by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
With the City Council Finance Committee’s budget hearings wrapping up Monday afternoon, it would seem as though Council is on the downside of a very difficult, time-consuming process in which there don’t appear to be many winners — especially when Mayor John Peyton is looking under rocks to find ways to trim $60 million off the city’s budget.
Ask Council President Daniel Davis and he’ll tell you there’s still plenty of work to do on the $959 million budget and some of that work began Tuesday morning when Davis went before the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Government Affairs Committee. In a more town hall than speech setting, Davis touched on a variety of subjects, but much of the talk and most of the questions centered on the budget and the new fees Peyton is pushing.
Davis said the Finance Committee is comprised of a diverse group of seven Council members, each of whom brings a unique perspective to the budget hearing process. That process began Aug. 16 and in the course of a little over three weeks the hearings have ranged from tedious to tenacious.
“They have been pretty entertaining and there’s been some good debate,” said Davis, who isn’t a member of the Finance Committee, but has chaired it in the past and sat in on many of the recent hearings. “Yesterday, they got a lot of things done.”
Council was scheduled to hold a public hearing Tuesday night on the proposed budget that includes the hot button items of three new fees Peyton has proposed to help offset the budget cuts due to the Legislature-mandated reduction of property taxes. They include a stormwater, garbage and franchise fee. The Council has until Sept. 25 to formally approve the budget and pass it in ordinance form. Davis is confident that will happen, but he’s also sure the 19-member Council and the public will have plenty to say before then.
Davis and Peyton both contend the fees are necessary to assure basic services continue. Davis told the Government Affairs Committee that he’s from both sides on the issue. Throughout the sales pitch, Davis has stuck to the same philosophy: passing the fees will anger residents who don’t want to pay while defeating the fees will assure that some basic services aren’t provided.
“Parks will not get mowed and the libraries will be closed on Mondays,” he said. “Then, you’ll have people saying the City is not taking care of its responsibilities. I think we are headed in the right direction.”
The committee passed a resolution in support of the fees, but not before Jessica Deal, the Chamber’s director of government affairs, talked about some of the issues still surrounding the fees — namely who will enforce them and who will do the billing. She also said a private company is helping the City determine exactly who will pay how much.
“We are about one-third of the way through taking the aerial shots that will determine what each property owner will pay,” said Deal.
According to Deal, there are six major users of stormwater drainage in Jacksonville: the University of North Florida, Florida Community College at Jacksonville, Anheuser-Busch, Johnson & Johnson, Naval Air Station Jacksonville and the Duval County Public School system.
“When you calculate those entities, it’s quite large,” said Deal, adding NAS already pays about $875,000 annually for stormwater services. She said homeowners will pay on average about $5 a month while businesses will pay based on their size.
In addition to the budget, Davis talked about the Hometown Democracy initiative that’s gaining steam statewide. Backers see it as a way to control land use. Opponents see it as an obstacle to growth. The initiative essentially will take responsibility for planning away from local planners and elected officials and require voters to decide on all comprehensive plan amendments. It would affect several things including the building of roads and schools, the development of services and the protection of water supplies.
“This affects the entire state of Florida,” said Davis, who is also executive director of the Northeast Florida Builders Association. “It would shut down any type of economic development. If we don’t do something, I think the business community will go somewhere else. It’s an issue I want everyone to be aware of. It sounds nice, but there are some issues.”
If the initiative garners enough grassroots support, it could appear on the ballot during next November’s presidential election.
Peyton’s reorganization plan will also get plenty of attention and Davis is prepared.
“Some of the Council members will probably have concerns. The mayor has done a good job of finding deficiencies,” said Davis. “Generally, I support the reorganization. There will be hiccups, but we’ll fix it. There will be significant debate when we get down to it. When you take the layers out of government, that’s a good thing.”
Government Affairs Chair Marty Fiorentino — no stranger to politics himself as a lobbyist and former member of the Jacksonville Port Authority’s board of directors — said City Hall is an interesting place these days.
“If you are into government, this is an exciting time,” he said. “If you are in the government, it’s not so exciting.”