Councilman Clark to sponsor new 3-year Mobility Plan fee moratorium legislation

[dougskiles]

Public comments tonight - no vote.  However, this is the only time they will be taking public comments directly for this bill.  Next week, the bill will go through committees and then back to city council for final vote.

Tonight is important.

[fsujax]

I hope people show up. I got one response from the email I sent. Thanks Yarborough.

[thelakelander]

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/423471/gary-mills/2013-02-25/waffle-house-plans-new-restaurants-orange-park-arlington

Two new Waffles Houses. That pesky mobility fee nearly prevented them from being built (that is sarcasm)
Is the city council voting tonight or are they just hearing public comments?

During the moratorium, we waived $84,220 in mobility fees for three Waffle Houses.  I'm trying to see if the proposed Arlington Waffle House is another project that's eligible to have its mobility fee waived because of last year's experiment. If it is, the $4.77 million lost we've been mentioning goes up.  If not, it strongly suggests that we gave Waffle House $84,220 in public subsidies for restaurants they would have opened anyway.

I hope people show up. I got one response from the email I sent. Thanks Yarborough.

I've received replies from Bishop and Love. However, honestly, I wasn't expecting much in replies.  I'm sure council member's emails are pretty busy these days. My hope is that they at least consider the information and resources sent.

[thelakelander]

Another black eye for Jacksonville's future on the way? Via an email to me:

Ennis, I talked with a councilmember.
He thinks they have the votes to pass this moratorium.
He said that the opposition had been strong until today and that today the proponents had been hitting everyone hard.
I plan to be there tonight.

[Bridges]

Another black eye for Jacksonville's future on the way? Via an email to me:

Ennis, I talked with a councilmember.
He thinks they have the votes to pass this moratorium.
He said that the opposition had been strong until today and that today the proponents had been hitting everyone hard.
I plan to be there tonight.

I just hit them with another round of emails as a collective.  I will now hit individual members. 

Be there tonight too.  Also at committee meetings next week.

[thelakelander]

What time are committee meetings tomorrow?

[Bridges]

Whoops, meant next week. 

Rules, TEU, and Finance.

[Debbie Thompson]

Dear Council Members, as I stated at the last City Council meeting, I  am writing to express my opposition to bill 2013-94, which would  reintroduce a new three year mobility fee moratorium.

The mobility plan and fee should be allowed to work as intended...to  invest in and improve existing communities. Our city cannot afford to  forgo millions of dollars in mobility improvements, and the cost  should be borne largely by developers and builders so intent on  further suburban sprawl, not we tax payers.

I'm sure you have lobbyists and supporters of developers knocking on  your doors and emailing you 24/7.  However, I beg you to stand up to  them, once again, and re-affirm your support for the 2030 Mobiity Plan  you so wisely passed earlier.  Please vote NO on bill 2013-94.

[Ocklawaha]

Interesting math solution: 

Imagine the moratorium passes for 3 more years, and imagine during that amount of time we get no more or no less waivers of the mobility fee then the total amount of waivers during the first year 'trial moratorium.'  This is how it cooks down:

Value of waivers issued for the past one-year moratorium - $27,000,000 one year.

Total value of waivers to be issued for 3 more years (assuming no changes +/- in our rate of growth) - $27,000,000 x 3 years =
$81,000,000 million dollars.

Add all four moratorium years together and you get - $108,000,000 million dollars.

Take $108,000,000 and divide by the current city population - 822,000

ANSWER - $131.38.  This represents an infrastructure tax to every man, woman and child in the city of $131.38, or $2,102.08 for a family of 4, for four years, which means we get a four year tax increase of $525.52 per year for our average family just to provide needed infrastructure.

Thank you dear leaders for bowing to special interests and screwing the population. Pass this or any further moratoriums and you will have demonstrated once again, that any city with proper leadership can be dumbed down to Neanderthal level. 

[Debbie Thompson]

Lots of pro moratorium stickers in council chambers all of a sudden. Opponents of the moratorium, if you are not here, better get here.

[thelakelander]

It's amazing what you can accomplish with paid lobbying and support.

[Bill Hoff]

I'm sorry to say, but I'd be shocked if this bill doesn't pass.

As a side note - those here to speak about the mobility fee will be treated to an hour or so of anti-muslim rhetoric before hand. Oh boy.

[Bridges]

I'm sorry to say, but I'd be shocked if this bill doesn't pass.

  Its going to be tight though. North Florida Builders rallied the crowd. 

[thelakelander]

I'm sorry to say, but I'd be shocked if this bill doesn't pass.

As a side note - those here to speak about the mobility fee will be treated to an hour or so of anti-muslim rhetoric before hand. Oh boy.

If you really care about Jacksonville and have seriously looked into the details of this issue, what you really don't want is this to be included, even if it does pass:

“With the new bill, if you get plat approval and build [under the waiver], you are grandfathered in for any home permit you would need to receive here on out. You would not have to pay the mobility fee [for each home after the waiver period ended]. With the previous law, you would have had to build your single family home during the waiver period,” said General Council Dylan Reingold, who drafted the new legislation.

http://residentnews.net/2013/02/04/councilman-clark-sponsor-mobility-plan-fee-moratorium-legislation/

This would pretty much kill the concept behind the mobility plan and stymie any major multi-modal improvement becoming a reality in Jacksonville within the next decade.  Then when the chicken comes home to roost, an older you, your kids, or your grand kids, if they're still here, will been on the financial hook to pick up the pieces.

If it dies, with our dwindling resources, we don't have a chance in the new economy without a major tax increase of some sort.  Given the politics, I don't see that happening anytime soon without an abrupt change in leadership.

[thelakelander]

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/423471/gary-mills/2013-02-25/waffle-house-plans-new-restaurants-orange-park-arlington

Two new Waffles Houses. That pesky mobility fee nearly prevented them from being built (that is sarcasm)
Is the city council voting tonight or are they just hearing public comments?

The Merrill Road Waffle House will receive a $53,124 subsidy in the form of a mobility fee waiver from last year's moratorium.  The $4.8 million given so far, is nearing the $5 million mark.