Jacksonville City Council Vice President Nick Howland wants the Jacksonville Aviation Authority to “double down” on investments at Cecil Spaceport and boost its efforts to expand the aerospace industry in Northeast Florida.
JAA, an independent authority established by the state of Florida, is pushing back after Council amended JAA’s budget at the recommendation of the Council Finance Committee, which includes Howland.
Howland also filed a resolution that, among other things, would establish new requirements for JAA’s board membership.
The JAA has obtained a legal opinion saying Council overstepped its authority, and its board is considering taking formal action in opposition to Howland’s initiatives.
Options in the opinion include taking Council to court.
The situation stems from a Council Finance Committee review of JAA’s budget in mid-August, when the committee voted to recommend amendments by Howland to fast-track $13 million that the JAA had placed in future budgets to improve the spaceport, hire a consultant and explore capital improvements at Cecil Airport to support a potential JAA/Florida State College at Jacksonville Northeast Advanced Aviation Maintenance Training Center.
That amendment was part of the 2025-26 city budget approved by Council on Sept. 24.
Howland, the Council liaison to the JAA board, filed Council legislation Sept. 9 calling for the filing of a bill in the state Legislature to rename JAA as the Jacksonville Aviation and Aerospace Authority. Howland’s legislation, Resolution 2025-0693, is aimed at making JAA responsible for developing Cecil as a “premier aerospace and related industries hub” and requiring the authority to submit an economic development plan for the airport to Council during its annual review of JAA’s budget.
In addition, the state bill envisioned in the resolution would establish a requirement for one JAA board member appointed by the mayor and one by the governor to have experience in aerospace or a related industry.
The state legislation, identified as Local Bill J-2 in Howland’s resolution, would be filed by a member of the Duval County legislative delegation. The resolution schedules a Duval delegation hearing on the local bill for Oct. 22.
JAA resolutions
On Sept. 29, the JAA board will consider two resolutions that would express opposition to the Howland-led budget amendments.
Resolution 2025-03 would oppose the Jacksonville City Council’s amendments to JAA’s 2026 budget.
The full title of JAA Resolution 2025-05 is this:
“A Resolution of the Jacksonville Aviation Authority’s Board of Directors in Opposition to City Council Member Howland’s Nonconsensual Introduction of Resolution 2025-695 Seeking Approval by and Support from the Jacksonville City Council for Duval County’s Legislative Delegation’s Consideration and State Legislature Approval of Local Bill J-2.”
After the agenda was released, JAA said the resolution number in the title was incorrectly listed and should have been 2025-693.
The resolutions were introduced by William Gulliford, JAA board secretary and a former Council member.
Guilliford’s resolutions follow a legal opinion JAA sought after the August meeting of the Finance Committee. It retained Tallahassee-based Lawson Huck Gonzalez for outside counsel.
Board Chair Michelle Barnett said the opinion, authored by firm shareholder and former Florida Supreme Court Justice Alan Lawson, asserts the Council has no dominion over how JAA spends its money.
“We just wanted to make sure we understood what each of our roles are and that we’re doing the right thing,” she said.
JAA, she said, believes it is not obligated to act on Council resolutions.
'Council has overstepped'
Lawson’s opinion cites case law that says JAA is an independent authority governed by special acts of the Florida Legislature over which the city has no control.
The opinion reads, “even without the implications of federal law, we believe the Council has overstepped its legislatively delegated powers. In purporting to force the Amendment on JAA, the Council has (1) exercised powers it has not been granted, (2) infringed on powers JAA has been granted, and (3) placed JAA at risk of liability for breach of contract with a tenant (the aviation training center) by adopting the Amendment...Our recommended option: Pass a Board resolution denying the Council’s request.”
Other options, it says, include filing an action seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against the Council, seeking a political solution at the state level and requesting an opinion letter from the Florida Attorney General.
“Formally, another solution would be to cut to the chase and start the process of revising the JAA Charter. Despite the Council’s ambition to achieve direct representation on the Board, any effort to change the power structure likely would result in less — not more — local control,” the opinion says.
“A revision of the JAA Charter could be minor, such as by rewriting section 5 to reflect a reality in which JAA does not request budget appropriations from the Council for funding by the City. A more radical revision would be to seek a wholesale change in the composition of the Board to achieve full state control.”
Hearing prompts friction
The Council reviews JAA’s budget, but the authority operates independently of the city. During the Finance Committee meeting, the city Office of General Counsel said JAA can decide for itself whether to spend the money as requested by Howland and the Finance Committee.
JAA’s 2025-26 budget includes $149.7 million in operating revenue, none of which comes from the city. The authority’s 2025-26 approved capital budget is $49 million.
