Miami Forever Bond

Vision: 

To create a stronger, more resilient and innovative future for Miami by orchestrating a deliberate and objective project selection process, city wide requirements and citizen input, and optimizing all available resources.

Implementation Strategy:

The City of Miami is approaching the bond spending in a systematic manner across the five categories.  We have developed five themes to guide the project selection process.

Guiding Themes:

 

Safety: Enhance public safety by decreasing the frequency and severity of dangerous events. Better equip the city to mitigate and/or respond to emergencies and minimize the negative impact to citizens.  

Wellness and Quality of Life: Preserve and enhance Miami’s reputation as a desirable place to work, live, and play.

Equity: Distribute investment benefits fairly across the city and income levels while maintaining cohesiveness of social fabric and diversity. 

Economic Return: Use cost and benefit framework that considers effects on the economic and financial vitality of the city, local property value and insurance rates, job creation, and education investment.

Modernization Future City: Advance new technologies and innovation to transform Miami in a smart city of cutting edge of smart city development.

The Bond program is being executed in three phases, Immediate Impact, Gain Momentum and Long Term solutions.

Immediate Impact:  

The bond kick-off had an immediate impact with the launching of over 100 ready projects that will be completed in the next three years. The projects were selected based on the five guiding themes, each bond category’s goals and objectives, and with coordination with our citizens and partners. The deliberate selection process resulted in a first tranche of $58.7M to be invested in key projects spread across all bond categories and sections of the city. Tranche one is divided in two series of allocations, Series A and B.  Series A projects are focused on infrastructure, and Series B projects are concentrated on Affordable Housing solutions. 

Series A –    Infrastructure – to include:

• Roadways
• Parks and Cultural Facilities
• Public Safety
• Sea-Level Rise and Flood Prevention

Series B – Affordable Housing – to include:

• Develop and invest in Affordable Housing solutions
• Initiate and continue  Affordable Housing studies, plans and assessments 

Gain Momentum:

This phase provides an opportunity to wisely program the first series of projects, strengthen partnerships and agreements and set a strategic course for future investment. While programming the over 100 projects valued at 58.7M, a detailed capacity assessment will be performed to ensure the three-year time completion, creating new and employing alternative methods of procurement, developing a rigorous risk management plan, and establishing compliance and stewardship guidelines.

Long-Term Solutions:

This phase will deliver design and construction of the first series of projects, capture lessons learned, begin future bond tranche investments, and address resiliency through non-infrastructure measures.

• Establish strict project and financial monitoring and reporting processes while working with the City Commission appointed bond civilian oversight board.
• Refine the project selection model for subsequent tranches using lessons learned, study results, professional staff analysis, partner participation and community engagement.
• Assess and update the City’s zoning, planning and building policies and standards to institute rules that will maximize the resiliency benefits from new development. 

The Miami Forever Bond funds will be allocated as follows:

1. Roadway Improvements ($23M)

   Provide a safe, convenient, effective, multimodal roadway system which is coordinated with future land use and provides for the mobility of people and goods.

   Objectives: Reduce streets in disrepair, provide a safe, effective, multi-modal roadway system coordinated with traffic plans, future land-use and resiliency solutions. 

2. Parks and Cultural Facilities ($78M)

   Provide accessible innovative parks and cultural facilities to the residents of Miami.

   Objectives:  Restore capital assets past their useful life. Replace and renovate parks to be more innovative that will provide an overall community health, strengthen local economies, creating jobs, help with storm water run-off, improve air quality and much more.

3. Public Safety ($7M)

   Enhance the City’s ability to save lives and protect property while promoting the health and well-being of our citizens.

   Objectives: Minimize fire and rescue response, as well as recovery time.  Improve response ability, facility resilience and community outreach.

4. Sea-Level Rise Mitigation and Flood Prevention ($192M) 

   Mitigates the impact of severe current and future sea-level rise, flood risks and vulnerabilities through strategic infrastructure investments.

   Objectives:  Minimize flooding frequency, severity, duration and impact. Protect critical infrastructure and high-use areas, reducing financial and economic vulnerability.

5. Affordable Housing ($100M)

   Create and preserve affordable housing units, as well as increase employment opportunities through job training and assistance to existing and new businesses.

   Objectives:  Improve availability of affordable housing units across diverse income levels, leveraging alternative funding sources and partnerships.