Though he voted against it, Luis Andre Gazitua argues in the Miami Herald that Amendment 3 gives Miami-Dade a rare opening. With property tax revenue set to fall, the County can expand P3s, concessions, and energy service contracts, rethink local preferences, and buy smarter to build a more sustainable, effective government.
I voted against Amendment 3. I would have preferred to give our new governor room to craft a forward-looking reform as he prepares to take office, one that delivered targeted relief where it is needed most, such as a blanket exemption for seniors and other vulnerable homeowners. But voters have spoken, and Miami-Dade County now has a rare opening to rethink how it pays for infrastructure, delivers services, and partners with the private sector.
Amendment 3 raises the homestead exemption on non-school property taxes from $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027 and to $250,000 in 2028. It lowers the annual assessment cap on non-homestead property from 10 percent to 5 percent and limits how counties and cities may spend property tax revenue.
Much of the debate focused on what local governments stand to lose. The better question is what Miami-Dade stands to gain. This is the moment to modernize County operations, bring in private investment, and deliver updated infrastructure and services.
The County projects about $385.8 million less in property tax revenue beginning in October 2027, growing to roughly $696.7 million in October 2028. That shift is a powerful incentive to rethink how the County builds, buys, and operates.
Miami-Dade Aviation, PortMiami, and Water and Sewer are proprietary enterprises funded by their own operating revenues, so their major capital programs can keep moving forward while benefiting from new delivery methods. The greatest opportunity lies in transportation, public facilities, and general government. Those are the areas where private capital and new delivery models can do the most to expand what the County delivers.
New Ways to Deliver Projects
The County should expand its use of alternative financing and delivery models, particularly where private participation can reduce upfront capital costs, shift appropriate risk, and improve long-term performance.
Public-private partnerships deserve serious consideration for transportation and other capital-intensive projects. Concession agreements can draw private investment into revenue-generating assets while keeping those assets in public ownership and under public oversight. Energy service companies can modernize aging County buildings through performance-based efficiency upgrades. Transit agencies should also revisit fares, user fees, and optional premium services. Express toll lanes already show how dynamic pricing can raise revenue while keeping a standard option available.
The test for each of these should be simple: which structure delivers the most long-term public value?
Rethink Local Preferences
In more than 20 years working on County procurement, first inside government and then as an advocate for companies competing for public contracts, I have seen how local preferences play out in practice.
Miami-Dade has long given bidding and selection advantages to local and locally headquartered businesses, aiming to keep economic activity with local firms. But those preferences distort competition, raise taxpayer costs, and discourage bids from highly qualified firms that may offer better technology, stronger financing, specialized expertise, or lower long-term pricing. That matters more than ever as the County works to attract private capital and new infrastructure solutions.
The County should move away from automatic geographic advantages and toward criteria that reward measurable local economic contributions. Recent procurement reforms provide a foundation. The next phase should strengthen competition, improve transparency, and ensure that local economic development goals produce measurable public benefits.
Buy Smarter
This is also the moment to rethink how the County measures value. Performance-based contracts tie a contractor’s compensation to measurable results. Broader pre-procurement market engagement would help agencies understand emerging technologies and delivery methods before they write solicitation requirements. That engagement should be conducted transparently and within procurement safeguards.
The goal is not faster purchasing. It is better investment decisions.
The goal is not smaller government for its own sake. It is a government that is financially sustainable, innovative, and effective enough to serve a growing community.
Florida voters have changed the fiscal landscape. Miami-Dade now has the chance to set a new standard for how the public sector does business.
Luis Andre Gazitua is a Miami attorney with more than 20 years of experience in public procurement, both inside Miami-Dade County government and as an advocate for private-sector firms. A former senior advisor to the Mayor of Miami-Dade County and author of the strong mayor charter amendment approved by voters in 2007, he represents private-sector companies in government relations, public procurement, and strategic business development.