Miami targets fair cut of mobility fees from Miami-Dade County

Written by Genevieve Bowen on August 6, 2025

With eyes on local investment, Miami officials have ordered a review of mobility fees to ensure that development dollars flow back into the city neighborhoods that generate them.

The city manager is to take the next 120 days to analyze the mobility fee paid to Miami-Dade County, under a directive issued by the Miami City Commission during its final meeting before summer recess on July 24. The move aims to ensure that funds collected from new developments within the city are reinvested into the same neighborhoods those projects impact, rather than be directed toward infrastructure elsewhere in the county.

“It is essential that these mobility fee funds collected by the county are utilized effectively to benefit the areas from which they are collected,” the resolution states. Commissioner Miguel Gabela sponsored the measure, which gives City Manager Arthur Noriega until December to complete the review and report his findings and potential strategies to keep funds generated by new developments flowing back into city neighborhoods.

The county created the mobility fee in 2023 as an update to its longstanding road impact fee, originally established in 1988 in response to Miami-Dade’s explosive growth during the 1980s.

That older fee funneled 100% of its revenue into roadway projects, while the mobility fee recognizes a broader range of transportation needs. It allows 8% of the revenue to go toward mass transit, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, including sidewalks and streetscape features that support various transportation modes. The updated fee system officially took effect on Jan. 1, 2024.

The county collects the fee from developers and distributes funds through its budget and transportation planning process. Under the former road impact system, the county collected about $130 million annually. Although 2024 collection figures have not yet been released, the county has said the mobility fee structure is expected to reduce total collections by about 4% overall while still reflecting the added burden new development places on the transportation network.

The mobility fee divides the county into four zones for collection, based in part on a development’s proximity to Smart plan corridors, which are designated areas targeted for improved transit and pedestrian infrastructure to promote safer, more sustainable travel options.

Zone 1 encompasses downtown Miami and overlays the county’s Smart corridors and surrounding neighborhoods. Zones 2, 3 and 4 radiate outward from downtown to cover the rest of the county.

The fees differ by zone to account for varying travel patterns and infrastructure needs. For example, people are three times more likely to walk, bike or use transit in downtown Miami than in the suburban outer-ring Zone 4, according to county data.

For city officials, the concern is whether Miami’s dense, fast-growing neighborhoods are receiving a fair return on the development fees they generate. The call for the analysis also comes as a temporary exemption on mobility fees for downtown Miami developments is set to expire soon.

When the county passed the mobility fee ordinance in 2023, it included a temporary grace period for downtown projects. Developments within the Downtown DRI Increment III zone were granted a 30.2% reduction in assessed fees through Sept. 16, 2025.

The city commission reconvenes on Sept. 11.