Mayor Alvin Brown's proposed budget cuts jobs, spending

[Jaxson]

I, for one, am very satisfied with Mayor Brown's budget.  He kept his word, and even those who opposed him in the election would at least begrudge some kudos.  A breath of fresh air in politics of any level.

[Ralph W]

I noticed that making the budget numbers work is predicated on the JSO union and members agreeing to a 2% cut. Did I miss something in the news or did he gain that concession? Same with the 40 employees out to pasture. Did that happen, too?

[Charles Hunter]

Well, I believe that it is rather telling about Mayor Brown's budget that one of his biggest detractors (Who happens to have been a presence on metrojacksonville.com and is one of my Facebook friends) is posting criticism not of the budget but of his hopes to land an NBA team.  I am guessing that the poster in question finds no fault with the budget but must find something about which to see something negative. 

No, you misread, that poster was against an "MBA" team coming here.   

[JeffreyS]

I hope we don't have a set back on the tremendous gains we have made against crime lately.  That said I like a balanced budget. Perhaps he will have success increasing the tax base.

[Jaxson]

Well, I believe that it is rather telling about Mayor Brown's budget that one of his biggest detractors (Who happens to have been a presence on metrojacksonville.com and is one of my Facebook friends) is posting criticism not of the budget but of his hopes to land an NBA team.  I am guessing that the poster in question finds no fault with the budget but must find something about which to see something negative. 

Don't get me wrong, I love our friend who happens to be a major skeptic of the new mayor.  It just bothers me that we have to search for reasons to dislike the man.  What did he do to earn such feelings?  Talk about a brief honeymoon - it lasted faster than the blink of a hummingbird's eye in some people's minds...  I respectfully disagree and am proud of what the new mayor has done so far... LOL

No, you misread, that poster was against an "MBA" team coming here.   

[urbanlibertarian]

Nice article in the TU about the budget:

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2011-07-17/story/road-jacksonville-mayors-balanced-budget-involved-hard-choices-planning

I didn't vote for the mayor but I gotta admit I'm pretty impressed with his approach to spending and taxes.  Keep up the good work Mr. Mayor!

[urbanlibertarian]

Mayor Brown's guest column in today's TU:

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/letters-readers/2011-07-17/story/guest-column-mayor-alvin-brown-no-new-tax-promise-kept-now

[heights unknown]

Nice article in the TU about the budget:

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2011-07-17/story/road-jacksonville-mayors-balanced-budget-involved-hard-choices-planning

I didn't vote for the mayor but I gotta admit I'm pretty impressed with his approach to spending and taxes.  Keep up the good work Mr. Mayor!

I like that article. I disagree with some of the bloggers and the comments made under that article that said it was not enough...its more than what the previous Mayors in the previous administrations did; they kept on spending and spending without doing anything to provide more capital to support a balanced budget, if they did, Jacksonville wouldn't be financially choking right now.

"HU"

[heights unknown]

Mayor Brown's guest column in today's TU:

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/letters-readers/2011-07-17/story/guest-column-mayor-alvin-brown-no-new-tax-promise-kept-now

I like this article as well; and in one of my first posts under this thread, I too said that our President, Congress, the House, and all the politicians in Washington might be able to learn something from Mayor Brown; my hats off to you Sir, and it has nothing to do with your race (I too am black); I don't care if the leader of a City or Country is pink as long as they do the job, and you are off and running to a super start!!!

"HU"

[Tacachale]

Nice article in the TU about the budget:

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2011-07-17/story/road-jacksonville-mayors-balanced-budget-involved-hard-choices-planning

I didn't vote for the mayor but I gotta admit I'm pretty impressed with his approach to spending and taxes.  Keep up the good work Mr. Mayor!

I like that article. I disagree with some of the bloggers and the comments made under that article that said it was not enough...its more than what the previous Mayors in the previous administrations did; they kept on spending and spending without doing anything to provide more capital to support a balanced budget, if they did, Jacksonville wouldn't be financially choking right now.

"HU"

Not really. The bulk of John Delaney's big-project spending was in the Better Jacksonville Plan. These projects largely didn't come out of the city's general budget, they were funded from a sales tax increase approved by voter referendum. That's hardly spending over the budget. Delaney actually left an over $100 million surplus in the city's budget.

