Peyton: 14 percent tax hike might be needed

[mtraininjax]

My question to MetroJacksonville Users, if these were eliminated or closed, what is the true impact on YOU? I could go either way on the tax, but my feeling is that some of these programs could be eliminated, some picked up by local corporations, and some are needed. The library should adopt a pay for it, if you use it system, in a perfect world, everything would be free, but this is not anywhere near perfect.

Without a property tax rate increase, the mayor's office guarantees Jacksonville residents will notice a difference.

Parks could become eyesores, with unmowed grass and unpruned shrubs. Curbside recycling might disappear. It could take longer for ambulances to arrive, especially in rural areas.

There may be no Jazz Festival to bring music to Memorial Day weekend and fill downtown hotels. Neighborhood fire stations and library branches could close.

Mayor John Peyton's worst-case scenario - $55.4 million in cuts to programs and services - is a "list of bad choices," according to Adam Hollingsworth, the mayor's chief of staff.

They would come on top of $41.2 million in cuts Peyton has committed to make, no matter what, including reducing library hours, freezing employee pay and cutting the budgets of most city departments.

It stops there, the mayor says, if the City Council agrees to raise the property tax rate by 12 percent, or $97 for the average homeowner. Proponents say the question is what kind of Jacksonville residents want to live in.

If the millage rate isn't increased, the results could mean fewer services for children, elimination of the city's historic preservation efforts and the shuttering of the Ritz Theatre. And there might not be a Sexual Assault Response Center for rape victims to turn to.

There is a threat to close two fire stations. The police budget appears untouched, although Peyton would like to negotiate wage and benefit concessions with all unionized public safety employees. Without a tax hike, the city could slash funding for the Sulzbacher Center by nearly 80 percent. Audrey Moran, the homeless shelter's executive director, said the needs of the city's most vulnerable citizens shouldn't be ignored in tough economic times.

"Jacksonville is a caring community, and we need to continue to make an investment in our future that will pay tremendous dividends," she said. "If we fail to do that we are, I believe, going to regret the consequences."

The council will set a maximum millage rate on July 28, but financial discussions - what stays and what goes - will continue until a balanced budget is passed in late September. The fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

Peyton will submit his spending plan Monday. So far, feedback to his office and council members is mixed. Some residents say they'd rather lose programs and services than pay higher taxes. Others are taking up Peyton's rallying cry, "Fix it now."

[vicupstate]

For someone that is so pro-education funding, I'm surprised that you would advocate charging for library useage.

A well educated population allows for broad prosperity and enables an area to attract the best jobs availabe.  A child from a disadvantaged home should be able to get books, otherwise they have little hope of ever becoming 'advantaged'. 

[brainstormer]

^As a teacher, I don't have the money to buy all of the books I want to use in my classroom.  I probably checked out upwards of 500 books last year to supplement my lack of a classroom library.  If I had to pay for usage, I wouldn't be able to afford that, so my children would not be exposed to those books.  Plus all of my low-income students who visit the library with their parents wouldn't be able to afford a usage fee and it would discourage them from reading.  And before you have a chance to say no one uses the library, I got all of my children library cards and they used them!  A free library system is an essential component of an educated and progressive city.

[heights unknown]

Here we go again; this guy knows nothing about leading, controlling, planning, or organizing, maybe a barbque festival but not a City Government.

Heights Unknown

[BridgeTroll]

Curbside recycling might disappear.

Can this be made more self sustaining?  Is recycling THAT much of a money loser?

elimination of the city's historic preservation efforts

Really?  Exactly what are they preserving?  What is the current budget for this?

shuttering of the Ritz Theatre.

Can a not for profit organization take over this operation?  Perhaps to make a profit?

Without a tax hike, the city could slash funding for the Sulzbacher Center by nearly 80 percent. Audrey Moran, the homeless shelter's executive director, said the needs of the city's most vulnerable citizens shouldn't be ignored in tough economic times

With all the churches in town of various denominations could they not assume the worthy cause of feeding and housing these folks?

[thelakelander]

I don't have a paper in front of me, but one of the cuts mentioned in today's TU is the city going to four, 10 hour day work weeks.  That's one change I believe is worth evaluating regardless of this current budget situation.

[mtraininjax]

That's one change I believe is worth evaluating regardless of this current budget situation.

Agreed! One further change would be to consolidate purchasing, HR, AP, and Legal departments across the board for all of the City agencies. JTA, Jaxport, JAA, JEA, and COJ, why again do we need duplication of departments that do the same thing for all?

