2026 State of the County

Watch the State of the County address

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava delivered her annual State of the County address on Jan. 28, 2026. She recapped her administration's accomplishments of the past year to build a more affordable, safe and resilient community, outlined her vision for a future-ready economy and shared how the County would continue gearing up for a historic 2026 and a thriving tomorrow.

Read the Mayor's Remarks:

2025 Departmental Accomplishments

- Successfully placed over 12,100 pets into loving homes and reunited more than 1,800 with their families, including our longest-stay resident, who was adopted after 743 days
- Provided over 39,000 sterilization services, an 18% increase from last year and over 80,000 wellness services, promoting responsible pet ownership and safer, healthier communities for animals and residents
- Expanded awareness of mission and programs through digital and in-person engagement, participating in more than 200 community events
- Opened the Ibis Garage six months ahead of schedule and under budget, increasing parking capacity by 30%
- Broke ground on Concourse K, MIA’s first terminal expansion in 18 years, with scheduled completion in 2029
- Achieved and maintained 95% operational rate across all 616 conveyance units
- Streamlining systems, reducing redundancy, and using automation in line with WISE 305
- Centralized media buying and creative execution. CITD’s efforts generated 110M in social reach and 1B+ impressions through paid public education campaigns, delivering $6M+ in cost savings and $150K+ in added value
- Migrated over 30 contact centers and transitioned more than 1,400 agents to a unified, reliable platform, improving efficiency and enhancing customer experience
- Received reaccreditation for a new 5-year term, reinforcing service quality, funding credibility, operational efficiency, and continuous improvement
- Received over $6 million in new funding aimed at strengthening social safety nets by addressing older adult housing safety, nutrition needs for underserved populations, transitional housing for vulnerable populations, and engagement challenges for fathers participating in Head Start and Early Head Start
- Divisions earned top honors including ASPA Public Service Organization of the Year for Family and Community Services and two NACo Achievement Awards
- Reached a historic milestone with the successful termination of the Department of Justice Consent Decree, concluding more than a decade of federal oversight of the County’s jail system
- In partnership with Corrections Health Services (CHS), streamlined intake procedures to reduce law enforcement processing times while ensuring the timely identification of medical needs
- The MDCR Boot Camp Program celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2025, marking three decades of service focused on accountability, discipline, and rehabilitation and a recidivism rate of just 10.98 percent
- Redesigned Art in Public Places website for a more streamlined, user-friendly experience
- Providing access to instruments, music scholarships, and mentorship from renowned orchestra members to young musicians through the Instrumental Start Program at the Marshall L. Davis African Heritage Cultural Arts Center
- Launched The Way of Water at the Moss Center, a creative project that showcased the importance of water and how it’s managed in collaboration with other county departments
- Successfully strengthened community resilience and preparedness by hosting 10 Whole Community Meetings that united hundreds of partners and expanded the Communities Organized in Response to Emergencies (CORE) program to 85+ organizations
- Enhanced the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) efforts, delivered over 100 trainings, and executed 15 exercises which tested our capabilities and partnership coordination ahead of the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup
- Earned a 3rd re-accreditation from the Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP)
- DERM became an independent department
- Secured strategic federal/state funding, including more than $2 million in EPA Community Project Funding for canal restoration and pollution prevention projects and $4.25 million to Miami-Dade County for Biscayne Bay Water Quality
- Delivered countywide water quality and environmental monitoring - completed continuous Biscayne Bay surface water quality sampling at 140 stations and comprehensive benthic habitat surveys across hundreds of locations
- Opened one new fire-rescue station and strategically placed 11 new units into service to reduce response times, increase unit availability and enhance fire-rescue coverage throughout Miami-Dade County
- Achieved accredited status by the Center of Public Safety Excellence (CPSE) Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI), for the fourth time
- Provided water and swim safety lessons to 2,268 children through the County’s SPLASH program
- Operationalized a Homeless Reporting Tool that automatically links homeless outreach teams with law enforcement and other government agencies to address overnight camping and sleeping, without criminalization
- Added 200 beds and 377 units to the housing pipeline, in part, through aggressive acquisition, renovation, and adaptive reuse efforts
- One of 10 communities nationwide selected to be part of a targeted homeless prevention initiative, which could lay the groundwork for a federal homeless prevention strategy
- Added 3,446 housing units in 2025, leveraging a 72.7 million dollar County investment to support 1.17 billion dollars in total development costs, representing just 6.2 percent in public funding driving large scale housing production for Miami Dade
- Invested 42.5 million dollars to help 1,271 households achieve, sustain, and protect homeownership, strengthening housing stability and long term opportunity across Miami Dade County
- $4.94 million awarded through the 2025 Action Plan for economic development, generating 141 jobs
- Collected almost $24 million for FY ended 9/30/25 from delinquent accounts owed to County departments, as well as Jackson Health and Physicians
- For FY ended September 30, 2025, recovered almost $800K from prior assessments made through compliance reports issued
- Led the implementation of automated time entry for a significant portion of the 30K users of the County’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platform (INFORMS) thereby reducing staff time for data input and increasing payroll accuracy
- Partnered with CareerSource South Florida to open a new CareerSource Service Center at Main Library, supported by a $1.247 million FloridaCommerce grant, expanding workforce development services and advancing the No Wrong Door approach
- Expanded access through Libraries @Your Door Home Delivery Service, mailing more than 126,600 books and materials
- Launched inclusive, student-run coffee shops in partnership with local schools at two libraries, providing neurodiverse students with real-world work experience
- Developed and presented the FY 2025-26 proposed budget which was adopted by the Board of County Commissioners on September 18, 2025
- Successfully closed six financings, generating $36.40 million in debt service savings for County residents
- Distributed the Weekly Grant Mail to over 25,000 subscribers and directly supported more than 65 grant projects, securing $101.8 million in awards; including $26.8 million for Ryan White Part A/Minority AIDS Initiative programs and $4.47 million for Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative which served more than 9,300 residents with HIV in 2024.
- The Toxicology Bureau maintained ISO/IEC 17025 and ABFT accreditation, and Toxicology Lab Supervisor Joe Kahl received the Young Forensic Toxicologist Service Award
- Pathology Bureau strengthened interagency coordination, case accuracy, and operational efficiency by partnering with Ryder Trauma/Jackson Memorial Hospital
- Chief Medical Examiner and Department Director Dr. Benjamin Mathis was awarded "Medical Examiner of the Year" by Life Alliance Organ Recovery Agency and Legacy Donor Services Foundation
- Served millions of park patrons and almost 500,000 participants through recreational, educational, and environmental programs and facility rentals that expand park access
- Planted 9,122 trees throughout the county in alignment with the Million Trees Miami Initiative
- Successfully completed the Certified Autism Center® designation through the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards. With this achievement, PROS is now recognized as one of the largest parks and recreation departments in the nation to earn this certification
- Established a new medical provider rates to reduce claims costs, while expanding wellness incentives, programs and tele-health services at no additional expense to employees
- Through a long-term public-private partnership, completed construction and delivery of the new state-of the-art Osvaldo N. Soto Miami-Dade Justice Center doubling courtroom capacity
- Accelerated affordable/workforce housing readiness on County land through improved site intake, deal structuring, and compliance checkpoints to move opportunities faster from concept to execution
- Launched Municipal Kiosk Partnership Project launched in conjunction with OEDIT/SPD staff to better service municipal customers requiring County permit approvals
- Maintained reviews of building permit applications for affordable and workforce housing at five days, despite an increase year-to-year of over 65% in the number of applications
- Assisted more than 2,871 residential and 173 small business owners starting a new business, doing a home renovation or correcting code violation through the complimentary Small Business and Homeowner Permitting Assistance Program
- Achieved new record of 8.56 million cruise passengers and surpassed the one million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) mark for the 11th year
- Opened the largest cruise terminal in the world, MSC Cruises Terminal AA, which process up to 36,000 passengers a day
- Completed Phase A of the South Florida Container Terminal Cargo Yard. From electric cranes, gates, yard equipment and more, the SFCT Cargo Yard Densification Project is an important part of PortMiami’s commitment to grow its business in a responsible and sustainable manner
- Advanced the Zero Waste Master Plan to modernize the County’s solid waste system, including through the launch of MDIA's latest Public Innovation Challenge for Waste Diversion
- Launched Waste-by-Rail operations in partnership with Waste Management and Florida East Coast Railway, reducing emissions while improving system resiliency
- Launched new AI-powered recycling trucks to improve contamination detection and increase route efficiency, resulting in cleaner recycling streams and faster service delivery
- Launched the County’s first Certificate in Public Procurement program to advance the skills of the procurement professionals
- Launched the Procurement Academy in 2023, which is now a national model partnering with 30+ state, national, and international procurement professionals and organizations
- Designed and implemented the SPD AI Assistant to provide instant guidance to staff on the County’s procurement legislative framework, and the AI Competitive Selection Committee (CSC) tool to autogenerate recommendations for CSC members
- Launched Metro Express Bus Rapid Transit on the South Dade TransitWay, with service attracting 2,500 more weekday riders than previous express service
- Improved rider experience and safety by expanding amenities, including 300 new benches, 180 new shelters, trash bins, and enhanced lighting locations
- Public works investments impacted residents countywide, with 154.82 miles of roadway resurfaced, 42 drainage structures & 6K ft of pipe installed, 9,975 potholes and 857 pavement drop-offs repaired, 2 bridge rehabilitations completed, and street lighting system functionality restored to 92%
- Executed $603 million in Capital Improvement Program projects, investing in system-wide upgrades that protect public health and future population and economic growth
- Completed 144 CIP projects that future-proof infrastructure while responsibly stewarding our ratepayers’ investments by maintaining rates that are less than 1% of a customer’s median household income, lower than the U.S. EPA’s affordability criteria of 2.5%
- Executed $18.02 million in Connect 2 Protect construction, with approximately 11,000 connections in various stages of design, permitting, or construction since 2022

