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Miami-Dade County and the state are fighting over who manages your tolls when you’re caught in a traffic jam on Miami’s busy highways. In the last three years of battle, Miami-Dade’s former toll collector has already incurred $ 1 million in legal costs, and the county could be even more expensive.
This is a conflict between state legislatures who are dissatisfied with the new tolls and local officials who say the state is taking control of local affairs. For this reason, for the past three years, there has been no functional committee overseeing one of Miami-Dade’s major issues. It is a five-highway road project that was once managed by the Miami-Dade Highway Authority. Don Shula, Gratiny, Snapper Creek.
“The losers here are residents of Miami-Dade County,” Commissioner Raquel Regalado told the Herald Editorial Board.
It’s time for states and counties to sign agreements to make both happy and save taxpayers’ legal costs.
MDX vs GMX
The summary is as follows:
Since the early 2010s, tensions between lawmakers and the Highway Authority (known as MDX) have escalated due to higher tolls and MDX’s decision to abolish the free zone along National Highway 836.
The agency was run independently of the County Commission and was not supposed to have political influence. However, the Commission’s appointment of then-county mayor Carlos Jimenez to chair MDX’s board of directors made the department a political issue. Guimenez, now a member of the House of Representatives, defended the extension of Line 836 to West Kendal.
These tensions culminated in 2019, with the Florida State Capitol breaking up MDX. New tollhouseIs called the Greater Miami Expressway Agency (GMX) and has a mission to freeze tolls. The law also prohibited MDX officers appointed in Guimenez and other counties from joining the GMX board.
The parliamentary move put a tollhouse that seemed to work efficiently with the whims of Tallahassee. For example, GMX requires approval from the Legislative Budget Committee for certain projects and their debt refinancing. Gimeez also said at the time that the changes would put the 836 extension at risk. This is not a bad thing given the environmental impact of projects invading the countryside around the Everglades, which should be protected from urban development.
Nonetheless, this was a seizure of power from Tallahassee, in line with the recent trend of lawmakers depriving the local community of power.
There are no plans
At the same time, the Miami-Dade County Commission exacerbated the situation by investing political funding in the fight against Congress, which does not hesitate to exercise power.
For the past three years, the Commission has refused to appoint a person to the GMX Board, preventing the Board from securing a quorum to hold meetings. In retaliation, the Republican-controlled state legislature passed a bill this year that would remove one seat from the county and empower Governor Ron DeSantis and the state to nominate the five seats required for a quorum.
Meanwhile, MDX has filed a proceeding to challenge the creation of GMX. The Court of Appeals recently dismissed MDX’s request for another hearing. This means that the loss is near. The county commission intervened in a vote in early May, proclaiming that GMX was unconstitutionally dissolved. This is a move intended to file a proceeding from the state.As another bold move, the committee Voted to fill 5 seats on MDX Board, MDX shouldn’t exist anymore (is your head still spinning?)
What does this mean?
The county and state will probably dispute in court at the taxpayer’s expense.
Regalado suggested that the county seek a compromise and ask local lawmakers to hold a council with the commissioner and publicize their disagreements before going to court.
Whatever it is, now is the time for this political action Telenovela To the last.
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