Quote
Saying structural changes are needed to shore up Jacksonville's financial position, Mayor Alvin Brown plans to cut about 225 jobs and reduce spending by $27.8 million in the proposed budget he will submit to the City Council today.
At the same time, the mayor said he will create four new, "leanly staffed" offices to focus on particular aspects of economic development.
Brown will submit a balanced $962.5 million budget at 10 a.m. The council must approve a balanced budget by Oct. 1.
Join our live blog coverage of Alvin Brown's budget presentation to the City Council
The cuts were necessary because city revenues have plummeted due to falling property values and Brown did not raise taxes or fees to compensate.
The lost jobs include almost 50 mayoral appointees. About half of the jobs being eliminated are currently filled.
Cutting labor costs is vital to getting the budget under control long-term, according to the mayor and his staff.
"You have to make the tough decisions now," Brown said. "This is just the first step."
Almost half of the overall drop in the budget comes from $13.8 million in cuts from across city departments, including $4.9 million from the fleet management department and $7.1 million from the information technology department.
Cuts to the city's central operations department include trimming administrative services positions as well as jobs in fleet, human resources and procurement.
Cuts in Sheriff's Office
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office will lose $1.3 million, savings that come from cutting about 40 positions and putting off replacing some vehicles. The budget also assumes officers will take a 2 percent pay cut, a change the police union has fought for years. Most other city employees have already taken such a cut.
The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department's budget was cut by $1.8 million, but no firefighters will be laid off nor will their wages be further cut.
The Jacksonville Journey will lose $1.7 million, mainly due to the loss of about that much in outside grants. The Jacksonville Children Commission's budget was cut $1.2 million, to $19.8 million.
The budget will reduce the hours that some public libraries are open but will not close any branches. The library budget will drop $906,000.
The budget will also include the creation of four new offices, mostly focused on different aspects of economic development, including downtown, sports and entertainment and public-private partnerships. Another will focus on education. It was unclear Thursday night how much each new initiative would cost to create.
"We're going to do a major reorganization of city government," Brown said.
Although the mayor has talked about attracting an NBA team over the next decade, the initiative focused on sports is a new idea but one Brown said fits in well with Jacksonville's image.
"We're a sports city," he said. "It makes good business sense to continue attracting sporting events to Jacksonville."
The initiative will focus on branding Jacksonville as a sports city, looking to attract NCAA games and help the Jaguars.
The Office of Public-Private Partnerships will look to find private dollars to fund public activities and ways government and businesses can work together.
Plans for downtown
The shape of the Downtown Community Empowerment Corp. has not been determined, although the mayor said Jacksonville Civic Council Executive Director Don Shea, an expert on downtowns, would draw up a plan.
It's not yet clear what impact the various new groups will have on the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, which now oversees economic development. Earlier this week, the mayor said Jerry Mallot, head of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce's economic development arm, would look at how the city could more efficiently create jobs.
Thursday, Brown said, "JEDC is all over the place."
"JEDC will obviously change," he said. "We'll work through those changes."
Among them, the mayor said, he'd like to see JEDC have more authority over granting incentives, rather than having all such decisions go through the City Council, a move that would cut the amount of time the process takes.
The budget also envisions saving $5.8 million by pushing back one more year a study to look at how much the city would have to spend to fully fund its general employee pension obligation.
Last year, after a tough fight with the council, Mayor John Peyton put off the study - a move that requires a two-thirds vote of council - saying it didn't make sense to do it right after the huge drop of the stock market.
City law requires the audit annually; state law says it must be done every three years. This is the last year the council could waive the local requirement.
The cuts in the budget presage the desire to make a host of changes to city government as part of a more deep-rooted restructuring, said Chris Hand, Brown's chief of staff.
"He wants to look at this not just as this year's budget," he said. "He wants to start dealing with things now."
Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2011-07-14/story/mayor-alvin-browns-proposed-budget-cuts-jobs-spending#ixzz1SAvjtqA5
By Timothy Gibbons at the FTU.
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2011-07-14/story/mayor-alvin-browns-proposed-budget-cuts-jobs-spending
Lets push for a property tax rate hike on all home worth more than a million...sounds fair and it'll raise some over due cash in the city accounts.
