2014 Budget Meeting is Still on at City Hall

[Cheshire Cat]

For those who entertain a run for the City Council you may want to factor in what it is like to try and have a budget hearing on a totally failed Budget as presented by a sitting Mayor.  The hearing on the upcoming budget began last night in City Hall Chambers.  The meeting was stopped at 2:00 AM this morning to be resumed at 2:00 PM this afternoon.  I have been watching if off and on and right now feel quite sorry for the sitting council because, the damn thing is still going on.     I also extend my sympathies to the Council Auditor and his office who now have to filter through over 40 amendments as well as various other on floor changes to the budget.  Wow!

[edjax]

I have to admit I watched all of it.  Yea I know need to get a life.  Agree that Mr. Sherman could not possibly be paid enough to deal with this crew.  It was enlightening though to see how few really have a clue to what they are doing.  Quite evident that Ms. Boyer must be drafted to run for mayor and that Mr. Redman and Mr Schellenberg are just WOW as in you have to be kidding me. 

[Cheshire Cat]

Apache, I honestly do not know how this mayor can face the council or the citizens of Jacksonville after the debacle of a budget he handed off to the council to resolve.  The fact that he is running for office again in the face of such lackluster and frankly incompetent administration of this city and it's funding to me is galling.  He has taken the position of no tax increase to the degree that he was willing to let this city fail in it's obligations to the citizens via everything from policing to libraries to pretend a no tax stance knowing the entire time that the proper actions would fall to the council.  Now there is much said and done by council that I don't always agree with but having watched most of today's discourse, I can find no fault with what they have chosen to fund from keeping library hours, to mowing streets to open community centers, not to mention so many other very important services.  I would not trade places with any of them right now.  I think what this Mayor's incompetence has ended up creating is a very costly and unneeded mess.  As it stand's even with a tax increase there are still things that have been cut and will go unfunded.  I did see some good discussion and decision making today on council and that was a very pleasant surprise.  Maybe we will crawl out of this hole this city is in but it darn well will have nothing to do with Alvin Brown taking us to another level. 

The debate is now in it's 14th hour.  The property tax increase is now at 12% down 2% from earlier today however it could go as high as 15%.  Bill Guilliford says that he would be embarrassed to have anyone come through this city and see Hemming Plaza.  The council approved $200,000.00 for maintenance of Hemming Park.  Yes peep's, some on council are listening.

[Cheshire Cat]

Budget was just approved moments ago.  It is off to Alvin now who can veto any of it.  Right now the 12% tax rate is what they are at.

[tufsu1]

^ actually he can't....he can not veto the tax increase.

got to admit, politically Mayor Brown did a very smart thing....he made a campaign pledge not to raise taxes, which unfortunately EVERY candidate except Audrey Moran also made....and it sure looks like he wants to keep his pledge.

So this year the Mayor first tried to back Council into a corner and make them swallow his pension plan instead of $60 million in devastating cuts....when that failed, he forced Council to be the one to raise taxes...and he can just sit back and say "I don't like it, but I'm not allowed to veto it".

[Jumpinjack]

Agree, tufsu1. On the surface it was a pretty clever move by Brown. However, the original budget proposal was so stupid, slash and burn rather than thoughtful planning, it angered many people. In the end it's a toss-up whether he ends up a winner or loser.

[Noone]

Mayor Brown is home enjoying dinner.

I was shaking Mayor Brown's hand yesterday at JIA at 6am.

[Stephen]

I find it fascinating that the Sheriff is allowed to get away with wasting so much money.

[If_I_Loved_you]

I hope the Mayor gives back the $181,000 dollars to the Meals on wheels program! Stupid City Council!

[urbanlibertarian]

I find it fascinating that the Sheriff is allowed to get away with wasting so much money.

He was elected fair and square.  We get exactly the government we deserve.

[urbaknight]

Will any of the urban infill projects get funded? Or will it be another year of the same ol same ol for dowtown?