What is wrong with paying $1 for a library card? How hard would that be to PAY a little more for what you use? If people paid a little more for the services THEY USED, the rest of us could sit back and enjoy our lower tax base. I never use the Ritz Theatre or the Equestrian Facility, both should be sold off and run as private enterprises or have people pay for using them. An increase in the sales tax is the ONLY fair way to pay for consumption of products or services, but since no one can come up with a solution to sales taxes at the state level, we are stuck forcing 300,000 households to pay for the services used by 805,000 in Duval County and probably many more who use the services in surrounding counties.

[torsten.dreier]

How about the churches start to pay property taxes and help that way.  They own million dollar properties and pay nothing, that is a bunch of BS.  
And why are we supporting the Ritz?  Should run on its own, if not then shut it down.  Other businesses come and go, so stop subsidizing stuff like that.

Finally, maybe Peyton can stand behind his election promise of no tax hikes, anyone read his lips?  If he can't do it, then step down.

[fsujax]

FBC pays property taxes on all of their parking garages downtown.

[vicupstate]

I don't know where anyone gets the idea that a museum is a profitable venture. If they were, they would have existed prior to the city funding them. Just in this forum, how many people have paid an admission to the LaVilla museum?  I have not, but I would say Metrojax readers would be more likely to visit it than the typical local.  The ticket revenue probably wouldn't cover operating expenses, let alone debt service.

The alternative is to just not have museums.    

The equestrian Center doesn't make a profit, but if it did not exist, the room and sales taxes it brings to the city would be gone. No ONE business makes a profit off of it, but COLLECTIVELY between all the restaurants,hotels, gas stations, retailers, etc. there is a return on investment.   That is why the public pays for these things.  The only way an equestrian center could possibly make money is if every patron spent their money (room, food, gas, shopping, etc.) with one entitity instead of a multitude of them.

The city invests in these things because of the tax revenue and economic benefits that the the community AS A WHOLE experiences. 

We all pay for things through taxes that we personally don't use, but we also all use things that someone ELSE doesn't use but pays taxes for.  We also pay for things that we don't personally use, but that enhance the overall quality of life.

I don't have children, but I have paid taxes all of my adult life to educate other people's children.  BUT, when I go to the doctor, I want that doctor to be educated.

I have never been to a Symphony performance at the T-U Center, and must likely never will.  But if having a symphony helps convince Fidelity to bring their HQ here, then I still benefit from it.

Take the blinders off folks.           

[brainstormer]

^Excellent Vic!

In regards to the library...after December 31, 2009 they are already planning on charging for library cards.  Paying to get your card is a lot different than paying for usage.  I misread your post mtrain and thought you were suggesting usage fees for everything we check out.

[mtraininjax]

Vic - Good comments, yet the blinders are off, and I firmly believe that we should have more taxes that penalize those of us who use the services of public servants and public gratitude. I have no children either, I am excited to see that Lee High School went from a D to C level, probably due to all the tax revenue from my property. Or could it be that Lee High School found teachers who gave a damn and decided to make it better for the community, and are on their way to making it a better school?

I don't believe the library should cost every time you use it, but I believe that the Animal Control facility should at least break-even with adoptions. The Cannery should pay for itself, and the equestrian center should cover its own expenses. BJP paid for it, so it should break even on its own expenses. Could the arena do that? Could the ballpark? Could anyone follow the COJ auditor's math? Not sure...

I think govt should shrink as we shrink our finances, consolidate duplicate services in City offices. Why does JEA need a purchasing department when the COJ has one that is larger and just as capable? If JEA is cutting back on spending, why does it need so many people in purchasing? Why does the JAA need its own admin staff, when the City could easily handle it 4 days a week?

Mayor Peyton, are you listening, we want to know why you have not called for more cuts and cuts to other agencies in town, who already piggy back on City contracts, why they cannot cut back on their own services, and save us the taxpayers some coins?

[samiam]

This a good opportunity to reduce the number of social service in down town. Move some of them to the surrounding county's so duval is not stuck with the bill for all of them.

[Charles Hunter]

That will be an interesting experiment, if the City cuts funding to Sulzbacher, and they cut services to the homeless, will the homeless go somewhere else - another community that provides 'better' services? 

[samiam]

Now is the time to stop rewarding people for working the system. You need to give something back if you use these services. If you want my tax dollars to support someone I want that person to work in return. A few things that they could do to save the city money is maintain parks, clean streets, clean storm drains and road repair. Turn the Sulzbacher into a daycare center so single parents cant use the excuse that have to take care of there kids. We need to go back to basics if you don't work you don't eat.
I do believe we need to take care of the mentally ill. I don't mean send them to the hospital and let them out the same day but well regulated institution.