by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
If a standing ovation is any indication, Mayor John Peyton has sold the general public and many City employees on his proposed 2009-10 budget. Now, he needs to convince 10 of the 19 City Council members to approve a millage rate increase of 1.02 and a $993.8 million budget.
Monday, Peyton began that selling job by presenting his budget to 18 (Denise Lee was absent) Council members and a packed Council Chambers. During his roughly 30-minute presentation, Peyton talked about the type of city he wanted to work and live in and challenged Council to do whatever it takes to make sure the current standard of living — from what the city can do to lure new economic development to assure the nonprofits stay in business — isn’t just maintained, but nurtured.
Six times Peyton said, “I want to live in a city that ...” and he ended his presentation by asking rhetorically: “What kind of city do we want to live in?”
Reaction to the presentation — which balances the need to provide basic services with amenities such as funding for nonprofits and the necessity to adequately fund the city’s public safety departments — was mainly positive.
“I think the mayor asking what kind of city we want is exactly right,” said Audrey Moran, president and CEO of the Sulzbacher Center. “The decisions City Council will make will greatly impact the quality of life in the city we all love. I appreciate the fact these times are difficult for everyone. Quite honestly, if these cuts are made. It’s simply unacceptable.”
Moran is referring to the $50 million in cuts Peyton contends will have to be made if Council doesn’t approve the property tax increase. A vast majority of those cuts will affect nonprofits, libraries and other non-public safety-funded programs.
“As an exercise, I went through what $50 million in additional cuts does to our community,” said Peyton. “The realities were grim. It did not paint the picture of a city I want to live in. And, it did not paint a picture of a city I believe you want to live in.”
Preston Haskell, chair of the Haskell Company, said Peyton did a good job of presenting the current dilemma and explaining his plan for repairing damage to the budget he maintains was done by lawmakers in Tallahassee.
“I think he did an excellent job of laying out the issues. I hope the City Council responds affirmatively to his proposed budget,” said Haskell, adding he isn’t sure if the proposed millage rate increase should be a one-time increase or something that continues annually until the city’s budget — and the revenues that comprise it — have recovered. Haskell said the city has been “run on the cheap” for too long and small millage rate increases may be needed to fund major investments that benefit the entire community. “Over the next 12 months, a one mill increase is the right thing to do.”
Peyton also warned Council of the longterm effects of not approving a millage rate increase while balancing the budget by only reducing spending.
“If your plan involves balancing this budget without a revenue increase, let me assure you, the devastation you start this year will be even worse next year,” said Peyton. “Even if you’re successful in balancing this budget only with cuts, you will still have a $120 million hole in next year’s budget.
“What is your plan for that?”
One entity sweating the Council decision is Shands Jacksonville, which gets $23.7 million annually from the City and has a lease that runs through the year 2067. Penny Thompson of Shands said Peyton did an “excellent” job laying out the necessity of a property tax increase. If the current proposed budget is approved, Shands will likely receive its full funding.
“It’s better than a cut without an increase in revenue,” she said. “It scares me to be asked to eventually take a cut.”
The budget is now in the hands of the Council Finance Committee, which will scrutinize the budget department-by-department (including the independent agencies) and line-by-line in budget meetings separate from the Committee’s regularly-scheduled meetings.
The public gets its first chance to voice its opinion on the budget in a meeting Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Deerwood Campus of Florida Community College at Jacksonville.
“We’ve heard the mayor’s plan. I think it’s time to hear from the public, as well,” said Council President Richard Clark.
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