QuoteBy BETH KORMANIK,
The Times-Union
The Jacksonville City Council passed a balanced budget just after 2 a.m. Wednesday morning that includes two new fees for property owners and also overtime money for police to patrol the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods.
VOTING FOR THE STORMWATER FEE
Michael Corrigan, Daniel Davis, Johnny Gaffney, Art Graham, Ray Holt, Kevin Hyde, Jay Jabour, Mia Jones, Stephen Joost, Art Shad.
VOTING AGAINST THE STORMWATER FEE
Bill Bishop, Richard Clark, Ronnie Fussell, Glorious Johnson, Warren Jones, Denise Lee, Don Redman, Jack Webb, Clay Yarborough.
But residents might have a chance to cast their own vote on the fee issue. Councilman Ray Holt said he will propose a referendum in January to create a half-cent sales tax to replace part or all of the $26.5 million in fees that Mayor John Peyton proposed.
The 12-6 vote to pass the budget came after a lengthy public comment and a narrow 10-9 approval of the new stormwater fee. About 400 people packed the council chamber Tuesday, many carrying signs or wearing buttons or stickers to support their positions. Council members heard from several business and arts professionals who supported the budget, as well as others who criticized the council as out of touch for imposing new fees. Church officials in particular spoke against the fees.
The stormwater proposal was one of three fees Peyton wanted to balance his proposed $959 million budget. The council passed a $3 monthly residential garbage pickup fee Monday, lower than the $5 a month that Peyton wanted. The third fee, a 3 percent surcharge to JEA bills, cannot be voted on until November.
Council members actually voted on the stormwater fee twice, once before public comment and once afterward, out of what they said was respect for the comments. The vote was the same.
The vote also provided tense debate. After several council members spoke against the fee, council President Daniel Davis abruptly called for a five-minute break. Shortly after, the measure passed.
Some in the public charged that council business took place behind closed doors.
"Contrary to public belief," Davis later told the crowd, "we do not take breaks for strategic reasons."
But when questioned by the Times-Union about the break, an annoyed Davis said he went to speak with the mayor.
Peyton has argued that the city needed new fees because of property tax reductions enacted by the Legislature. He said the fees were a way to diversify the city's revenue sources. Several members went even further Tuesday, saying that the city needed to enact the fee now out of fears that lawmakers in Tallahassee would limit the ability to create new fees in the future on top of further property tax cuts.
Property owners would be charged the stormwater fee based on how much of their land is covered by buildings and parking areas. Homeowners would pay from $30 to $90 a year. Churches, schools and businesses also would have to pay the fee, in some cases reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.
Some council members argued that Peyton's administration has not fully thought through the details of the fee, including who would collect it and which organizations might be exempt from paying. But proponents said the city has time to think through the details before the fee starts next July.
The council eventually added a provision to freeze any proceeds from the fee until the administration answers more questions.
Alan Mosley, the city's chief administrator officer, said a citizens committee is studying that issue and will make recommendations on exemptions, possibly suggesting up to 50 percent reduction in fees for nonprofit organizations.
Councilwoman Denise Lee said there have been no guarantees that low-income residents also will get an exemption, and Councilman Warren Jones agreed.
"We are balancing this budget on the backs of the poor people," Jones said.
Council members also went back and forth over whether the fee would help or hurt businesses. Councilman Richard Clark said the city's industrial center would be "annihilated" by the fees, and council Vice President Ronnie Fussell pointed out that many of the businesses and organizations would pass on the costs to their consumers.
"If you think they're going to be charged that fee and just eat it, you're sadly mistaken," he said.
But Councilman Kevin Hyde said those businesses need the stormwater infrastructure that the fee will provide. No one likes passing fees, Hyde said, but he considered them essential.
"Leadership is taking a stand that I know is not popular," he said. "I'm willing to make this investment tonight."
The council also passed the city's tax rate for most property owners at 8.4841 mills, a drop from 9.64 mills. One mill equals $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value, so the owner of a home valued at $160,000 with a $25,000 homestead exemption would pay $1,144.93 in city property taxes, a savings of $156.
The final amount of the city's budget had not yet been determined by auditors.
As the meeting stretched into the early morning â€" with much of the council’s regular agenda still not addressed â€" Davis recessed everything except the budget until 1 p.m. today.
beth.kormanik@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4619
This story can be found on Jacksonville.com at http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/092607/met_202892047.shtml.
I wonder why the council decided to lower the property tax rate for home owners and add a stormwater and garbage fee??? Wasn't adding fees a way to recover revenue as a result of the state leg decreasing our property taxes? Why turn around and lower them further? ???
I could be wrong but I don't think the council lowered any property taxes.
Crist and the legislature mandated a property tax reduction. That is why the rate is $8.41 vs. the old rate of $9.64 for local government (school taxes are added on top of those figures). The fees are to recoop the lost revenue from the property tax rollback.
Again, Austin's Awesome here. Garbage is collected in bins supplied by Austin. Austin's bins come in three sizes. 10, 20 and 30 gallons with them costing 5 , 7 and I think $11 per month. The less you dispose of the less it cost you. Make you think huh?
What eludes me is, the city council could just have voted to override the state mandate, which would have eleminated any so called shortage...that was a no brainer and they never really addressed it. So instead, they screwed the taxpayers, even though there was a loud outcry. I just hope that people will remember who voted to pass the fees, when elections come around again!
Make the people who are using the service pay more. Gramps puts out next to nothing plus recycles the best he can. The family of 4 next door put out so much more waste. You're not being far to grampa since you're taxing him the same. Truely the city needs to change the way the charge having the burden go more toward the people who consume so much "crap" filling up the landfill and killing mother earth in MHO.
I like that Austin idea. That makes more sense to me. Cost a fortune to supply containers ,though,I would pay for one myself.
As far as voting against the rollback, me thinks the COJ does not want to p-off Tallahassee's well crafted property tax plan. :D
The bins are loaded by a single operator driving a truck outfitted to grab the bins and empty them in the truck. It takes 1 guy pressing a button inside his comfy cab. You could cost justify the 3 or 4 crew members with the 1 and save enough money in the long run. Since jacksonville is growing, maybe new routes could be added that way. Either way, I always see a crew of 4 doing the work that could be done by 1 if you get smart.
Here's a picture of the trucks Austin uses, notice the tron like appeal this offers the consumer and the noticable lack of multi-redundent empire building crew...
Wow. I wonder how many street and sanitation workers are hurt each year in Jacksonville. I guess you could get repeated stress syndrom pressing the button in Austin's trucks too. ;D
I think Jacksonville had a similar program which was disbanded. There are lots of big green COJ trash cans around.
I think those were from some sort of pilot program, and it started here in the 'field. Thats why you see so many of them here.
I have them, and they're great!