When City Council member Matt Schellenberg took office almost four years ago, one of the first things he did was find out how much money was in his district account.
There was only about $7,600 for the Mandarin area, which had parks, sidewalks and drainage needs.
One stormwater project, he found, was designed and ready to go — only to sit on the shelf for the past three years because, he was told, there was no money.
But money was there for projects like Schellenberg’s. It just wasn’t readily apparent.
After 40-plus hours of a council committee reviewing the city’s Capital Improvement Projects, there was a lot found. Projects in various states, pockets of funding in others across the city.
On Tuesday, council passed a bill that moved that project forward.
The result, Schellenberg said, was possible through a subcommittee’s time-intensive review.
“We were able to achieve a lot,” he said, shortly after a Wednesday news conference that shared results of the committee’s efforts.
Those included reconciling $590 million of projects dating back as far as 15 years, identifying $50 million for future projects and at least $25 million that could be pushed forward for current projects.
In all, more than 1,200 projects stretching back to the Better Jacksonville Plan were closed. Some were completed, some were in various states. Others needed more money after funds were diverted to fill other needs.
Typos and misplaced decimal points were examples of the overall problem.
“Sloppy bookkeeping” was a common term, although committee chair Lori Boyer said the group’s review shows it wasn’t done on purpose. It was just an accumulation of mistakes that added up, enough that council members stopped almost all capital investment this past year until the books were thoroughly reviewed.
It was seen as an especially important task, given the city is trying to improve its accounting software.
“In many ways, it’s setting the foundation for future improvements,” said council Vice President Greg Anderson.
He also said the review will help council members come up with an aspirational budget for annual needs like road resurfacing. Typically, he said, the number should be in the $12 million to $20 million range.
This year, only about $2 million was budgeted, he said.
“It eventually catches up,” he said, referring to the city’s needs.
Schellenberg said the group’s findings were surprising, given all the needs the city has. Council member Bill Gulliford wasn’t as shocked, saying he thought there were “little bits and pieces here and there” that added up to the greater number found.
The budgetary findings are just the first step. Next, the group will spend the next several months on policy review, such as determining appropriate levels of deficit spending.
David DeCamp, Mayor Alvin Brown’s spokesman, said the administration has worked with the council panel and will use the findings to guide proposals for city improvements.
As for where the identified money will be spent, it’ll be up to the mayor to figure out what’s important for the next projects plan.
Council ultimately will review that, but for council members like Schellenberg wanting to improve their districts, every bit of funding helps.
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