* This item requires the waiver of Section 6.9 and of 7.2 of the Special Rules of Order

The “pay as you go” model of capital improvements funding has not failed. Rather, we have failed it, and that failure has prevented this payment method from being given a truly fair shot of succeeding. For such a model to work it requires a continuing funding commitment from Council to Council to follow through on the promised projects. In my honest and humble opinion, “Pay as you go” will remain the best method of funding capital improvements because of its flexibility and lower total project cost. While it is true that Council priorities shift, we have the power to break this destructive cycle as it applies to capital improvements. If we were to simply accept that Council priorities should swing from Council to Council and never ask what the implications of that manner of thinking are, we are tacitly admitting that long range planning such as the Ten Year Strategic Master Plan (aka “Imagine Miami Lakes 2025”) serves no purpose because the Council will freely disregard the established plan to suit the desires of the moment. After all, Imagine Miami Lakes 2025 should be, at its core, a planning document and not solely a revolving collection of a present Council's preferred projects.

In the spirit of the foregoing remarks, I move to direct the Town Administration to first direct funding opportunities as they become available to the two established Council priorities before allocating funding to those projects lower on the priority list recently submitted by me and my colleagues. I want to note this is not intended to preclude the Council pursuing future debt instruments to finance any capital projects and rather is directed at excess revenue and grant opportunities that would commit Town revenue streams well into the future.

Fiscal Impact: Minimal

Guiding Principles: 2, 9, 13

Objectives: 2.1, 2.3, 2.4