Spotlight On: Michelle Gomez, Mayor, City of Tamarac
February 2025 — Tamarac Mayor Michelle Gomez spoke with Invest: about the many developments underway in the city to meet the needs of its rapidly-growing population. She highlighted Tamarac’s nationally-ranked education, and how it is developing world-class amenities to continue attracting new growth while prioritizing current residents and businesses.
What were some of the key achievements for the city over the last 12 to 18 months?
We have been working diligently on our 2040 Comprehensive Plan, which is a vital tool for guiding our future direction and growth. We’ve been actively engaging with the community and stakeholders to understand their vision for the future. Along those lines, multimodal transportation is a major priority as Tamarac’s population has grown from 60,000 in 2010 to 72,000 today, with projections of 90,000 by 2040. This growth has brought challenges and innovation as we desire to maintain a big-city feel with small-town charm and quietude.
The City has also won multiple accolades over the last year in various areas, such as Quality of Life programming in establishing our Pet Pantry and the Tamarac Shine See, Click, Fix campaign. We ranked first in the nation in the “up to 75,000 Population” as a Digital City by the Center for Digital Government as we enhance services and strengthen cybersecurity; received CentralSquare’s ENGAGE Award for Citizen Experience, and MoneyGeek recognized Tamarac as the third best place to live among small up-and-coming cities in the U.S. for promising financial growth.
Additionally, Tamarac is pleased to hold an AA+ bond rating, receive over $4.4 million in grant funding for key projects such as park safety enhancements, canal improvements, and water distribution expansion, have a highly accredited — nationally and internationally — Fire Rescue organization, and is home to one of the nation’s top schools — Millennium 6-12 Collegiate Academy — as ranked by U.S. News & World Report.
Can you expound upon the recent milestones reached by the Millennium 6-12 Collegiate Academy?
Proudly! Since opening as Tamarac’s first public high school just seven years ago, the Academy has achieved a 100% graduation rate and a college readiness index of 97.7%. Millennium 6-12 College Academy was recognized by U.S. News & World Report as the highest-ranking public school in Broward County and the second-highest-ranked school in the entire state of Florida. When students in the collegiate program graduate, they do so with an associate’s degree along with many other achievements. Our graduates have headed to Ivy League schools and other top educational institutions and serve in our Military. We are fortunate to have this wonderful Academy in our City, and we are very proud of the hardworking students and staff for this well-deserved recognition.
How is the city addressing housing affordability and community development, and how are you strategizing in the face of any headwinds?
We are still feeling some of the tailwinds of the COVID supply issues, inflation, rising insurance costs, and new building inspection regulations and reserve requirements. The City is fortunate to receive some state and federal funding. To keep people in their homes, we have created grant programming to assist with payments for their mortgage, rent, and security deposits and assist with increases in association dues, roof repair work, and other minor home repairs that homeowners must complete to obtain insurance. It isn’t necessarily “affordable” housing anymore that we are discussing. It is attainable housing, keeping people in their homes and supporting smart growth redevelopment to add additional homes.
We know many of our commercial plazas have been around for years, and we’re excited to roll out our third incentive program to help landlords refresh their properties. By investing in our business plazas, we’re encouraging retail to make its way back to brick-and-mortar spaces, creating job opportunities and inspiring people to shop locally again. At the same time, we’re staying focused on our Strategic Plan to support mixed-use developments when properties are being redeveloped. A big part of this plan includes reimagining two city-owned properties that have become obsolete. Both the 15-acre and 27-acre sites are ideally suited for redevelopment through public-private partnerships to improve public services and bring about restaurants, retail, housing, and beautifully designed public gathering spaces that are contemporary and stylish.
How would you describe the real estate landscape in Tamarac, particularly how it connects to urban planning and housing?
I describe it as primed and ready to go! We continue to focus on the five key elements to remain a vibrant and prosperous City: economic development, new housing, transportation, environmental sustainability, and community engagement. Our property values have increased 177.85% over the last 10 years, so on average, they have increased approximately 11% annually for the past 10 years.
Redevelopment is a catalyst to attract future private investment into the private plazas. This means that by cultivating density in the right places, such as our designated commercial corridor, we’ll attract residents with new multifamily projects and businesses with brand-new, modern commercial buildings. It creates a robust modern ecosystem bustling with local entrepreneurs, eclectic shops, charming cafes, and restaurants along walkable pathways that residents will enjoy.
What are your top priorities for Tamarac over the next few years?
While I have a few more ideas in mind, for now, I’ll focus on the revitalization and redevelopment of the two key city-owned properties, along with several others, and encouraging broader redevelopment efforts that align with our Comprehensive Plan. This includes ensuring our infrastructure is sound and making upgrades where we can, such as building a new water treatment plant, expanding our water systems, adding automated water meters, resurfacing our roads, creating more walking trails, and improving technology and traffic management.
This vision for Tamarac over the next few years extends beyond mere economic prosperity. As a multigenerational, multicultural City, we are dedicated to fostering a true sense of community where residents enjoy a high quality of life and feel proud to call Tamarac home. Together, we’ll continue to live, work and thrive as One Tamarac.
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