Sunny Isles Beach commission sets tentative millage at 1.8 mills after rejecting 1.7 amendment

The City Commission of the City of Sunny Isles Beach adopted a tentative ad valorem millage rate of 1.8 mills per $1,000 of taxable assessed value for fiscal year 2024–25 after rejecting an amendment to lower the rate further.

City Manager staff presented the item as a reduction from the prior year’s millage (from 1.9 to 1.8) and described the change as part of multi-year work to lower the city’s millage. Finance staff directed commissioners to the budget summary, estimating total city funds of approximately $93,000,000 with about $81,000,000 in the general fund and roughly $3,500,000 in interest earnings.

Commissioner Joseph moved to amend the tentative millage to 1.7 mills “to assist our residents,” saying the city has the ability to do so. Vice Mayor Lamas and others said they were sympathetic to a lower rate but could not vote for the change without seeing supporting documentation; as the vice mayor put it: “I would need to see some numbers, so I just can’t… say yes to that” without materials. Following discussion, the amendment did not carry and the commission moved forward with the presented 1.8-mill rate.

The commission’s discussion emphasized that the tentative rate before them represents the city portion of property taxes paid directly to the City of Sunny Isles Beach and that many budget choices reflected prior workshops and direction from commissioners. The adoption of the tentative millage establishes a rate for public hearings and is subject to final adoption during later budget proceedings.

Next steps: the tentative millage and accompanying budget items will proceed to the next public hearing(s) required under Florida law.