Jacksonville City Council passes 2014
The council voted 12 7 to restore $236,000 to the Jacksonville Children s Commission for its programs. The funding would come from reserves within the Jacksonville Children s Commission.
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On an 11 7 vote, the City Council rejected a floor amendment by Councilman Warren Jones to restore about $192,000 to pay for three positions the Finance Committee had cut from the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission, which investigates discrimination complaints. The reduction means the commission will have eight positions starting Oct. 1, down from 11 this year. A floor amendment by Councilman Don Redman to abolish the commission and use all its funding for the public works department died for lack of a second. Redman has long argued that the commission replicates work done by other agencies.
The council voted 11 8 to support using about $280,000 from the city s operating reserves to continue for another year the operation of the city s Victim Service Center.
The council voted to reverse the Finance Committee s proposal to close the Maxville library branch and voted to keep Sunday hours for the Highlands branch. Library officials say that it will be business as usual for the city s libraries starting Oct. 1 with the same hours of operation. The exception is the continued closure of the Willowbranch library, though in that case, flood damage is to blame, not any budget cuts.
On a 12 7 vote, the council votes to eliminate the 2 percent across the board cuts. This is the major vote the council will take during the night.
Vpatagonia better sweater stripe marsupialoting to eliminate the 2 percent cuts are Greg Anderson, Reggie Brown, Doyle Carter, John Crescimbeni, Kimberly Daniels, Reggie Gaffney, Warren Jones, Stephen Joost, E. Denise Lee, Jim Love, Robin Lumb and Don Redman.
Voting against were Bill Bishop, Lori Boyer, Richard Clark, Bill Gulliford, Ray Holt, Matt Schellenberg and Clay Yarborough.
Apatagonia chile travel guidefter making some more changes in the Sheriff s Office budget, the council determines it would require taking $3 million from reserves along with about $3.4 million in ppatagonia clothing new zealandreviously unexpected property tax revenue and $2.4patagonia hiking boots new balance3 million in expected revenue from fire department.
Council members John Crescimbeni and Matt Schellenberg express astonishment and anger that council is only just learning from Property Appraiser s Office that projections of higher taxable property value would generate more tax revenue next year. By gosh, I ve witnessed a miracle tonight, Crescimbeni said. City Councilman Bill Bishop argues the council needs to support the Finance Committee in taking a hard line against going into the financial reserves, or else kick the can down the road for future council to stick with the hard budget choices.
City Councilman Stephen Joost says vital city services are at stake, saying it s worth taking money out of reserves to ensure the fire department can respond to burning houses.
The council is debating whether to scrap the the 2 percent across the board cut that had emerged as the most contentious part of the budget proposed by the Finance Committee. Instead of using $8.6 million from the city s operating reserves, the council voted to use about $3.4 million from those reserves. The rest of the difference would come from about $2.4 million in additional revenue expected for the fire department and $3.4 million that the city would collect in property taxes above the former projection given by the Property Appraiser s Office. The office continuously works throughout the summer to tally a final tax roll certification, which this year would be higher than the interim rpatagonia better sweater womens pineappleeport given earlier this summer.
The good news is there is more money, said City Councilman Robin Lumb. City Council Auditor Kirk Sherman warned that the Property Appraiser s projection is a tentative calculation and he couldn t recommend banking on it. Keith Hicks with the Property Appraiser s Office told council the taxable property value is higher than previously calculated as the office continues to refine the tax roll.
The across the board cut would have hit all departments, including the Sheriff s Office, the fire department, and libraries. The library system had previoulsy said it would eliminate Sunday hours at the Highlands branch if it had to absorb the cut, so that no longer would be the case. City Councilman Richard Clark says he doesn t like the $12 million in debt for purchase of vehicles for the fire department and using any of the reserves.
City Council approves adding $500,000 to the budget for moving apatagonia hiking boots new balancend maintenance, as requested by City Councilwoman E. Denise Lee. Lee identified the source of funding as the same pot of $1.52 million in unused money that council previously tapped to get $1 million for the Jacksonville Armada soccer team to play at the Baseball Grounds next year. The $500,000 would bolster the city s ongoing efforts to clean up blight.
