FYI Miami: July 21, 2022

Below are some of the FYIs in this week’s edition. The entire content of this week’s FYIs and Insider sections is available by subscription only. To subscribe click here.

DRIVERS’ SECOND CHANCE: Miami-Dade drivers with suspended licenses due to unpaid fines now have a second chance to get back on the road, as commissioners approved the county’s Driver License Suspension Task Force report with changes that would help more than 600,000 Miami-Dade drivers. The document includes seven recommendations such as creating a Driver License Compliance Court to help people reinstate licenses by addressing issues related to ability to pay; develop and deploy contactless driver license compliance tools “that immediately inform drivers of their options, proactively notify them, reduce in-person requirements for people with suspended licenses, and simplify the compliance process.” Also, simplifying the payment process for residents to pay what they owe to prevent license suspensions or allow people to get licenses reinstated. The resolution, sponsored by Commissioners Eileen Higgins and Sally Heyman, directs the mayor to appropriate funds in her upcoming budget to enact the task force recommendations.

ENVIRONMENTAL PENALTIES: County commissioners gave final approval Tuesday to an ordinance increasing civil fines for water pollution, “including pollution discharges to ground or surface waters, unauthorized work in wetlands and other surface waters of the State, and prohibited discharges to sanitary sewers and stormwater sewers, that have the potential to result in adverse impacts to the ground or surface waters of Miami-Dade County, including Biscayne Bay.” The ordinance by Rebeca Sosa raises the penalty for the failure to have plans approved from $200 to $2,500; a sanitary nuisance from $500 to $1,000; open burning from $250 to $750; unlawful discharge affecting water quality from $200 to $2,500; and discharging prohibited wastes or substances into a sanitary sewer in violation of local limits from $300 to $2,500. The new legislation lists all 33 changes to the civil penalties.

WAGE RISE SPIKE: A report by Smartest Dollar using the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages data says Miami had a 12.1% year-over-year rise in average weekly wages, the largest increases from the fourth quarter of 2020 to the fourth quarter of 2021 in the nation, followed by Raleigh-Cary, NC, and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater. The report says Miami’s inflation-adjusted percentage change in average wages increased 5% year-over-year, with average weekly wages of $1,446 in 2021 and $1,290 in 2020. The biggest industries that experienced increase in wages around the US were leisure and hospitality, information and financial activities, said the report.