Fort Lauderdale’s City Hall was critically damaged in a record-breaking rainstorm that hit in April 2023. Now, the city is moving forward with plans for a new building in the same spot.

Vice Mayor John Herbst torpedoed the plan, saying the city has already set aside more than $100 million in rainy day reserves, equivalent to one-fourth of the city’s $450 million operating budget.

For two years now, Fort Lauderdale has been a city without a City Hall. The eight-story building was critically damaged in a record-breaking rainstorm that hit in April 2023, sending floodwaters ...