The new fiscal year begins Oct. 1 and Sunny Isles Beach’s budget already has sprung a leak.

On Sept. 22, the City Commission – with Bud Scholl absent -- gave its unanimous approval to the spending plan in under three minutes. That edged out Aventura’s City Commission, which took all of four minutes to approve its budget. To be fair, Aventura commissioners used the extra time for a victory lap applauding their foresight in “running the city like a business” and outsourcing many services. (See previous budget stories.)

The unfinished Solis Resort towers over the Ocean Palm Hotel on Collins Avenue.

But Day 1, Sunny Isles Beach City Manager Rick Conner is looking for ways to finesse the impact of the Solis Resort project not paying development fees as planned. Back on July 16, city commissioners heard a plea from the developers of the Solis Resort for a further delay in payments. At that time, the commission took a hard line, telling developers to pay the almost $700,000 owed by Aug. 15 or face legal action. Mayor Norman Edelcup vowed no more delays and Commissioner Roslyn Brezin called for action on what she described as an “unsightly” construction site at 15701 Collins Ave.

Instead, a new deal was struck allowing Solis’ developers to pay $100,000 and make interest-only payments – at 8.5 percent -- on the principal into August, 2011.

That leaves the city looking at about a $600,000 shortfall in its new $26 million budget.

Conner says he isn’t worried and points to a couple of pending grants that aren’t counted on in the budget.

The Solis Resort was scheduled to open in 2008. The 53-story tower would include a mix of  140 traditional hotel rooms and 135 condominiums. The two- and three-bedroom condo units had been offered for pre-sale prices ranging from $1.4- to $2.4 million.