When City Council begins to review Mayor Alvin Brown’s proposed budget, the head of the Finance Committee said the work will be “the most transparent, open budget review the City has ever had.”
Committee Chair Greg Anderson, speaking as an individual member, said all options to balance and tweak Brown’s proposal should be available.
“I believe everything is on the table,” he said. “I’m not eliminating any options.”
Anderson will lead the Finance Committee into its annual budget hearings starting Aug. 8.
The group will hear from City departments, independent authorities and others included in the budget during daylong Thursday meetings and half-day Friday meetings throughout August.
Anderson said a major focus will be openness and transparency. People can watch the review online and access handouts and presentations in real time through the myjaxbudget.com website.
He said he hoped the website serves as a “one-stop shop” for the budget review and he has worked with the City information technology department to set it up.
Anderson calls this year’s nine-person committee, larger than the typical seven members, “a great mix” of people, all with experience and leadership.
Council President Bill Gulliford increased the size of the committee this year. Anderson said he doesn’t consider the larger size of the committee as cumbersome for the review.
One major challenge could be the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, which has a $29.3 million extraordinary lapse — money that accounts for salaries, benefits and other controllable and fluctuating costs throughout the fiscal year — applied by budget-makers.
The committee likely will be asked to close that lapse, which could mean further cuts from other departments or from within the sheriff’s office – cuts that could mean public safety layoffs.
Sheriff John Rutherford said last week he refused to make the cuts and lay off public safety employees.
Anderson said Friday that public safety is a priority, but the committee will need Rutherford’s cooperation during the budget review.
He also said the committee will need better communication from Brown’s administration and budget officials in answering questions impacting the budget.
“Right now it’s not where it needs to be,” Anderson said of the relationship between the legislative and executive branch.
Anderson will meet Finance Committee members at 10 a.m. today after Brown formally presents his budget proposal to discuss protocol for the hearings and establish the group’s groundwork.
Anderson has plans beyond the budget review.
He said he will split the nine-member group into three subcommittees to analyze the City’s incentives policies, its capital improvement plan and its Council Auditor’s audits.
In addition, Brown’s pension reform proposal will be reviewed by the committee before heading to the entire Council.
Anderson also serves on the11-member Retirement Reform Task Force, which Brown created to review the proposal and offer recommendations.
The agreement before Council is designed to save $1.2 billion over 30 years, including $45 million in fiscal 2013-14. The Jacksonville Civic Council, among others, has said it should be rejected because it does not save enough.
Anderson is the only Council member on the task force of community leaders and said his participation allows him to ask questions and better understand the issues.
He said he will not lobby the other 18 Council members for a particular decision.
For the Council year, July-June, the Finance Committee will meet regularly at 9 a.m. the first and third Tuesday of each month.
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