MIAMI (AP) — Miami residents have voted to tax themselves to fund nearly a half-billion dollars in government spending to help quell flooding, fund affordable housing and pay for other public projects.
The Miami Herald reports that in a city vulnerable to climate change, about 55 percent of Miami's electorate voted in favor of outgoing Mayor Tomás Regalado's $400 million Miami Forever general obligation bond.
By endorsing the bond, voters have given their government the ability to borrow the money on the municipal bond market, leveraging a new property tax to pay for storm drain upgrades, economic development grants and other government initiatives.
Regalado — who made the bond about climate change and referred to it early on as his legacy — received a major win on his way out the door.