Votes at a glance: CITT approves engineering contract increases and a resolution defending the trust's independence

At its March 19, 2025 meeting the Citizens Independent Transportation Trust took three formal votes on items that affect the county's capital program and the trust's authority.

What the trust approved 1) HNTB supplemental agreement (Agenda item 7a) - Motion: Recommend the Board of County Commissioners approve Supplemental Agreement No. 3 to a professional services agreement between HNTB Corporation and Miami‑Dade County increasing the contract amount by $20,000,000 for engineering services and authorizing PTP surtax funds for the Northeast Corridor and other SMART corridors. - Identifiers: agenda item 7a; contract CIP215‑DTPW19‑DE4 (as read into the record). - Outcome: Approved by the trust (vote recorded as "in favor" in the meeting; no roll‑call tally provided in the minutes). - Notes: Department staff and members emphasized the money is intended primarily to support the Northeast Corridor engineering and to provide capacity to avoid repeated supplemental requests; staff said the majority of the funds are expected to be spent on the Northeast Corridor but recorded the language as allowing use for other SMART corridors if capacity is needed.

2) Parsons supplemental agreement (Agenda item 7b) - Motion: Recommend the Board of County Commissioners approve Supplemental Agreement No. 4 to a professional services agreement between Parsons Transportation Group, Inc. and Miami‑Dade County increasing the contract amount by $20,000,000 for engineering services and authorizing use of PTP surtax funds for the Northeast Corridor and other SMART corridors. - Identifiers: agenda item 7b; contract CIP142‑1‑TPW16‑PE11 (as read into the record). - Outcome: Approved by the trust (vote recorded as "in favor" in the meeting; no roll‑call tally provided in the minutes). - Notes: Members asked for a future financial breakdown of how the additional capacity is used; staff agreed to provide a line‑item update on planned vs. actual expenditures for the Northeast Corridor at a future presentation.

3) Resolution on CITT independence (Agenda item 7c) - Motion: Adopt a resolution urging the Miami‑Dade County Board of County Commissioners to reaffirm the Citizens Independent Transportation Trust's independence and to exempt the CITT from a proposed ordinance that would restrict county boards from stating policy positions or urging public or private entities other than the BCC. - Identifiers: agenda item 7c (resolution text read and discussed; an exhibit from the grand jury report was added by the trust as an exhibit to the motion). - Outcome: Approved by the trust (vote recorded as "in favor" in the meeting; no roll‑call tally provided in the minutes). - Notes: Trust members and the executive director said the proposed county ordinance, as written, could be interpreted to prevent the CITT from making occasional statements or recommendations to outside entities; the trust forwarded the resolution to the BCC and said it would speak at the BCC committee public hearing and encourage members to attend.

Vote record and tallies The meeting transcripts show motions made, seconds and the chair calling votes; however, the transcript does not record individual yes/no tallies by name for these items. The minutes as read at the meeting show the motions passed. The trust requested follow‑up financial detail on the HNTB/Parsons supplemental capacity and asked county staff to provide a spending breakdown at the next appropriate Northeast Corridor update.

Next steps - The trust will transmit the two supplemental‑agreement recommendations and the independence resolution to the Board of County Commissioners for their consideration. - The trust asked DTPW to present a detailed accounting of planned and actual expenditures for the Northeast Corridor at a future trust meeting.