Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan has scheduled eight town halls during August and September to discuss her $2.03 billion proposed budget for fiscal year 2026-27, presented to City Council July 20.
Deegan’s budget includes a $22.58 million increase in revenue and spending over the 2025-26 budget. It does not include an increase in the property tax rate. Instead, increased property tax revenue comes from rises in property values and from new properties that have gone on the tax rolls this year.
The Council Finance Committee will debate the budget and is expected to deliver any recommended alterations to the full Council by September. Under state law, the full Council must pass a budget before the Oct. 1 start of the 2026-27 fiscal year.
That process will occur during a time of uncertainty in the city budget, with a statewide vote scheduled in November on a ballot measure that would increase the state’s homestead exemption to $250,000 by fiscal year 2029. Should a constitutional amendment on the exemption pass, most Florida property owners would pay less in property taxes and the city could lose more than 10% of its revenue.
With each event scheduled to start at 6 p.m., Deegan’s town hall schedule is as follows:
- Aug. 5, Jean Ribault High School, 3701 Winton Drive
- Aug. 13, Julia Landon College Preparatory & Leadership Development School, 1819 Thacker Ave.
- Aug. 19, Duncan U. Fletcher High School, 700 Seagate Ave.
- Aug. 27, Mandarin High School, 4831 Greenland Road
- Sept. 1, Ortega Elementary School, 4010 Baltic St.
- Sept. 8, Terry Parker High School, 7301 Parker School Road
- Sept. 15, First Coast High School, 590 Duval Station Road
- Sept. 21, Edward H. White High School, 1700 Old Middleburg Road N.