During the Finance Committee meeting, JAA President and CEO Mark VanLoh and top members of his leadership team said the authority was not ready to move up work on the spaceport due to other projects having higher priority, including construction of Jacksonville International Airport Concourse B and a $38 million repair of the airport’s hourly parking garage, which was heavily damaged by fire May 16.
As for the training center, which would be funded by improvements to a leased hangar, the executives said JAA had discussed the project with Federal Aviation Administration officials and were told the improvements were not an authorized use of airport funding.
Howland pressed through the objections, and the Finance Committee adopted his recommendations via voice votes. Raul Arias chairs the committee, and Howland is vice chair. Members are Joe Carlucci, Rory Diamond, Will Lahnen, Ju’Coby Pittman and Ron Salem.
Howland said his initiatives would promote economic development at little risk to JAA’s budget. Under his amendments, the money would be drawn from JAA’s reserve funds. He noted that the authority had $384 million in “cash on hand” reserves, which is about $14 million more than the city’s operating reserves.
“I think you guys have made JIA (Jacksonville International Airport) a world-class airport. I think it’s time to shift or add to your mission to focus on making Cecil an aerospace hub even beyond what it has (become),” Howland told the JAA representatives.
“I’d like to see changes to not only the budget but to the mission and potentially the charter that accentuate the growth of the aerospace industry at Cecil, basically creating jobs for our community and increasing the aviation and aerospace ecosystem in Northeast Florida.”
Insistence, resistance
JAA says comparisons between its budget and the city’s are not fitting, because unlike the city the JAA does not have taxing authority that would help make up for losses during economic downturns, pandemics and other unpredictable hardships.
VanLoh said that compared to other large Florida cities and airport systems similar in size to Jacksonville’s, the JAA carries a low amount of cash on hand.
Howland said a stepped-up investment could lead to substantial financial gains for the airport and the community. As an example, he cited the recent announcement that Texas-based Otto Aviation would move its headquarters to Cecil and invest $430 million on a manufacturing facility at the airport for its Phantom 3500 corporate jet.
In recent years, JAA also helped attract Boeing, which operates a digitally enabled maintenance, repair and overhaul facility, a component operations center and a military aircrew training center at Cecil. In addition, aerospace company Hermeus is building a hypersonic testing facility there.
“I think we have the opportunity if we double down to hit some home runs,” he said. “If we increase our focus on Cecil now and invest to do so I think we can hit it out of the park and create a job engine for Northeast Florida.”
“I don’t want to hear anymore nos.”
Howland said that in contrast to Jacksonville, the FAA had allowed aviation authorities in other cities to invest in training facilities. He said he believed that through a partnership between JAA, the city, FSCJ and the state of Florida, it would be possible to overcome the FAA’s objections.
Speaking about a proposed $10 million funding transfer to spur improvements at Cecil Spaceport in 2025-26, Howland said, “If you don’t spend it, you don’t spend it. But I’d like to put this here to start a process.”
“I don’t want to hear anymore nos,” he said. “I want to hear, ‘All right, let’s see what you’re talking about, Mr. Howland.’”
In a general request for comment, JAA issued a statement reading: “The Jacksonville Aviation Authority’s commitment to developing Cecil Airport and Spaceport as one of the preeminent aerospace facilities in the United States is of foundational importance to the organization. In just the last few years companies such as Boeing, Hermeus and Otto Aviation chose to invest in and grow operations at Cecil. These commitments garner local, national and international attention and put a spotlight on Northeast Florida.”
Since JAA took over ownership of Cecil in 1999, its says $372 million has been invested in capital projects at the airport. That includes $31 million for spaceport development.
At its Aug. 7 board meeting, the authority approved a proclamation supporting a re-entry license for the spaceport, which it said signals a further commitment to growing aerospace operations and planning for Cecil’s future.
After the Aug. 15 committee hearing, Howland read a statement.
“This session was a great step forward,” he said. “Cecil Field will be a job growth engine for Northeast Florida. Today, we accelerated investment that will grow aerospace manufacturing and logistics and potentially assist FSCJ in expanding workforce development programs in aviation maintenance and air traffic control.”
Next steps
Howland’s resolution, which he introduced Sept. 9, is advancing through Council.
Asked for comment about the JAA agenda items, Howland sent a text messaging reading: “I look forward to working with the Duval (legislative) Delegation and JAA leadership to strengthen Cecil Field as an aerospace industry hub and job growth engine for Northeast Florida.”
The JAA board meeting is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Sept. 29 on the third floor of the JAA Administration Building at 14201 Pecan Park Road.