Live Blogging from City Council: Mobility Fee Moratorium

[thelakelander]

I'm your huckleberry.  Here's a map with the mobility zones overlayed over the council districts:



A map of mobility zones overlayed over at-large council districts:

[Noone]

We are on to bill 89.

http://cityclts.coj.net/coj/COJBillList.asp?Bill=2013-0089

"Bill Summary: The bill appropriates $11,036,722.63 in debt service savings from bond refinancing to a Downtown Economic Development Fund ($9 million) and to the Countywide Economic Development Fund ($2,036,722.63) for use in stimulating economic development in the city. 


Background Information: The bill provides that expenditures from the Downtown Economic Development Fund shall be at the discretion and by the authorization of the Downtown Investment Authority board once a downtown redevelopment plan has been drafted by the DIA and approved by City Council.  Prior to that approval, any expenditures from the downtown fund must be approved by City Council, as must any appropriations of funds from the countywide fund at any time. 

Policy Impact Area: Economic development.

Fiscal Impact: The bill appropriates $11,036,722.63 in debt service savings from bond refinancing  to two economic development funds.  The Finance Department estimates that much smaller amounts of debt service savings will accrue in future years as a result of this refinancing."

Two speakers spoke on this legislation during Public Comment. One for, one against. The against speaker noted that part of this debt restructuring was from the famous Downtown Destination Grand Jury investigation Location of Shipyards/Landmar. WOW! Lets get ready for Shipyards III.

Shipyards I - $36,500,000 of taxpayer money Downtown gone. 16 acres of Public space, 150 slip marina with not even one slip for the Public. The contract was written wrong.

Palms Fish Camp- next to a FIND project. Someone will be handed a million bucks and they never even opened the door. The contract was written wrong.

Berkman Plaza- Plaza at Berkman, The contract was written?

The Jim Love, Kevin Kuzel 2013 FIND grant project of a floating dock compromise next to Shipyards totally misrepresented by OGC at the last Jacksonville Waterways Commission meeting. The contract was? 2013-105 was also up for Public Comment. Make some noise on this. We are so LOST.

One speaker was for.
Pick and choose the winners and losers.

Downtown Hemming Plaza-Are the tables and chairs in or out?

Jacobs Clock- Who is the new guy at JEA? The clock has been spotted in Talleyrand. As an Independant Agency what is the chance of getting a slab and hooking up this fancy light pole (clock).

Jim Robinson- Same question.

In the meantime do we have any bids?

Parking- We need an app for that. Free parking for judges and council members 2012-202.

FSCJ and the midnight email by Wallace for an extra $500,000 and then voted on and approved by a Board 10 hours later.
JTA and a golden parachute for Blaylock voted on by a Board.
JSO and a million dollar pension by a Board for a convicted felon that victimized children. This week Folio.
150 City employees just let go.

So now we have $11,036,772.63
Our city is broke.
For?
Against?

Monuments for everyone. Check out the new #1 sign.

Ben- JCCI - We need to kayak Downtown before 2025

[strider]

Another point about this being a "jobs bill" is that the construction itself will generate jobs.  Does anyone know the percentages of local hires to "foreign" (meaning coming from outside of Duval County) hires for the major commercial or industrial projects currently being built here?  As far as I could tell, in the boom times, the majority of workers on the residential homes were from outside of Duval county.  Was not the same true about projects like the Library and the court house?

How about asking them to add an amendment to this moratorium that 95% of the workers (both blue collar and white collar) on any project that gets the waiver must be permanent residents of Duval county and of this country or the fee gets paid anyway. That 95% of all subcontractors must also be home based in Duval County or they pay the fee anyway.  That the subcontractors used must prove 95% of their workers meet the residential requires as well. That 90% of the  jobs generated by the project itself must be at 125% of minimum wage or they pay the fee anyway.  (By the way, the above probably just raised the cost of a project by way more than the cost of the fees waived. )

Tell them that if they want to make this a "jobs bill" that will bring so many jobs to Duval Councty and save us tax payers, then make it about the jobs.

[sheclown]

Another point about this being a "jobs bill" is that the construction itself will generate jobs.  Does anyone know the percentages of local hires to "foreign" (meaning coming from outside of Duval County) hires for the major commercial or industrial projects currently being built here?  As far as I could tell, in the boom times, the majority of workers on the residential homes were from outside of Duval county.  Was not the same true about projects like the Library and the court house?

