After several hours of discussion, the Jacksonville City Council approved a reduction in the property tax rate for Jacksonville, the Beaches and Baldwin on Sept. 23.
Council approved a millage rate reduction of one-eighth of a mill. The votes came on three separate ordinances and will result in the need to eliminate about $13 million from Mayor Donna Deegan’s proposed $2.02 billion city budget for 2025-26.
The votes came on a night when Council also considered giving final approval to the budget. which is still under consideration as of 11:45 p.m.
Because of a state statutory requirement for the city’s budget to be balanced, the rate cut resulted in the need for $13.4 million in spending reductions in Deegan’s proposed budget.
One mill is equal to a $1 tax for every $1,000 of assessed property value. For the owner of a Jacksonville property with an assessed property value of $200,000 and a $50,000 homestead exemption, the annual tax savings with the millage cut would be $18.75.
Council voted 10-9 to lower the millage rate for Jacksonville and the Beaches. Council President Kevin Carrico, Vice President Nick Howland and members Raul Arias, Joe Carlucci, Rory Diamond, Will Lahnen, Terrance Freeman, Mike Gay, Chris Miller and Ron Salem voted for the cut. Members Ken Amaro, Michael Boylan, Tyrona Clark-Murray, Matt Carlucci, Reggie Gaffney Jr., Rahman Johnson, Jimmy Peluso, Ju’Coby Pittman and Randy White voted against the cut.
Council voted 18-1 to lower the millage rate for Baldwin. Peluso was the lone no vote.
The reduction for Jacksonville, contained in Ordinance 2025-0501, is to 11.1919 mills from 11.3169 mills.
As contained in Ordinance 2025-0502, the millage rate reduction for Atlantic Beach, Jacksonville Beach and Neptune Beach was to 7.9012 from 8.0262. The rate reduction for Baldwin, contained in Ordinance 2025-0503, was to 9.4208 from 9.5260.
The larger support for the cut to Baldwin’s millage rate came after the town’s mayor, Sean Lynch, said his town had raised its rate to account for the city’s cut in funding to the Northeast Regional Council. Lynch told Council he would like to see the millage rate for Baldwin reduced.
The regional council supports economic development, emergency preparedness, affordable housing and other programs in Baker, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, Putnam and St. Johns counties.
Deegan recommended that the millage rate for Jacksonville remain unchanged at 11.3169 for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.
She also proposed a five-year Capital Improvement Plan with $687 million in first-year spending, which Council approved.
The Council votes came after four hours of debate.
Council members debate reduction
Thirty-seven individuals spoke in the public hearing on the millage reduction for Jacksonville. Of those, who often echoed the points made by those on both sides of Council, 33 spoke against the proposed cut, and four spoke in favor.
“Based on the number of people that have spoken, I think we can see people do not want this cut,” Peluso said. “My concern with doing this millage cut is that there are hidden deficits that we still have yet to pay… If we cut this millage, I’m afraid we’ll never get to them.”
“This is not nearly a big enough tax cut for the people of Jacksonville,” Diamond said. “This used to be a place where you could come and have a house and build a family and build family wealth and make sure that their kids were going to a good school. That dream is becoming out of reach for so many people in Jacksonville.”
“Some even say that we have a spending problem, but what I do believe that we have a listening problem, because the people told us what they want to hear and what we should be doing,” Johnson said. “This money that is carved out from our budget takes things away from people.”
“Tonight, we’re debating whether to take dollars out of their wallets. And we’re debating, frankly, just how much we think those dollars matter to them,” Howland said. “The threat to public safety funding is not our modest proposed $13 million tax reduction. It’s not even close. It’s the administration’s growing excess spend on new and recurring programs that often fall far outside the scope of government.”
Advocates for the cut said the city could afford it in a year when Council passed a fee increase on property owners for trash removal. That increase gives the city $340 million in additional revenue over five years. With the millage rate cut, the city will still have a deficit of $80 million over those years, or $280 million less than it would have faced without the trash fee increase.
In a release sent after the vote, Carrico said the rate cuts reduce property taxes by $70 million over the next five years if it remains in place. The result, he said, would be hundreds of dollars in savings for the average household.
