Miami’s bad books could mean fire sales

The woeful state of city finances has Miami in crisis mode, commission chairman Marc Sarnoff said, and the projected $45 million shortfall in this year’s budget could force it to sell off assets, including real estate. Mayor Tomas Regalado, who has already had to scramble to resolve a $118 million budget shortfall from 2009, is working with the Securities and Exchange Commission as well in its probe into whether previous administrations committed fraud in the course of budget adjustments for its bond ratings. Current estimates show the city could have financial reserves of less that $10 million by September, said Larry Spring, Miami’s CFO. Regalado and other officials have declined to specify which property assets may be put up for sale, and have not weighed in on projects such as the Port of Miami tunnel and some large-scale affordable housing projects. [NBC]