How about asking them to add an amendment to this moratorium that 95% of the workers (both blue collar and white collar) on any project that gets the waiver must be permanent residents of Duval county and of this country or the fee gets paid anyway. That 95% of all subcontractors must also be home based in Duval County or they pay the fee anyway.  That the subcontractors used must prove 95% of their workers meet the residential requires as well. That 90% of the  jobs generated by the project itself must be at 125% of minimum wage or they pay the fee anyway.  (By the way, the above probably just raised the cost of a project by way more than the cost of the fees waived. )

Tell them that if they want to make this a "jobs bill" that will bring so many jobs to Duval Councty and save us tax payers, then make it about the jobs.

AGREED!  If they claim this is about the jobs, make them PROVE it.

[Cheshire Cat]

I'm your huckleberry.  Here's a map with the mobility zones overlayed over the council districts:



A map of mobility zones overlayed over at-large council districts:

Thanks so much Ennis.  I am going to do some cross referencing and all around investigating into who benefited and who lobbied for certain projects. 

[thelakelander]

Another point about this being a "jobs bill" is that the construction itself will generate jobs.  Does anyone know the percentages of local hires to "foreign" (meaning coming from outside of Duval County) hires for the major commercial or industrial projects currently being built here?  As far as I could tell, in the boom times, the majority of workers on the residential homes were from outside of Duval county.  Was not the same true about projects like the Library and the court house?

How about asking them to add an amendment to this moratorium that 95% of the workers (both blue collar and white collar) on any project that gets the waiver must be permanent residents of Duval county and of this country or the fee gets paid anyway. That 95% of all subcontractors must also be home based in Duval County or they pay the fee anyway.  That the subcontractors used must prove 95% of their workers meet the residential requires as well. That 90% of the  jobs generated by the project itself must be at 125% of minimum wage or they pay the fee anyway.  (By the way, the above probably just raised the cost of a project by way more than the cost of the fees waived. )

Tell them that if they want to make this a "jobs bill" that will bring so many jobs to Duval Councty and save us tax payers, then make it about the jobs.

AGREED!  If they claim this is about the jobs, make them PROVE it.

I'd be interested to see how many jobs the $23k in mobility fee waivers given for the installation of an ATM created.

I'm also sure that the $460 mobility fee waived didn't stand in the way of Tremron Manufacturing's financing approval for their plant addition.

[Cheshire Cat]

Another point about this being a "jobs bill" is that the construction itself will generate jobs.  Does anyone know the percentages of local hires to "foreign" (meaning coming from outside of Duval County) hires for the major commercial or industrial projects currently being built here?  As far as I could tell, in the boom times, the majority of workers on the residential homes were from outside of Duval county.  Was not the same true about projects like the Library and the court house?

How about asking them to add an amendment to this moratorium that 95% of the workers (both blue collar and white collar) on any project that gets the waiver must be permanent residents of Duval county and of this country or the fee gets paid anyway. That 95% of all subcontractors must also be home based in Duval County or they pay the fee anyway.  That the subcontractors used must prove 95% of their workers meet the residential requires as well. That 90% of the  jobs generated by the project itself must be at 125% of minimum wage or they pay the fee anyway.  (By the way, the above probably just raised the cost of a project by way more than the cost of the fees waived. )

Tell them that if they want to make this a "jobs bill" that will bring so many jobs to Duval Councty and save us tax payers, then make it about the jobs.

Strider, there is no guaranty in any of this that construction jobs, or other jobs for that matter will go to locals.  Ennis is correct about the jobs created by ATM installation and  the great stimulus of the 460 bucks to expand another facility.

On the whole the building of the courthouse should be testament to the fact that jobs created by our local projects often go to outsiders.  Remember how hard and heavy local construction workers lobbied, appealed and plead for jobs on the courthouse?  It fell on deaf ears when it came to the Mayor's office and many on council in office at the time.  Turner repeatedly hired illegals and even when found out continued to do so and used them to support out of town construction companies and their workers.  Frankly, it would be worthwhile to investigate who actually got the construction jobs on some of the items Ennis listed.  I have found in the past that constructions jobs that do actually go to local companies seem to find their way into the hands of a special few, which is another story.

