Staff Writer
It took close to 13 hours, but City Council members broke gridlock Wednesday afternoon to set a millage rate and pass the City’s almost $1 billion budget for fiscal 2010-11, which begins tomorrow.
Because of Florida law, the millage rate had to be set before passing the City budget. After amendments, debates and vocal opposition from citizens, City Council voted 11-7 to set the millage rate for the general services district at 10.0353 mills.
That is 8.2 percent higher than the 9.2727 mills in the current year, but below the 10.1193 mills proposed by Mayor John Peyton. That increase would have been 9.1 percent.
Peyton proposed the millage increase to close a $45 million budget gap.
Savings hammered out in the City Council Finance Committee over recent weeks and those by City Council members the past few days helped to plug some of the deficit and lower the proposed property tax rate increase.
The meeting Tuesday included four hours of public comment and then discussion that extended to 3 a.m. Wednesday.
Council members reconvened eight hours later to tackle a stalemate on setting the millage rate for the general services district, the Beaches and Baldwin.
The rates were the biggest hurdle members faced, as Mayor John Peyton’s proposed $995 million budget included the 10.12 millage rate increase and drew the ire of demonstrators and several City Council members who didn’t want to see a rate increase in slow economic times.
Council members issued several floor amendments Tuesday and Wednesday with hopes that savings could then be applied to lower the millage rate.
Wednesday’s approved line-item cuts included $43,000 in Jaguars tickets for City Council members and a $500,000 slashing of contingency funds for the mayor’s office and City Council.
Combined with the savings of the finance committee that vetted the budget in earlier sessions, total savings of $4.9 million were applied to the millage rate, lowering the approved general services district rate to 10.0353.
The Beaches rate was set at 6.7446 mills while Baldwin was established at 8.4472 mills. Both are higher than current rates.
That general services district rate passed, but not until additional deadlock threatened to delay the measure even longer on Wednesday.
Council member Richard Clark cited the need for sacrifice when he offered two floor amendments, the first to cut internal services spending by 5 percent and the second to cut payroll by an additional 6 percent for nonunion City employees across the board. Each was defeated after discussion.
“We’re beating up on employees and they’re our biggest asset,” said member Johnny Gaffney, who voted against the payroll amendment.
Amendments by member Clay Yarborough seeking to reduce City operational costs by 3 percent and an addendum to defund the Jacksonville Journey and apply the nearly $10 million to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office budget both failed after discussion.
The issue that kept tripping up Wednesday’s millage vote was the recent layoff of 15 firefighters after the firefighter union’s rejection of the City’s proposed salary cuts.
With the rate originally passed in the early afternoon, member Denise Lee, who voted in favor of it, wanted to change her vote and oppose it.
Lee advocated, as she did Tuesday, for restoration of the positions and said she couldn’t vote in favor of the rate in “good conscience” without it.
When the rate went back to vote, member Reggie Brown also changed his vote in disfavor, bringing the vote back to the 9-9 tie that stalled City Council the night before. Brown cited the firefighter layoffs before he later switched to approve the rate.
The rates and budget also reflect the restoration of funding to the Equestrian Center, which was defunded Tuesday by $621,000. Council President Jack Webb said the facility would be looked at again in coming months.
After the millage rates were approved, the budget, with $4.9 million in savings, was approved 11-7.
“Ladies and gentlemen we have a budget, for better or worse,” said Webb following its approval.
While agitated at times, several members voiced their gratitude for the process and decorum during the meetings, with many referencing a Tuesday assessment of the budget process as similar to a mediation in the courtroom: a compromise that leaves no one happy.
One cause of the gridlock was that there were an even 18 members because of the vacancy created when Daniel Davis was selected to replace state Rep. Jennifer Carroll in the Florida House.
Webb joked that while it would have been a smoother process with his former colleague, “it wouldn’t nearly have been as much fun.”
He also advocated for the 2011-12 budget process to start “tomorrow” while urging representatives at the state level to begin discussion on a local sales tax that could contribute to City operations instead of just infrastructure.
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