Brightline to build the five intermediate stations for the new service and to operate its trains.