[sheclown]

If the city is eager to pass a "jobs bill", then let's have one. 

Let's write it up as one.
Let's have public meetings about it as one.
Let's go through the legislative process about it as one.

The citizens of Jacksonville, who are struggling to keep on the street lights and mow the city's grass, deserve to decide if they need a jobs bill and what should be in the jobs bill.

Let's not just hand a blank check to the developers. That has worked so well for us in the past.

[JeffreyS]

Well said

[Bridges]

It is funny that every "jobs" bill I've ever heard off pays first for the jobs with no guarantees.  Wonder why no one suggests a jobs bill where the tax break/incentive takes place after results. 

You want a fee waived to create jobs?  Fine, pay the fee now, and upon completion of your work, you prove the jobs to us, and we'll refund your money at the safe market risk interest rate.  Of course, most of these requests aren't about jobs in the first place.

But that is all separate from the Mobility Plan, cause doing away with the fee is counterproductive to the plan and vision.

[Cheshire Cat]

It was interested to find out exactly what the parameters are for a mobility fee waiver and what people or entities can request them for.  I hope you are all ready for this because it is amazing. 

The mobility fee moratorium ended October of 2012.  It has been a small window of about four months during which developers and others have been required to pay mobility fees, but even then, they have been allowed to file for a waiver of such fees. The waiver it would follow is necessary for the project to proceed and have a positive impact on Jacksonville.  Really?  The glaring reality when you investigate this is the fact that many of the projects receiving waivers are in fact nothing more than improving existing structures and in some cases pure foolishness, like pads for trailer parks and the like or larger projects that would likely proceed with or without the fee being paid.  Interestingly after the waivers have been filed there is no mechanism within the city to determine if allowing those waivers created jobs or not.  There is also no measure by which one might determine the financial impact of those projects on Jacksonville.  I have just gotten off the phone with the city office that handles mobility fee's, applications and relevant issues.  In order to find out the entities behind who received these waivers you must go down to the city office with the application number in hand, however if you do so, I have been informed, many of those records are "in storage" and must be retrieved. 

What follows is the Mobility Fee Waiver application.  Look at the parameters for that waiver yourselves and ask, how exactly does what is allowed benefit Jacksonville as a whole?  Answer, it often does not and as far as proof that a moratorium made things better in our city.  There is no way to do that without standards in place to measure that information and there apparently are none.   Looks like a lot of fairy dust has been blown with regard to what a moratorium can and cannot do and if you are keeping score, fairy dust is a few notches down from noise.


