Cutler Bay manager previews major capital projects, ARPA spending and proposed budgeting guardrails

Town Manager Ralph Casals used a June 18 council workshop to lay out the Town of Cutler Bay’s budget priorities for the coming fiscal year, highlighting American Rescue Plan Act allocations, a series of capital projects and several near-term grant and interlocal funding requests.

Casals said the town will maintain its current millage rate and continue to focus on “short and long-term financial stability,” and he described the top-line items staff expects to carry into the budget process: an enterprise resource planning replacement, water-quality and drainage projects, park remediation and site remediation at Legacy Park.

The memo Cavals presented to the council — summarized in the meeting’s PowerPoint — shows $21,000,000 in ARPA funds divided into two main buckets: $10,000,000 for a standard allowance and $11,000,000 for water-quality improvement projects. Casals described the Tyler Technologies ERP replacement (finance, permitting, asset management, parks and recreation) as ARPA-funded and on a multi-phase schedule to deploy through 2026. “This new system allows residents to submit permits, pay bills, request services, and view their account information entirely online,” he said during the workshop.

Why it matters: the town will move high-cost remediation and…