Miami-Dade County administrators realized too late it needed to renew a local gas tax for another 30 years, a lapse that will cost the budget millions of dollars before the 6-cent levy kicks in again next year.
An item up for a vote at Tuesday’s County Commission meeting renews the local gas tax that’s authorized under Florida law. Miami-Dade last authorized it 30 years ago when the tax was created, and state law has it expiring on Aug. 31.
The county doesn’t plan to start collecting it again until Jan. 1, causing a four-month gap that will mean a 6-cent discount for consumers and a loss of about $18 million to county coffers, said Rachel Johnson, deputy chief of staff to Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
