The Jacksonville office responsible for bringing more money in to the area is now seeking more money for itself.

The Jacksonville Economic Development Commission is in the process of reorganizing.  While that’s taking place, the office was only given funding for the first six months of the budget year, with the expectation that the office could ask the City Council for more money once that reorganization was complete.

The budget was expected to run out at the end of March under that six month projection.  It is only last week that the office actually started asking for more money.

“Something must have either been neglected and/or maybe they don’t need the money,” says City Councilman Matt Schellenberg.

The new budget request is before a joint committee of Rules and Finance.  There are other committee steps as well before it appears before the full Council, which could happen June 26.

JEDC Acting Director Paul Crawford says until then their budget is strained.  He is asking for an additional $1.3 million to get through to the next budget year, which begins in October.

“This is what we need to continue in our existing capacity,” he says.

While he could not discuss exactly what programs some of the money would fund, the budget would apply to existing staff salaries, pursuing sporting events and advertising for big events like the Florida/Georgia game.

Schellenberg says the salaries are one of the big issues.  During this budget cycle, the JEDC budget was used to hire Jacksonville’s new Sports and Entertainment Director Alan Verlander at just under $180,000, Ambassador for Sports Artis Gilmore at $60,000 and Special Events Director Tonisha Landry-Gaines at $98,000- although Landry-Gaines already worked for the city for $65,000 a year before the switch.

“It’s a concern of the City Council to hire people when there’s no money, basically, in the budget,” says Schellenberg.

Crawford says the hires were crucial for future growth in the city.

“Alan Verlander brings a plethora of knowledge as well as great connections within the sporting world,” Crawford says.

But Schellenberg wants to know at what sacrifice the hires came.  Because the budget was supposed to last only through March, he wants a better idea of how the money lasted as long as it did.  By Schellenberg’s calculations the JEDC is also asking for more money per month than they spent for the first part of the budget year.  While he has a good idea of how the money would be spent moving forward, Schellenberg says he needs a better picture of how the money was spent up to this point to be comfortable giving them more.

Crawford would not say what would happen if they didn’t get the funding, preferring instead to stay optimistic.