Mayor Lenny Curry’s pension payment plan made it through its first test unscathed Tuesday.
The Senate’s Community Affairs Committee unanimously approved the plan after brief discussion, mostly by two of the people behind the measure.
Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, explained the more than $2.6 billion unfunded liability in Jacksonville’s pension plans was “choking the financial security” of the city.
A half-cent sales tax extension that would begin after an infrastructure-related tax of the same amount expires in 2030 isn’t an increase, he said.
To that point, there was an amendment approved that clarifies that position.
If the idea is approved, he said, it would put the decision in the hands of Jacksonville voters instead of a possible property tax increase in which they’d have no say.
“This is a tool in the tool box,” said Bradley, who serves on the committee. He went on to say the measure is “not a bail-out from Tallahassee.”
Rep. Travis Hutson, R-Elkton, also serves on the committee and co-sponsors the bill.
He said without such an option moving forward, Jacksonville might have to file bankruptcy or boost the millage rate — both options in which the people wouldn’t have a say like a sales-tax referendum.
The next stop for the plan is today in the House. It’s on the agenda for the Finance & Tax Committee that will meet at noon. It also still needs approval from the House State Affairs Committee.
On the Senate side, it still has to make it through the Finance & Tax and Fiscal Policy committees.
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