Members of the City Council s Finance Committee recap the deliberations that lead to the budget it recommended. Finance Committee Chairman Richard Clark says it is a live within your means spending plan and there was a lot of pain but it shows how much government the city can realistically afford based on what its revenue will be in the coming fiscal year. Council members engage in a lengthy discussion of how the city s financial reserves have grown over the years. City Councilman Robin Lumb argues that the Finance Committee s budget has dipped into reserves by allocating $4 million expected to be left over at the end of this fiscal year and earmarking it for the next year s budget Whether you like it or not, you have spent money from reserves. The precedent has been set. Lumb has amendments to tap the financial reserves to restore cuts in the Finance Committee s budget.
City Council President Clay Yarborough warns the crowd not to clap or make other noises for or against any of the points expressed during the council meeting. He said if it continues, he will have to clear the chambers. More speakers come forward to urge council to keep open the Maxville library branch and the Matrix House. Speakers from Maxville say the city is going to be expanding the Trail Ridge Landfill and the library branch was built in order to give residents in that part of the city something other than the landfill. We need to stop this annual campaign to close the Maxville library because Maxville matters, one woman tells council. Matrix House is part of the Sheriff s Office budget. A couple of years ago, the Matrix House also was at risk of closing because of proposed budget cuts to the Sheriff s Office, but council kept the funding intact for it back then.
Former City Councilman Eric Smith makes an impassioned plea for City Council to restore funding for the Victims Service Center. This is the Victims Service Center, Smith said, holding up a large framed photo of the house where the service is located. He said tpatagonia everlong review formshe center provides services that crime victims need. I would suggest to you that it s not a good time to be dismantling something that has been a treasure to the city. He said people victimized by crime should have at least as many resources as those accused of crimes do. He said if there are problems with management of the service, the city should fix that, but not cut the program.
Other speakers said they were concerned with the direction the city is going in terms of cutting city services. One compared Jacksonville unfavorably to Tampa. A Maxville resident said it would be a disgrace for the city to close the Maxville branch. Some speakers touted the benefits of the Matrix House which provides rehabilitation to people who suffer from drug and alcohol abuse. It was like a boot camp for life, one man who went through the program tells council. He said he would probably be dead now if not for it.
City Council approves city financial supppatagonia gloves wholesaleort for Jacksonville Armada FC, the city s newest sports franchise. to play its soccer games next year at the Baseball Grounds. Mayor Alvin Brown had proposed $1 million to pay for the equipment and related costs of switching the field from baseball to soccer and back again while the Jacksonville Suns and Armada alternated games at the field. The City Council s Finance Committee zeroed about that funding in its alternate budget. Brown then filed separate legislation to secure the funding, which City Council approved tonight.
The public comments have finished. City Council is moving to other parts of the agenda besides the budget, so it will be awhile longer beforepatagonia guide jacket 2 tote those who act council to reconsider cuts to learn if council will agree. Rep. Corrine Brown, D Jacksonville, is among those who came to fill the council chambers. Brown has objected strongly to proposed budget cuts that would reduce the number of election day voting sites by 17 precincts.
The Jacksonpatagonia hiking boots new balance0ville City Council will wrap up two months of budget wrangling Tuesday night when it votes to finalize a 2014 15 budget, but not before going through at least 29 floor amendments seeking to alter the contpatagonia hiking boots new balance1ours of how the city directs spending starting Oct. 1.
Based on amendments filed by council members, the biggest question heading into the night is whether the council will pull patagonia guide pants 2 beltback from the 2 percent across the board cuts that the council s Finance Committee used to balancpatagonia hiking boots new balance2e the bottom line without tapping the city s financial reserves.
The 2 percent cut would hit all departments, including the Sheriff s Office, fire department and libraries.
Council member Kimberly Daniels has filed an amendment to eliminate that across the board cut by tapping about $8.6 million from the city s reserves. Her amendment is poised to come up at the start of deliberations by the council on the budget.
