by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
JEDC Executive Director Ron Barton is looking for some budget flexibility from the City Council, but Finance Committee Chairman Daniel Davis made it clear Monday that the economic development commission will have to earn it.
Barton used a good portion of his comments at last week’s general meeting of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission decrying Davis’ proposal to hold half of the commission’s 2006 budget “below the line.” That means the Council would hold the purse strings to half the JEDC’s budget. If Barton wanted to spend that money, he’d have to justify his reasons to the Council.
Barton described that set-up as “extremely onerous.” Two-thirds of the JEDC’s budget is already tied up in annual expenses that the commission can’t do anything about, he said. Contractual obligations — like maintenance on City-owned property and mandatory contributions to events like the Florida-Georgia game — already restrict where and how the JEDC spends its money, he said.
Barton already proposed about $1.3 million in cuts from its 2005 budget of about $8 million. Barton hopes those cuts, and a promise to further trim staff, might generate a little wiggle room with the Council. But, in comments Monday, Davis didn’t sound like his below-the-line proposal was meant to be a starting point for negotiations.
“I wouldn’t have suggested holding the money below the line if I wasn’t serious,” said Davis. “And I believe the rest of the Finance Committee feels the same way.”
Davis gave Barton’s leadership a vote of confidence, but said new leadership wouldn’t be enough given the City’s budget struggles this year and the JEDC’s involvement in some high-profile development deals gone wrong.
“I think Ron Barton is a good guy and the right man for the job,” said Davis. “But, I want to see that they’re taking every opportunity to move in the right direction in terms of their operations, their finances, the way they monitor the deals they make, everything.”
But Barton said his proposed budget is already cut to the bone. More than $5.6 million of the JEDC’s money next year is essentially already spent, he said.
The JEDC is obligated to spend about $1.7 million on public service grants to fund initiatives like The Jacksonville Chamber Foundation’s Small Business Center and Cornerstone Master Marketing. More than $400,000 is pledged to events sponsored by the JEDC’s Sports and Entertainment division, including the Florida-Georgia game and Gator Bowl. Professional service contracts and internal overhead account for another $3 million, according to the JEDC’s proposed budget.
“The lion’s share of our budget are dollars that go to someone else through contractual obligations,” said Barton. “We all hear ‘$8 million budget’ and think, ‘that’s a lot of money.’ But look closely where that money goes.”