Miami‑Dade charter task force weighs raising commissioner pay, considering independent salary commission

At a Miami‑Dade County Charter Review Task Force meeting, members debated whether to change how county commissioners are paid and whether to add or change term limits, focusing principally on two alternatives: adopt the state compensation formula if commissioners pledge full‑time service, or create an independent, binding salary commission to set pay going forward.

Why it matters: Miami‑Dade is the state’s largest county and — under its charter — still lists commissioner compensation as $6,000 a year unless the charter is amended. Task force members said that figure, set in 1957, no longer reflects the time demands on commissioners and that voters have repeatedly rejected previous salary changes. The group discussed options intended to make any change more politically palatable to voters.

The discussion centered on two lead options in the task force packet. Item A would apply the state compensation formula — staff pointed out that, under that statutory formula and the Office of Economic and Demographic Research calculations discussed at the meeting, a full‑time commissioner who forgoes outside employment would be paid roughly $123,781 annually. Carlos Maxwell of the Office of Management and Budget told the panel that the…