Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s office said the proposed $927 million commuter rail agreement with Brightline does not adequately protect taxpayers, according to Oct. 22 reporting by the Miami Herald published by WLRN. The office said it remains committed to negotiating a deal for the Miami-to-Aventura line.

The mayor's office said in a statement this week that the proposed agreement "does not meet that standard" of protecting taxpayers, the Miami Herald first reported. Levine Cava's team said it remains open to renegotiating.

The project, known as the Coastal Link, would run trains on existing Brightline tracks along U.S. 1 between downtown Miami and Aventura. Stations would include stops in Wynwood, Little Haiti and near Florida International University's Biscayne Bay campus.

What the county would pay

Miami-Dade has lined up federal and state funding for most of the construction cost. The county's share would be about $370 million, the Herald reported. On top of that, the county would cover annual operating costs starting at about $37 million a year, plus a $15 million track-access fee to Brightline for the first 30 years.

Florida ratified a $200 million state pledge for the project this week, according to WLRN. That restored state money that had been pulled from the budget. The total estimated project cost is $927.3 million, and construction funding is now fully accounted for, WLRN reported.

Consultant flags concerns

Deputy Mayor Roy Coley, who took over the Brightline negotiations after former deputy Jimmy Morales was forced out in June, hired consultant Newmark to review the draft deal. The September report, obtained by the Herald, raised several red flags.

The report cited potential delays tied to Brightline's ongoing financial restructuring. Some corporate entities connected to the rail company filed for federal bankruptcy protection in September. Brightline's Miami-to-Orlando train operations are not affected by the filing, according to a company statement.

The Newmark report also flagged a long-running dispute between Brightline and a cargo-train company that shares the tracks. That rift would need to be resolved before the Coastal Link could proceed. The report said the draft deal would saddle Miami-Dade with too many cost-overrun risks that a private company would normally bear, the Herald reported.

Brightline pushed back, telling the Herald that the consultants never spoke to anyone at the rail company.

In a memo to Levine Cava summarizing the report, Coley wrote: "Federal and State funding is valuable, but outside funding does not cure a deal whose costs, access rights, and protections remain uncertain."

Political split

Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins, who lobbied for Coastal Link federal funding as a county commissioner, praised the project on Oct. 21 after the state funding was restored. Brightline said in a statement that the project "is at the finish line" and called on county leadership to close the deal.

Negotiations were ongoing as of the Oct. 22 reports. Those reports did not identify a scheduled County Commission vote.