This month Miami-Dade County residents have the chance to voice their opinions on the county’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
There are eight town halls that will take place in August throughout the county.
On Tuesday County Mayor Carlos Gimenez presented the budget to residents at the West Kendall Regional Library.
"I’m happy to report that Miami-Dade County has turned a corner and that better days are ahead because of the sacrifices that we made during some very difficult times and economic times that we had here in our county," said Gimenez.
Budget director Jennifer Moon says this is the first year in a while where the county isn’t contemplating service reductions and layoffs.
"The conversation has changed from people being very concerned about people losing jobs or their services being cut to wanting to talk about how to prioritize services that are coming back. And so we’ve seen people discuss their priorities and what their interested in seeing funded," said Moon.
Miami-Dade County residents are encouraged to ask the mayor and staff about the proposed budget at the town hall meetings.
Kendall resident Moraima Lugo Morales asked the mayor if he plans to use money in the transportation budget to increase access to public transit.
"I love the Metrorail but I have to travel 10 miles in order to get on to the Metrorail," said Morales.
The mayor's response was that the county commission's transportation committee plans on formulating a plan to extend a rail line westward in the next two years.
The details of the proposed budget are on the county website.
Six town hall meetings are scheduled between now and Aug. 27. The budget will be voted on in September and goes into effect on Oct. 1.