[Ralph W]

Where do we stand now with paying for the Better Jacksonville Plan? Is the tax due to sunset or is it an indefinite levy designed to pay off a bond of spend now , pay later?

If the BJP is totally covered, are there plans afoot to just continue on with the tax and just change the reason?

Related, where do we stand with the half cent levy that allowed us to remove the bridge tolls? Has this tax done what is was created for and if so, where does the money go now?

[Tacachale]

^The BJP and its projects was largely funded by a bond issue paid for by the half-cent sales tax. The sales tax has a sunset provision that will terminate it in 2030, or earlier if the bond is paid off before that. For a while it looked like it would be paid off early, perhaps 2023, but since the economic downturn I don't think anyone knows if that will still be the case.

Because of the sunset provision the tax can't be extended after whichever of those things happens first. If the city wants to continue something similar, it will require another proposal and another voter referendum.

I don't know about the bridge tolls. I expect that is continuing, since the bridges still need to be maintained. It would appear that it does what it was supposed to do, as the bridges don't have tolls on them (and aren't falling into the river).

[urbanlibertarian]

From the TU:
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-02-17/story/city-considering-trimming-staff-other-cuts-totaling-20-million

City considering trimming staff, other cuts totaling $20 million

Posted: February 17, 2012 - 6:03pm  |  Updated: February 18, 2012 - 7:20am
By Timothy J. Gibbons

Eleven city departments have proposed about $20 million in savings and revenue increases as the mayor’s office moves into Phase II of its city reorganization plans.

Some of those changes are being considered for immediate implementation, with projected savings of $2.7 million.

Each of the departments had been ordered to come up with 10 percent to 15 percent in cuts, with the suggestions submitted to the administration this week. The finance department is now evaluating them to confirm the budgetary impact.

The biggest projected savings would come from the Fire and Rescue Department, which submitted plans to save $13.2 million by cutting costs and making more money.

Revenue would jump by increasing the number of people the department transports to the hospital, doing more fire inspections and doing a better job of collecting money owed them. Cuts would come by reducing utility costs â€" a perennial issue for the department â€" and spending less on fuel and maintenance.

One suggestion, from the Parks and Recreation department, generated controversy when it was floated during last year’s budget process: Eliminate overnight camping at Huguenot Park, saving $20,000.

Bigger savings would come from closing the Cecil Aquatic Center on Sundays and Mondays, eliminating four lifeguard positions to save $139,807.

Other suggested savings were more modest, such as cancelling a $200 Wall Street Journal subscription for employee services and eliminating that department’s $40 membership in the International Public Management Association.

One employee services suggestion â€" using in-house counsel for labor negotiations â€" appears to already be in the works. An attorney with the Office of General Counsel has been handling recent talks with the city’s unions, rather than the outside negotiator that did the job in the past.

Although the departments were told to focus on finding efficiencies rather than cutting jobs, the suggestions do eliminate 55 positions.

Some of those personnel cuts would come in conjunction with other changes, such as jettisoning three positions as part of closing the Moncrief and Louis Dinah senior centers.

Other personnel cuts could come from hiring contract security guards rather than having civil servants do it and shrinking Municipal Code Compliance staff by nine employees.

None of the changes have yet been officially adopted. After the finance review, Mayor Alvin Brown will go through the list, said Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Karen Bowling, deciding which ones to move ahead on.

The changes won’t wait until the new budget, though.

“Some of them will absolutely, definitely go into effect this budget year,” she said.

Meanwhile, the city is moving ahead with plans to privatize parts of its fleet operations.

About 15 companies responded to a request for information regarding fleet, laying out suggestions for things that could be done by private companies.

Similar requests for information are in the works concerning privatizing emergency medical services and hiring a third-party broker for health insurance.



Timothy Gibbons: (904) 359-4103

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-02-17/story/city-considering-trimming-staff-other-cuts-totaling-20-million#ixzz1mk4W9nMG

[urbanlibertarian]

I didn't vote for the mayor but I like him more and more as he tries to make city government more efficient.

[Tacachale]

^Well, if it needs to be done it needs to be done, but we're going to be paying for a lot of these cuts one way or another.