Well at this point trying to raise taxes may constitute religious persecution. The Tea Party and similar ideologues right to worship ultra low taxes for the rich may be infringed. ;D
Quote from: JeffreyS on July 15, 2011, 08:31:55 AM
Well at this point trying to raise taxes may constitute religious persecution. The Tea Party and similar ideologues right to worship ultra low taxes for the rich may be infringed. ;D
And it's those with that mentality that have put this city where it is today...the conservative leaders of this city have pushed for years and years for lower taxes everywhere and the result is an empty city with stupid children...i say fuck the tea party liars it is they who put our governor in place and we can now blame the dire staights of our whole state on them..if we follow them this city will soon be named and empty city.
The Tea Partiers created this world wide fiscal disaster?
Now they've gotten to Alex Brown?
TIME TO REVOLT COMRADES!
NO BOURGEOIS GETS OUT ALIVE!
^ lol - you do not post enough buckethead - you seriously crack me up
The FTU's doing live blog coverage of the mayor's proposal to the City Council.
http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/403455/timothy-gibbons/2011-07-15/live-blog-jacksonville-mayor-alvin-browns-first
^Check it out for some prescient comments by thelakelander.
Here is the presentation:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/60093579/Mayor-Alvin-Brown-Budget-Speech
And here's the proposed budget.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/60093832/Proposed-City-Budget-2011-2012
I have to say I'm not terribly impressed by this presentation. Not enough numbers or explanation.
The article on Jaxdaily record has a complete breakdown on the numbers. I cant click on the TU blog at work, so im sure if this is the same presentation you seen.
http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=534042
Here is a link to the actual 424-page budget proposal:
http://www.coj.net/Departments/Finance/Docs/Budget/Proposed-Budget-2011-2012.aspx
Quote from: Garden guy on July 15, 2011, 08:44:15 AM
And it's those with that mentality that have put this city where it is today...the conservative leaders of this city have pushed for years and years for lower taxes everywhere and the result is an empty city with stupid children.
I would point out that Mayor Peyton and Council (both Republican) pushed through property tax increases the last two years...and only one candidate in the race this year. Audrey moran (also a Republlican) was unwilling to make a "no new taxes" pledge.
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.
Its okay if wants us to have an NBA team. Thats his vision. Whether it happens or not is another story. Bump that, Im more concerned about the budget. LOL
Looks and sounds good to me. He's trying to put Jacksonville in a much more healthy position financially...nothing wrong with that; then we'll be a able to do more things to improve the urban core, downtown, and the city as a whole. Let's be positive everyone...having a balanced budget is a very good and extremely positive thing. Barack Obama, congress, and the house and other federal governmental leaders and positions could probably learn something from Mayor Brown.
"HU"
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.
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?
Quote from: Jaxson on July 15, 2011, 05:41:46 PM
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. :D
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.
Quote from: Charles Hunter on July 15, 2011, 09:04:09 PM
Quote from: Jaxson on July 15, 2011, 05:41:46 PM
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. :D
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 (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!
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 (http://jacksonville.com/opinion/letters-readers/2011-07-17/story/guest-column-mayor-alvin-brown-no-new-tax-promise-kept-now)
Quote from: urbanlibertarian on July 17, 2011, 09:27:18 AM
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 (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"
Quote from: urbanlibertarian on July 17, 2011, 10:11:03 AM
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 (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"
Quote from: heights unknown on July 17, 2011, 11:21:03 AM
Quote from: urbanlibertarian on July 17, 2011, 09:27:18 AM
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 (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.
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?
^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).
From the TU:
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-02-17/story/city-considering-trimming-staff-other-cuts-totaling-20-million (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
QuotePosted: 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
I didn't vote for the mayor but I like him more and more as he tries to make city government more efficient.
^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.
Quote...and shrinking Municipal Code Compliance staff by nine employees.
well, we know that code has too much time on its hands
and the Jacksonville Journey is wasting money funding demolitions of historic homes.
Perhaps preservation just might be helped by less government spending.
A race to the bottom.
I'm with Alvin is about to be tested. Better hope its better than Peyton's tagline "and that $115 will save Jacksonville"....
In this case we're clearly getting what we voted for. Alvin is doing what the majority of taxpayers clearly wanted - balancing the budget without raising taxes. Hogan would have done the same thing, but in any even more haphazard and myopic fashion - at least if he followed what he said in his campaign.
QuoteHogan would have done the same thing, but in any even more haphazard and myopic fashion - at least if he followed what he said in his campaign.
Maybe we will find out in a few years after Alvin's regime...