Miami as Worst Run City is No Surprise

The Wall Street Journal's 24/7 Wall Street recently ranked the best and worst run cities in America, so it is of little bewilderment to this observer that Miami wins the dubious honor of worst run city in the country.

Ranking factors for the best and worst run cities in America included the performance of respective local economies, fiscal discipline, and standard of living of the top 100 cities by population.  The categories used by 24/7 Wall Street’s performance based methodology, makes it easy to drill down to the underlying causes of Miami’s problems.

Take the money and run

The crash of the housing market albeit, a nationwide problem, still, at 22.5 %, the Miami vacancy rate is the fifth highest nationally.  A 2009 Time magazine story points out that, “…a dysfunctional property-tax system has been haunting Florida…far longer than the recession has.”  If history is any indicator, therapy for a long-term fix of the tax system is years away.  Miami-Dade County levies some of the highest property taxes in the nation. The cash-strapped county has already lowered taxes, cut services and budgets. Coupled with rampant mismanagement, recent prosecutions for corruption and interdepartmental infighting, recovery will be slower in Miami than in most cities.

We’re Rich

With a stable credit rating (A2), Miami is the richest city in the country and the fourth richest city in the world. According to a 2011 Census Bureau study, Miami had the second-highest income inequality rate, with a third of Miami’s 400,892 citizens living below the poverty line.  The inequitable US wet-feet dry-feet policy for Cuban immigrants (10-fold over Haitian immigrants) is a major contributing factor to Miami’s poverty rate.  Cubans get the opportunity to remain in the US, eventually granted permanent resident status. A large number of immigrants are poor and uneducated, accepting low-wage jobs to survive.  Americans, mostly minorities looking for work, are beat out for these jobs because immigrants are willing to work for less than American-born workers. Employers are well aware of this fact and use it to their advantage.  I don’t think it takes an economist to figure out that this contributes to Miami’s median income of $27, 291, the third smallest among the cities surveyed.

Your tax dollars at work

In addition, with Spanish as a first language to over 65 percent of residents, schools must adapt to accommodate the seemingly unending immigrant population.  Cubans are given the opportunity to work legally, receive government welfare, unemployment benefits and free medical care; therefore, the incentive to get an education for this group is minimal.  Add Haitian immigrants to the numbers and only 68.2% of adults have high school diplomas—the forth lowest in the U.S.   For those of you that think I am singling out Cubans, consider this:  The neighboring, mostly Hispanic, city of Hialeah, Florida ranks number 10 of the worst run cities in the United States. With no credit rating and a population of roughly half that of Miami’s, only 68.6% of adults have high school diplomas, the fifth lowest in America.

We Won!

If beating out cities like Detroit, East St. Louis, and Newark as the worst run city in America is the goal of city and county leaders, they have performed admirably.  I think a letter, complete with the city seal and suitable for framing, should to be  sent to Virginia Beach, the best run city in America.  After all, we know how lonely it can be at the top.    On the other hand, the other 99 “losers” need encouragement too.