“Tonight is a big win for taxpayers,” he said in the release. “My colleagues listened to the public and chose relief over rhetoric. This is real money back in the pockets of Jacksonville families, and it sets the stage for more relief in the years ahead. Taxpayers demand responsibility from City Hall and tonight we delivered.”
The spending debate
Deegan said her proposed operating budget, an increase from the $1.88 billion in the 2024-25 approved version, allowed Jacksonville to continue investing in providing essential services for the city’s growing population.
Much of the increased spending in Deegan’s proposed budget came from a $40 million, one-time contribution from city utility JEA, which provides a portion of its revenue to the city annually, and property tax revenue that came in $40 million over projections.
Deegan’s budget drew criticism from a 10-member Republican majority of Council, who said government spending was outpacing population and inflation rates, and the city should provide relief to taxpayers through the millage rate reduction.
The Republican-dominated Council Finance Committee voted 6-1 to recommend spending reductions, including on such Deegan priorities as affordable housing, health care and elder care.
Deegan, a Democrat, responded by accusing her Republican opponents of being motivated by politics, not a genuine concern for taxpayers, in advance of Jacksonville’s 2027 municipal elections.
She said the spending cuts would inhibit the city from serving residents’ needs while providing no meaningful tax savings to property owners.
Her office noted that Jacksonville’s millage rate is lower than the level in such large Jacksonville cities as Miami, Orlando and Tampa.
The majority Republicans said that even with the Finance Committee’s proposed spending reductions, the version of the budget that came out of the committee would provide a near-record amount of funding for non-profit organizations that provide social and cultural services.
Howland said the Finance Committee’s budget included $59 million for after-school programs, $56 million for indigent medical care, $23 million for Medicaid, $7 million for juvenile justice, $7 million in public service grants, and more.
“We’re not killing babies with cuts. We’re not taking money out of the mouths of seniors with cuts,” he said.
According to the Council auditors, the 2025-26 budget contains more money than any previous budget for Kids Hope Alliance, indigent health care, public service grants and Cultural Council funding.
Auditors said that determining non-profit spending outside of those four budget items would be “extremely difficult to quantify.”
Proponents of the mill rate cut also said that with the Finance Committee’s cuts, the budget still provided a record amount of funding for capital improvements and public safety. About $100 million in Deegan’s proposed operating budget goes toward providing $100.1 million in salary and pension increases to Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department employees, which Deegan and Council approved in 2024.
First responders, Civic Council opposed cut
The union leaders for Jacksonville’s first responders said the millage rate reduction would inhibit the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department from maintaining adequate protection for the city.
Kelly Dobson, the president of the Jacksonville Association of Firefighters, and Randy Reaves, president of the local Fraternal Order of Police, said their history of negotiating with the city taught them to expect that public safety would take the impact of the cuts.
“I’ve seen it over 20 years. Millage has been rolled back. Budgets have been balanced on the back of law enforcement,” Reeves said. “I hope that we’re not right here, but history will tell us that we’re going to be.”
The Civic Council, including former Republican Mayor John Peyton, said the city had too many major financial commitments in future years to lower revenue.
In current and upcoming budget cycles, Jacksonville faces significant outlays for a first responder pension fund, the city’s portion of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ $1.4 billion stadium renovations, and a new jail.
“Reducing revenue at this time is inconsistent with maintaining public safety, ensuring quality of life, and managing growth,” the group wrote. “Jacksonville’s long-term fiscal health is at stake.”
In separate responses, Carrico said the tax cut would help working families – not those at the top. He also said public safety was well-funded with its largest budget in city history.
Budget still under review
As of 11:45 p.m. on Sept. 23, debate on the proposed budget was ongoing. It included amendments including one proposed by Diamond that ban city funding for abortion; diversity, equity and inclusion; and individuals without permanent legal status.
Peluso suggested during discussion around millage rate reductions that he thought Council could return to considering the millage rate reduction after stalemates regarding the proposed budget.
Council is eligible to reconsider the millage rate during its current hearing. However, once the meeting ends, Council cannot restore the millage rate.