MOBILITY FEE CALCULATION CERTIFICATE
APPLICATION FORM
CITY OF JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA
OFFICIAL
USE
ONLY
APPLICATION #
DEVELOPMENT #
APPLICATION DATE
I.
TYPE OF MOBILITY FEE REVIEW:
MOBILITY FEE CALCULATION
EXPEDI
TED MOBILITY FEE CALCULATION
(Includes Trip Reduction Credits)
II.
TYPE OF DEVELOPMENT:
RESIDENTIAL
NON-RESIDENTIAL
DEVELOPMENT NAME:
PROJECT NAME:
ADDRESS:
A.
TYPE OF IMPROVEMENT: (CIRCLE ALL THAT APPLY)
A. NEW BUILDING L. OTHER
B. ADDITION O. CONVERTING USE
C. ALTERATION AND REPAIRS R. TRAILER PARK
G. FOUNDATION ONLY W. ACCESSORY BUILDING
J. MOBILE HOME (NEW) X. HORZ. DEVELOPMENT
B.
IS THIS PROJECT LOCATED WITHIN TH
E BOUNDARIES OF AN APPROVED DEVELOPMENT
AGREEMENT AREA? YES
___
NO
___
IF YES, INCLUDE TH
E DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT
NUMBER
_________.
(THIS WILL BE AN EXISTING CCAS OR CRC APPLICATION NUMBER)
C.
IS THIS PROJECT LOCATED WITHIN THE BOUNDAR
IES OF AN APPROVED FAIR SHARE AREA? YES
___
NO
___
IF YES, INCLUDE THE FAIR SHARE CONTRACT NUMBER
________
___
(THIS WILL BE AN EXISTING CCAS OR CRC APPLICATION NUMBER)
D.
IS THIS PROJECT LOCATED WITHIN TH
E TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT AREA?
IF YES, INCLUDE SECTOR AND SUBSECTOR #.
SECTOR _________ SUBSECTOR _________
E.
IS THERE AN ASSOCIATED CCAS/CRC#? IF
YES, INCLUDE APPLICATION # ____________________
III. PROJECT OR DEVELOPMENT LOCATION
A. COUNCIL DISTRICT
PD/TAZ
PLANNING DIST.
CENSUS TRACT
PANEL NUMBER
MOBILITY ZONE
MOBILITY DEVELOPMENT AREA
1
B.
INTERSECTING STREETS: BETWEEN
AND
C.
REAL ESTATE NUMBER:
IV. AGENT AND OWNER INFORMATION
(PLEASE MAKE SURE THERE IS A ZIP CODE)
A.
AGENT/DEVELOPER
ADDRESS
CITY
ST
ZIP
PHONE
( )
B.
OWNER
ADDRESS
CITY
ST
ZIP
PHONE
( )
C.
MAIL THE MOBILITY
FEE CERTIFICATE TO:
AGENT
OWNER
V. COMMENTS
VI.
PROJECT OR DEVELOPMENT SPECIFICATIONS
A.
TRANSPORTATION LAND USE CODE
PREVIOUS TRANSPORTATION LAND USE CODE
B.
TOTAL LAND AREA
ACRES
C.
ENCLOSED AREA OF
PROPOSED
DEVELOPMENT
ENCLOSED SQUARE FEET
D.
TOTAL NUMBER OF DWELLING UNITS
SINGLE FAMILY
DUPLEX
TRIPLEX/QUAD
APARTMENT
MOBILE HOMES
CONDOS
NUMBER OF ROOMS
NUMBER OF BERTHS
NUMBER OF PADS
NUMBER OF BEDS
NUMBER OF PARKING SPACES
NUMBER OF SEATS
OTHER (PLEASE SPECIFY)
2

[fieldafm]

The ironic thing us that Daniel Davis' statement  on Tuesday actually backed up the argument for not supporting the moratorium... The only construction cranes erected have been at the Town Center and Brooklyn, each of which are under a previous transportation concurrency agreement.  They are paying fees to payback road construction that already occurred .

So, according to Daniel Davis... The type of construction that creates jos that fees families occur in areas that pay a form of impact fees.

Couldn't agree more sir!!! Thank you for proving our point.

[Cheshire Cat]

The ironic thing us that Daniel Davis' statement  on Tuesday actually backed up the argument for not supporting the moratorium... The only construction cranes erected have been at the Town Center and Brooklyn, each of which are under a previous transportation concurrency agreement.  They are paying fees to payback road construction that already occurred .

So, according to Daniel Davis... The type of construction that creates jos that fees families occur in areas that pay a form of impact fees.

Couldn't agree more sir!!! Thank you for proving our point.

I think it is important that this is pointed out to all members of council. I have to say that it really takes some chutzpah to pretend this is about jobs when it is actually about something else, like paying back expenses already incurred.  Amazing isn't it?  Remember as well that Daniel is representing the NF Builders so even if it were about jobs, it would be securing jobs for many outside of Jacksonville while we pay the tab.

[sheclown]

The ironic thing us that Daniel Davis' statement  on Tuesday actually backed up the argument for not supporting the moratorium... The only construction cranes erected have been at the Town Center and Brooklyn, each of which are under a previous transportation concurrency agreement.  They are paying fees to payback road construction that already occurred .

So, according to Daniel Davis... The type of construction that creates jos that fees families occur in areas that pay a form of impact fees.

Couldn't agree more sir!!! Thank you for proving our point.

I think it is important that this is pointed out to all members of council. I have to say that it really takes some chutzpah to pretend this is about jobs when it is actually about something else, like paying back expenses already incurred.  Amazing isn't it?  Remember as well that Daniel is representing the NF Builders so even if it were about jobs, it would be securing jobs for many outside of Jacksonville while we pay the tab.

Sort of like pretending that reducing the Human Rights Commission is about making the group more productive.

[Debbie Thompson]

Agree.  Fieldafm's point needs to be driven home.  :-)