Mayor Daniella Levine Cava

Daniella Levine Cava was elected Miami-Dade County's first-ever woman mayor in November 2020, and re-elected in August 2024, after 40 years of advocacy for South Florida families.

As mayor, she oversees approximately 23,000 County employees, serves nearly 3 million residents, and manages an annual budget of approximately $12 billion. She is focused on building a more resilient and prosperous Miami-Dade. Her initiatives include combating gun violence, building a future ready economy full of opportunity, tackling the housing crisis, and preserving our precious environment.

A social worker, lawyer, and activist, she previously served as the County Commissioner for District 8 and worked with vulnerable populations through Legal Services of Greater Miami and Catalyst Miami, an organization she founded. With her husband, Dr. Robert Cava, she raised two children, Eliza and Edward, in Miami-Dade.

2026 State of the County

2025 Departmental Accomplishments

Animal Services

Aviation

Communications, Information and Technology

Community Services

Corrections and Rehabilitation

Cultural Affairs

Emergency Management

Environmental Resources Management

Fire Rescue

Homeless Trust

Housing and Community Development

Internal Compliance

Libraries

Management and Budget

Medical Examiner

Parks, Recreation, and Open Spaces

People and Internal Operations

Regulatory and Economic Resources

Seaport

Solid Waste Management

Strategic Procurement

Transportation and Public Works

Water and Sewer

Mayor Daniella Levine Cava