The Jacksonville City Council’s Finance Committee has finished up its budget hearings to review the $2 billion budget presented by Mayor Donna Deegan for the 2025-26 fiscal year, and City Council President Kevin Carrico is urging citizens to take action in the process.
“It’s time to reach out to your council members. It’s time, as citizens, to activate,” said Carrico at an Aug. 25 press conference. “Over $13 million has been cut from your (property) taxes; that savings is coming back to you.”
The savings equate to about $1 a month back in the pockets of taxpayers.
Following Carrico’s press conference, Deegan said she sees the savings as the City Council responding to political pressure.
“We heard one of the Finance Committee members say that they had put money back into Meals on Wheels because they were getting political pressure to do so,” said Deegan. “Where is the citizen in all of this? If the private sector is not going to step in and solve the problem, it’s government’s job to step in and at least begin to find a solution for that..like feeding seniors.”
The tax savings Carrico alluded to were proposed by Finance Committee Chair Raul Arias and Committee Member Ron Salem, who proposed a 1/8 millage decrease in the property tax rate for 2025-26 from Deegan’s proposed budget during the Aug. 7 committee meeting. Council Auditor Kim Taylor instructed the committee that once the millage rate was set, the city council would not be able to increase it later to address budget needs.
The City Council will have a hearing to set the tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year on Sept. 9.
The Finance Committee needed to find savings in the budget to afford the tax reduction.
One of the initial cuts made by the committee was to the Meals on Wheels program that provided meals to home-bound seniors. The Senior Services, which Meals on Wheels is covered by, received $6,806,011 in the previous fiscal year. Of that amount, approximately $150,000 was used for the Meals on Wheels program. The funding request has been increased to $8,903,554 for the 2025-26 budget.
The $2,210,000 increase was requested to fund a pilot program to address food insecurity among seniors.
Carrico initially made a motion to triple the City’s annual contribution from $150,000 to $486,000 at the Aug. 14 meeting, but was against the $2.2 million. Senior Services are coordinated under the Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Department, and Director Daryl Joseph explained that the additional funds were needed to address the 3,000 people on the waiting list for the mayor’s food insecurity program.
By the Aug. 22 Finance Committee Budget hearing, the Mayor’s Office had met with city council members and agreed to fund the program with $1.7 million. Joseph reported that about 900 people would still be on the waiting list for meals.
The Aug. 22 budget hearing also included the introduction of three controversial amendments introduced by Council Member Rory Diamond. The amendments won’t allow the City to fund Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives or programs funding people living in the country illegally, while the third amendment bans taxpayer funding for abortion and abortion-related services.
Both Committee Member Ju’Coby Pittman and City Council Member Rahman Johnson voiced their opposition to the amendments.
After the amendments were approved, Carrico asked for clarification on whether the mayor could veto the entire budget and what the ramifications would be. Mary Staffopoulus from the City’s Office of General Counsel informed the committee that the mayor could veto the budget. If there wasn’t a budget in place by the start of the fiscal year, then the previous budget would still be in effect. The City Council would need 10 votes to override the mayor’s veto if that were to happen.
Following the final finance committee meeting on Aug. 22, Deegan issued a statement regarding the amendments.
“These divisive amendments do not belong in a budget bill,” Deegan said. “I’m extremely disappointed that the majority of this Finance Committee went along with yet another attempt to polarize our community with toxic D.C. culture wars that hurt our city. We have so much momentum right now and I will not let us be distracted.”
Carrico, however, stood by the amendments, sharing the following remarks at the Aug. 25 press conference on the steps of Jacksonville City Hall, joined by nine other council members.
“Those amendments were put in by Council Member Diamond. I support those amendments as a conservative. I don’t want to see our taxpayer dollar used on any items that the amendments cover. If the Mayor wants to veto that, that is up to her.”
Your Voice Can Be Heard
Sept. 3
Finance Committee Meeting:
The final step in committee before
the City budget is sent to City
Council for review.
Sept. 9
City Council Meeting:
The city council will hold a hearing
to set the millage rate.
Sept. 23
City Council Meeting:
The final vote on the budget before
the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1
