As Mayor Alvin Brown moves forward with plans to reorganize City government and change the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission model for economic development, a special City Council joint committee approved a budget transfer Wednesday to sustain the organization until Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.
The Finance and Rules committees planned to spend the majority of the joint meeting discussing the proposed Downtown Investment Authority, another element of Brown’s reorganization plan, but instead focused on budget issues for the JEDC.
The commission has requested a $1.3 million budget transfer to allow it to meet its expenses for the remainder of the 2011-12 fiscal year.
As of June 11, the commission reported it had $81,513 remaining in its original budget of $2,014,905.
It has requested an additional $1.3 million to cover expected expenses for the remainder of the fiscal year and planned to have a surplus of about $40,000 for contingencies, but how the commission ended up with the figure perplexed a number of council members.
“Somebody made a projection of a $40,000 surplus by the end of the (fiscal) year. That number had to come from somewhere. Where are all those X’s, Y’s and Z’s that add up to $40,000? That’s all we are asking,” said Bill Bishop, Council vice president and Rules Committee chair.
Commission Deputy Executive Director Paul Crawford said the JEDC’s request was clear with Assistant Council Auditor Janice Billy.
“I believe that the council auditor, Janice Billy, through our meetings, has a clear understanding of what we are proposing and they are in agreement with what we had proposed,” Crawford said.
“I believe that (with the budget transfer) we will adequately fund our organization through Sept. 30,” he said.
Council member John Crescimbeni proposed an amendment that reduced the request by about $328,000.
He proposed to reduce JEDC expenditures in professional services, eliminate the remaining travel funding and reducing event contributions.
“We can put that amount in a special Council JEDC reserve account and if you run into problems between now and Sept. 30, you come back and talk to us. That gives you everything except these bloated, jump-out line items,” said Crescimbeni.
He had also targeted reductions in the advertising line item, but Crawford explained that those funds would be used to advertise for the annual Florida-Georgia football game that needed to be contracted in the current budget.
Part of the budget request includes expenses that the City is required to pay, according to Crawford.
Those include $100,000 for environmental cleanup of the Shipyards property required by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, $50,000 for Phase I environmental cleanup of Sidney Gefen Riverwalk Park/Fire Station No. 5 land swap with Fidelity (which will have a total expense of about $100,000) and $30,000 for La Villa land sale title work.
The full Council needs to vote on the budget request. That vote could take place June 26.
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