Jacksonville, Fl — Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan is putting finishing touches on her budget address that’ll be presented to City Council on July 20.
In our monthly sit-down, Deegan addresses the prospective millage rate, her emerging relationship with the new City Council President Nick Howland, affordable housing, and the loss of a $1 million parks grant.
While not prepared to offer specific numbers, Deegan says it will be infrastructure-heavy.
“Listen to our residents about what they want us to invest in, invest in those things that bring us the greatest return on investment, and keep this incredible momentum the city has going forward. That’s the goal,” said Deegan.
She encouraged City Council to keep its foot on the gas and not presume what voters will do in November. A constitutional amendment would increase the homestead tax exemption for non-school taxes.
“We have a lot of money in reserves. I think we have a year to deal with whatever the voters do after that. So we’ll continue to be very forward-facing in terms of what our residents need,” Deegan said.
Costs for first responders will continue to escalate under the Florida Retirement System along with raises that were given in prior years.
Deegan says that’s the only place that’s going to see substantial growth.
The city’s millage rate hasn’t been finalized yet. But Deegan says it’s looking a little better than they were initially anticipating.
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