JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Ahead of the final vote on the $2 billion budget, the looming threat of Amendment 3 hung heavy on the minds of city council members.
If passed, the property tax phaseout plan would drain city revenues by $180 million starting next budget cycle.
Councilmember Ron Salem (R-Group 2 At-Large) wanted to see $100 million put into a contingency fund that could be released or withheld depending on what voters decide in November.
In the end, only a few million dollars ended up in that account, which Salem called a “tragic mistake”.
“Because if Amendment 3 passes, we’re gonna have a JTA budget situation ourselves here if not worse,” said Salem.
But Councilmember Matt Carlucci (R-Group 4 At-Large) argued, given the revenue shortfalls wouldn’t happen until next year’s budget, it would have been unwise to make massive cuts no considering Amendment 3 could end up failing.
“If we had done that with this budget, it would have been putting the cart before the horse,” said Carlucci.
Jacksonville Chief Administrative Officer Mike Weinstein argued if Amendment 3 does pass, there will still be time to make adjustments to the current budget to prepare for the impacts.
“We’d have the vast majority of this year to begin to adjust what it is we will have passed tonight with council,” said Weinstein.
Finance Chair Will Lahnen (R-District 3) defended the current plan, noting he’d have preferred to see more cuts and money shifted into the contingency fund, but there were other factors to consider, mainly, his colleagues.
“As Finance Chair, I also wanted to make sure I was balancing what gets us a budget that’ll also get passed as well,” said Lahnen.
Amendment 3 needs 60 percent support to pass.
The most recent poll showed its support waning, at just 45 percent support
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
