Gimenez didn't get his wish on senior fund

Days before he was elected as Miami-Dade Mayor, Carlos Gimenez made a series of promises that related to providing money for seniors.

One of his promises posted on the website of CBS4 News on June 22, 2011 -- about a week before he was elected mayor -- stated: "I will create a Seniors First Trust Fund to assure that the elderly continue to have access to warm meals and I will extend the low-income seniors property tax rebate program of $100 for next year," said Gimenez.

He made a similar promise about the trust fund in a May 31 email to supporters:

"As County Mayor, I will establish the SENIORS FIRST TRUST FUND, to ensure a long-term revenue stream supported through savings generated by reducing the size of County government from 60 departments to 25, bloated bureaucracy with exorbitant executive salaries."

This Carlos-O-Meter item will evaluate Gimenez's two-part promise: to create a Seniors First Trust Fund and to extend the low-income seniors property tax rebate.

In a Sept. 22 memo to commissioners as they prepared to vote on the budget, Gimenez included a proposal for $850,000 to create a Seniors First Trust Fund "to support services to seniors in our community."

When Miami-Dade County Commissioners met to approve the budget, they voted to reallocate the mayor's proposed $850,000 for the trust fund to the general fund, according to county spokesman Suzy Trutie. You can see the vote in this video of the budget meeting starting around the 9-hour, 20-minute mark.

That means the Seniors First Trust Fund is kaput for this year.

The property tax rebate program was spared, however, at a cost of about $3.4 million (see page 304 of the budget).

The funding continues the Save Our Seniors Homeowners Relief Fund, which was created during the previous fiscal year by Commissioner Bruno Barreiro. The relief fund provides residents 65 and older who have received the state's homestead exemption for seniors a $100 check per household. To qualify for the senior homestead exemption, a senior must earn no more than about $26,203 a year, said deputy property appraiser Marcus Saiz.

Gimenez promised to create a Seniors First Trust Fund but commissioners rejected that proposal. He also promised to extend the tax rebate for low-income seniors -- and Gimenez delivered here. We will have to wait until July 2012 to see if he proposes a Seniors First Trust Fund again. But since he met half of his two-part goal, we rate this a Compromise.