This is the message that the mayor of Miami Beach, Dan Gelber, delivered this week as it moved to sell $97.6 million of new municipal debt. The proceeds are intended to help the city fund more cultural projects and move away from its “old economic model” of selling Bellinis on Ocean Drive. But it is also a case of Miami Beach flexing its rising property values.

According to Bloomberg:

• Residential property values across Miami Beach grew by about 125% over the past decade
• Between 2019 and 2022, the number of “million-dollar zip codes” more than doubled (presumably these are just zip codes with median home prices above $1 million)
• And from 2012 to 2022, the number of high-net-worth individuals in the city increased by about 75% (I wonder how many moved to the city versus just got richer while already living there)

All of this has been good for property tax revenues:

And now the city is leveraging them to invest in culture.

Chart: Bloomberg