Miami-Dade commissioners make $82K. They’d like voters to let them get a raise

Miami-Dade County admin October 8, 2026 0 Comments

Miami-Dade commissioners make $82K. They’d like voters to let them get a raise

This fall, voters in Miami-Dade get their latest chance to allow a pay hike for county commissioners, who earn about $82,000 a year, according to recent payroll records.

Past pay-increase ballot items have failed, but doesn’t explicitly ask voters to increase compensation for the 13 commissioners. Instead, the referendum calls for establishing a salary board that would have the power to decide how much Miami-Dade would pay commissioners for a part-time government job that allows them to keep outside employment.

In calling for the referendum over the summer, multiple commissioners cited their $6,000 yearly salary as justification for a raise.

At the July 21 meeting where a majority of commissioners voted to put the salary-board item on the November ballot, Commissioner Marleine Bastien said constituents are shocked when she tells them about her $6,000 salary. “They really believe that we’re making a lot of money, like $100,000,” Bastien told fellow commissioners. “They don’t believe [it’s] $6,000 a year.”

But a commissioner’s salary is only a fraction of the cash compensation they receive from the county. Pay supplements and expense allowances boost their earnings to about $82,000 before taxes and other deductions, according to a Miami Herald review of payroll records.

Recent pay stubs from the 13 commissioners show each earned $231 in regular pay for the two-week pay period. That would equal roughly $6,000 a year.

But commissioners also were paid about $2,925 in pay supplements for that pay period, according to the pay stubs sent to the Herald through a records request.

Those supplements include:

A yearly $43,940 expense allowance paid out at $1,690 per pay check. This is an “executive benefit” granted to some senior county officials and all 13 commissioners, who can opt to be paid a lump sum monthly instead of itemizing non-travel work expenses.
Another yearly “executive benefits” allowance of $19,605 paid out at $754 per paycheck. The allowance is a pay supplement granted to some senior county officials and all commissioners as part of their compensation.
A yearly $11,437 car allowance paid out at $440 per paycheck.
Commissioners also receive about $1,000 a year in “flex” payments to cover out-of-pocket medical costs, with the payouts in the most recent paychecks ranging from $38 to $43.

Even at $82,000, commissioners earn less than what a state formula says they should. That formula, based on a county’s population, puts Miami-Dade commissioners in the top tier, with a of $127,779. That calculation is reason enough to grant commissioners a boost in pay, one outgoing commissioner said.

“I think you should give them a raise,” said Commissioner Oliver Gilbert, who resigned his seat earlier this year for a congressional run and will be leaving the board in January. “There’s a state formula based on population. Pay them that.”

In addition to their cash compensation, Miami-Dade’s pay plan grants commissioners a $72,000 yearly contribution to a retirement account.

If approved by voters, the referendum would create an independent board with full authority to set the salary for county commissioners. The board would be made up of members who’d be appointed by the heads of agencies that receive funding from the County Commission, including the county inspector general and ethics director and the elected state attorney, chief judge and public defender. The appointees themselves could not be elected officials, lobbyists, county employees or related to a commissioner.

What are the charter referendum questions on the Miami-Dade ballot?

The referendum language was recommended by the county’s Charter Review Task Force, a board made up mostly of commission appointees that debated options for updating the county’s governing document. Commissioners voted to put on the November ballot some of the task force’s recommended changes, including creation of the compensation board. That amendment is identified as County Referendum 1 on Miami-Dade ballots.

Other proposed charter amendments before Miami-Dade voters for the Nov. 3 election are:

County Referendum 2: Requires a candidate for County Commission before the election’s qualifying date. The current rule requires six months of residency.

County Referendum 3: Changes the rules on how to fill a seat when a commissioner resigns their seat in advance to run for another office. The change would allow commissioners to fill those commission vacancies by to sync up with an existing local election. Current Miami-Dade rules already require commissioners to hold vacancy elections during a countywide primary or general election, but that’s not an option if a commissioner resigns to run for another office during an off-year.

That happened in 2025, when then-County Commissioner Eileen Higgins resigned to run for Miami mayor. She scheduled her resignation to take effect after the city election in November 2025. The current rules didn’t allow commissioners to schedule a vacancy election to fill the Higgins seat representing parts of Miami and Miami Beach at the same time both cities were holding elections anyway.

Under the proposed rules, those vacancy elections could be held the same day a city or town was holding elections while the exiting commissioner was still in office. That could boost turnout for a commission vacancy election and save Miami-Dade the cost of having a one-off special election after a commissioner’s resignation takes effect — currently the only scheduling option when a commissioner resigns to run for an office that’s not being elected during a countywide primary or general election. While an election is required when a commissioner “resigns to run” for an office being elected during a primary or general election, the new rules would still give commissioners the option to appoint someone to fill a vacancy if that seat is being vacated during an off-year.

County Referendum 4 and County Referendum 5: Both ballot items would rewrite multiple parts of the charter, by a change in the Florida Constitution that created three new elected offices in the county for elections supervisor, sheriff and tax collector. Each position took over governmental powers the county charter previously granted the mayor. The statewide change also meant more powers were given to the county clerk and property appraiser that weren’t contemplated by the Miami-Dade charter. The changes in Referendum 5 and loosen quorum rules for commission meetings to allow commissioners to attend virtually — but only if Florida changes the rules that mostly require in-person quorums for local governments.

County Referendum 6: Loosens , which currently require any ads to be related to sponsorships of park events or facilities. The ballot item requires any advertising revenue to be spent in the parks system.