Miami-Dade County is putting your tax dollars to good use.  It sounds cliché, but it's true.  As we go through our daily routines, it's easy to take for granted the programs and services government provides, or lose sight of how and where we invest your tax dollars.

Pundits are quick to use words like "waste" and "greed" to describe local government.  These words play on people's emotions.  They conjure up images of elected officials gleefully sitting around a table divvying up the spoils when revenues are up, or government workers recklessly throwing money around.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

In Miami-Dade County, we take our jobs seriously.  We spend our days prioritizing services and working to get the biggest bang for the taxpayer's buck.  It is a task complicated by the fact that so many of the decisions we make are subjective in nature.  One person's necessity is another person's excess.  "Fat" is in the eye of the beholder.

No doubt, there are examples of excess in County government.  Like any organization, we can make improvements.  We are not oblivious to our shortcomings.  We don't always get it right.  In fact, we are constantly examining what we do and how we do it in an effort to live up to the wishes of those who pay the bills.

When the economy was strong and the marketplace robust, Miami-Dade County did exactly what any fiscally responsible person would do with additional funds.  We used those dollars to meet the immediate needs of our community.  We invested in long term projects.  We saved for emergencies.  And, we reduced taxes.

For 13 years in a row, Miami-Dade County has lowered its millage rate with no prompting from the State.  We were also one of the first communities to sound the alarm for tax relief.  Three years ago, we pushed to get an additional $25,000 homestead exemption for low-income seniors.  It was an uphill battle.  Few legislators were interested.  The seasoned lawmakers who today talk earnestly about tax reform were no where to be found back then.  Tax reform wasn't the issue du jour.

Now that talk about tax reform is en vogue, these same leaders who claim to understand taxpayers' real needs have again failed to deliver.  The inequities in our tax code that exist today are the same ones which existed before the January 29th tax referendum.  First-time homebuyers, business owners, and renters are still waiting for much-deserved relief.

While Miami-Dade County does not and cannot control the market price for homes, here's just some of what we've done with your tax dollars.

• Violent crime in unincorporated Miami-Dade County is down.  Not many communities can say the same.  This didn't just happen by chance.  It's not luck.  It takes resources and manpower - and a sustained effort - to stay one step ahead of criminals.  We're doing it.
  
  
• Emergency response times are improving.  Fire trucks aren't getting faster.  In the past eight years, we have built, equipped and staffed 12 new fire stations throughout the County.  As a result, the average fire rescue truck is on a scene in about eight minutes.  That can mean the difference between life and death.
  
  
• Our 3-1-1 Answer Center did not exist three years ago.  By the end of this year, it will have received more than six million calls for information or service.  It has proven to be a vital tool for residents seeking assistance, particularly during emergencies.
  
  
• Three-hundred-thousand residents now receive automated garbage pickup.  The automated service is neater, cleaner and safer than the traditional pick-up method.  More importantly, it's less expensive in the long run.
  
  
• We're one of the only library systems in the world that's growing.  We've added 15 new libraries since 2001.  Like homes, schools and churches, libraries are the cornerstones of a livable community.
  
  
• We've picked up the bill when the State has fallen short.  Over the past six years, the State has reduced funding and/or shifted costs of over $300 million to the County, including $233 million for Medicaid, $10 million for juvenile detention, and $6 million for child development and school readiness services.
  
  
• By the end of this year, we will have put aside $70 million dollars in an emergency reserve fund so we are ready for the unexpected.

Could we live without all of these enhancements?  Absolutely.  Are we glad they're there?  Absolutely.  Are most residents willing to give up the neighborhood comforts they've become accustomed to?  Absolutely not.   The mentality is, make cuts so long as those cuts don't impact my programs and services.

More recently, local government is being criticized for the so-called "global agreement."  This agreement maximizes and leverages our financial resources.  It creates local jobs - good-paying jobs -- at a time when our community really needs them.  Most importantly, each project - taken on its own merits -- makes sense.

A Port Tunnel enables our seaport to compete by getting trucks in and out of the seaport efficiently and without disrupting downtown traffic.  The state came to us with $650 million dollars to build, operate and maintain the tunnel.  It's a gift we'd be foolish to give back.   No matter what, Miami-Dade County won't spend one more penny than promised.  A Port Tunnel is necessary if we want to remain a leader in trade.

Another prong of the "global agreement" is building a stadium not for the Marlins, but for Miami-Dade County residents.  The question is often asked, why should government be involved in the building of stadiums?  It's a fair public policy debate.  I believe there is justifiable cause for a government partnership in the management and construction of a baseball facility.   Additionally, the money being used toward the stadium is tourist tax dollars, money which has restricted uses and cannot be used for general government purposes like affordable housing or education. We're not building a baseball stadium to the exclusion of everything else.  We're building a stadium along with everything else.

Like a baseball stadium, museums and cultural facilities add to our quality of life.  Our arts community is maturing.  Generous private donations are helping to make our cultural facilities whole.  These public-private partnerships aren't superfluous.  They're essential for world-class communities.

While local government can't do or be everything for everybody, we have a diversified portfolio.  We are touching people in all kinds of ways with a myriad of projects, programs and services.

As we look to the future, we are focused now, more than ever, on exercising good budgeting practices.  We understand the days of increased revenues are over.  We will continue to advocate for tax reform - reform that is well thought out, fair and free of favoritism.  Until those reforms are realized, those who float innovative ideas and talk about public policy in the abstract are just delivering empty rhetoric which does more to divide than inform the very people we as elected officials have an obligation to serve.