As Sheriff John Rutherford described it, the budget Mayor Alvin Brown provided City Council was a “roadmap to Detroit,” an allusion to that city’s bankruptcy issues.
“But I also don’t want us to become the south side of Chicago,” he told the council Finance Committee, making a comment on the city’s crime issue.
Rutherford again was before the committee Tuesday, as he said, “hat in hand, asking for some help.”
Without it, some 100 positions would remain vacant and a re-entry facility for offenders could be shuttered.
After more than a month of review, the group imposed cuts and then added an additional 2 percent across-the-board cut to avoid spending from reserves or borrowing.
Rutherford said the result was a $5.5 million hole in his budget. With a week to go until the council finalizes the city’s budget, the sheriff made an appeal that public safety should be a priority — and that a 2 percent across-the-board cut “is not setting priority.”
He compared it to residents balancing their budgets. When cuts have to happen, they aren’t going to come from mortgage payments, he said.
“We are the mortgage,” Rutherford told the group.
Of the $5.5 million, he asked for at least $4 million to be restored. He said he could cover the other $1.5 million through carrying vacancies longer. Without it, officers would be dip from 1,603 to just over 1,500 and the Community Transition Center would need to be closed. The 300-bed facility helps offenders reintegrate themselves after release.
Council member Bill Gulliford used a literary reference from George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” when talking about the situation and the need to prioritize.
“All departments are equal but some are more equal than others,” he said.
Gulliford suggested if council didn’t want to use one-time money for such requests, then council members need to find it somewhere else. That could mean members go back to see what other departments should be pulled from to make up the $4 million.
“I don’t have a great answer for you,” he said.
While the council struggled to find answers for the sheriff, the mayor’s office found a solution for another funding cut.
Last month, the Finance Committee slashed a bevy of new spending, which included $1 million toward reconfiguring the Baseball Grounds into a soccer field to accommodate the Jacksonville Armada.
The startup professional soccer team is slated to play home games Downtown. Team officials have begun selling tickets, but the $1 million is needed for equipment and conversion for each game.
Legislation filed as an emergency would take the $1 million from past stadium upgrade accounts that have money remaining.
Members of the committee have said that for restorations to happen, the money had to be found elsewhere. But they weren’t ready to sign off on the plan, with several saying they hadn’t had sufficient time to review the deal.
It didn’t pass the bill as an emergency Tuesday and instead will have a special meeting before the full council meeting Tuesday to review the plan.
Gulliford said he supports the plan because of the city’s backing of other sports franchises. In addition, it helps Downtown revitalization, he said.
John Crescimbeni said he liked soccer and wants to help, but the crunched timeframe and lack of review by council members and the council auditors is “not a good way to do business.”
“I don’t like being put in this situation,” he said.
Council member Lori Boyer also favored holding off, saying she wanted to determine if there were any pass-through costs other than the $1 million the city would have to fund. The city would pay for electricity, while the Armada handles game-day operations.
Her concern stems from additional costs associated with the $63 million project at EverBank Field, for which the city contributed $43 million. Council members later found out an annual expense of more than $1.5 million for overall maintenance for the scoreboards and pools was the city’s responsibility.
The sheriff’s budget and Armada situation, along with anything else that will be a part of the upcoming budget, will need to be finalized before the Oct. 1 start of the new fiscal year.
The full council is scheduled to meet at 5 p.m. Tuesday to approve the budget.
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