[Cheshire Cat]

^ actually he can't....he can not veto the tax increase.

got to admit, politically Mayor Brown did a very smart thing....he made a campaign pledge not to raise taxes, which unfortunately EVERY candidate except Audrey Moran also made....and it sure looks like he wants to keep his pledge.

So this year the Mayor first tried to back Council into a corner and make them swallow his pension plan instead of $60 million in devastating cuts....when that failed, he forced Council to be the one to raise taxes...and he can just sit back and say "I don't like it, but I'm not allowed to veto it".

He can veto changes to the budget, not the tax increase.  Hope that clarifies the situation.

[Cheshire Cat]

I find it fascinating that the Sheriff is allowed to get away with wasting so much money.

Stephen, please share the documentation that shows this waste.  Thanks much.

[Cheshire Cat]

Mixed information coming out about the tax increase amount.  Some outlets are saying 12% and others 14%.  I watched the proceeding last night and when the budget was passed the number was given as 12%. 

[Cheshire Cat]

Good overview of the budget meeting from the Daily Record.

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=540623  (click link for full article)

It wasn't easy – and sometimes it wasn't pretty – but the City Council finally approved a budget Wednesday.

The result: A property tax rate increase of about 14 percent for most Duval County residents, with the additional revenue applied mostly toward maintaining levels in areas such as public safety and quality-of-life services.

For 80 hours over several weeks, they said no to cuts, then restored many of them.

They debated for more than 12 hours the past two days, including until 2 a.m. Wednesday.

In the end, council President Bill Gulliford called it a "miserable" experience.

He said after the meeting that next year will be different. He will soon form a budget review committee led by council Vice President Clay Yarborough to review the work the council did while also diving into a comprehensive review of each department and division to better prepare the budget.

Despite the dozens of hours put in by the Finance Committee, Gulliford said the budget process tends to be "pretty shallow" and that this year much of the time was spent remedying Mayor Alvin Brown's "poor, crummy" budget.

He and others have been critical of Brown's proposal that had about $65 million in service and program reductions and millions more in "extraordinary lapses," or unidentified cuts, that took up the committee's time.

"Next year we're going to be better prepared," he said.

The council established an 11.44 millage rate for Jacksonville, an 8.15 rate for the Beaches and a 9.57 rate for Baldwin. It left about $4 million of potential revenue on the table before lowering it to those levels.

For a homesteaded house in Jacksonville valued at $150,000 and a taxable value of $100,000, owners will pay $1,144 – an increase of $140 per year.

On Wednesday evening, the council members continued to add back to the reductions. They almost unanimously voted to create a fund of nearly $2 million to combat blight and maintain abandoned properties.

Likewise, they unanimously approved $200,000 in seed money for Hemming Plaza programming and maintenance. Author Denise Lee said it would clean up the "front door" to City Hall and "side door" to restaurants and other surrounding establishments.

Council further restored amenities and children's programs by keeping almost $675,000 for pool hours and the Summer Night Lights program and $660,000 in early literacy funding.

All were on the heels of Tuesday votes to restore $450,000 to keep the Main Library open Saturdays, one of the closer and more contentious votes. And, it kept the Bob Hayes Track Meet funded at $85,000, which half a dozen people pushed for in public comment. Community centers also will stay open for the price of $240,000.

Yet, despite all the restorations that meant more spending, council members resisted temptation to lower the millage rate more than $20 million.

A proposal to allow the Police and Fire Pension Fund to use the investment policy of the state system and another to transfer the Water Street Parking Garage to the fund were denied. The change would have netted about $11 million, while the garage transfer would have provided more than $9 million.

Council member Stephen Joost lauded both concepts after the meeting, but said they were ones that ultimately couldn't be decided in haste. As for the overall budget, he said the process went well in that essential services remained funded, but there were sacrifices.

"I didn't get everything I wanted in this budget, but the other 18 people didn't either," he said.