by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
At Tuesday’s monthly meeting of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission’s Sports & Entertainment Board, members got an update from the mayor’s office concerning imminent ramifications for City government related to the State legislature’s property tax and Homestead Exemption reform plan.
Steve Diebenow, Mayor John Peyton’s chief of staff, said the administration was surprised the Legislature didn’t convene for the entire 10 days scheduled for the special session to address property taxes.
“We didn’t believe it would be resolved as quickly as it was,” he said.
Diebenow added the mayor’s office credits the Duval legislative delegation for getting a key aspect into the legislation that would allow Jacksonville to secure an exemption from the property tax rollback if 15 of the 19 City Council members will vote against the State’s plan.
“Jacksonville is unique,” he said. “Due to consolidation, we don’t have any duplication of services and the members of our delegation were the lead lobbyists in favor of home rule.”
He said at three percent the City will be faced with the lowest statutory rollback in the first phase of the rollback. But, that will still result in a $25 million negative revenue impact in the next fiscal year. That impact, combined with the existing $25 million structural deficit already in the budget, will mean a $50 million shortfall or about five percent of the City’s total budget.
Projections get worse, Diebenow said, if the proposed constitutional amendment to change the way property taxes are assessed is approved by a majority of the state’s voters in January. He said in that case the mayor’s office predicts the loss of between $100 million and $140 million a year.
“That means 12 to 16 percent of the City’s budget will disappear,” he said, adding he’s not optimistic about the outcome of the referendum based on the size of the electorate in north Florida as opposed to south Florida.
“I believe if it’s on the ballot it will pass,” he said.
Diebenow pointed out even if the amendment is defeated, the City must plan for the worst-case scenario.
“The level of cuts forced on us by Tallahassee are forcing us to think differently. There are not enough dollars around for across-the-board cuts any more. We’re prioritizing the budget across all areas and reorganizing City government,” he said.
One program has already been eliminated because, “A lot of organizations do lots of good deeds, but the Public Service Grants don’t represent core city functions,” added Diebenow. “There are other places to find resources for public service organizations, but there is no other source (than City government) to fund public safety.”
That being said, Diebenow informed the board that the JEDC will be restructured along with all other departments and that may mean major changes in the Sports & Entertainment division.
He stressed that while several proposals are under consideration for the JEDC’s restructuring, no final decisions have been made. He then said any input or suggestions from the board would be more than welcome.
“If you have any proposals, that’s what we’re looking for,” said Diebenow.
The board also heard reports on the success of several recent sports entertainment projects.
Sandy Kavanaugh, public relations director for the Bausch & Lomb Championships at Amelia Island, presented a report on this year’s women’s professional tennis competition. She said the $10,000 grant from the Sports Board was used to offset costs to produce ESPN and ESPN2’s coverage of the tournament and pointed out the City’s “Jacksonville, Where Florida Begins” marketing campaign received five TV spots during the telecasts that were beamed to 300 million households worldwide.
Kavanaugh also said out of 63 events on the Women’s Tennis Association world tour, only 13 are held in the U. S. including the one at Amelia Island.
Gate River Run Race Director Doug Allred said the 2007 event was “the biggest year ever” with participation up by 3,000 runners this year and a total of 13,000 competitors registered for the USA 15K Championship element of the race. Allred said race organizers will return the $5,000 contributed to the event by the action of the board prior to the event to the JEDC’s sports and entertainment trust fund.
He also said the “Retro River Run” held to commemorate the event’s 30th anniversary sold out with 2,300 participants. The next Gate River Run is March 8, 2008 and will again be the national 15K championship.
The Jacksonville Cycling Classic drew 20,000 spectators — a record crowd for a cycling race in the State of Florida, according to Ron Shinall, one of the event’s organizers. It was also estimated the two-day event back in April generated as many as 350 room nights in area hotels based on participation by bicycle racers from outside Jacksonville and national professional teams.
Shinall added the race was so successful plans are already underway to hold it here again in 2008. While last year’s competition was held one day Downtown and one day on a road course in Penney Farms, organizers would like to hold both elements Downtown next year, possibly racing over the Acosta Bridge to San Marco and Southside and returning over the Hart or Mathews Bridge.
JEDC Sports & Entertainment Manager Mike Bouda said the JEDC’s exhibit at the Arena will soon be updated. Annual events have been added to Jacksonville’s sports calendar that are not currently represented and memorabilia from each event will from now on be collected and become part of the display. Kavanaugh delivered an autographed poster and program from the Bausch & Lomb Tennis Championships to the board Tuesday along with her report.
Bouda also reported record attendance at this year’s ACC Baseball Championship with more than 25,000 tickets sold.
The board had previously approved an appropriation to support the Jacksonville Axemen rugby team that would make up the difference between a grant from the State of Florida and $5,000. Bouda said the State failed to fund a substantial number of grants this year including the request from the Axemen. The board voted to approve a $2,500 contribution for the rugby team.