JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — After weeks of slashing Mayor Donna Deegan’s proposed budget, the council finance committee moved to put funding for some of her top priorities back, at least partially.
As the finance committee worked to deliver $13 million in property tax relief, they sliced and diced the mayor’s proposed budget, including some of her top priorities.
But in the final meeting, many of those projects, including a telehealth initiative and Meals on Wheels, saw most of their funding restored.
Finance Chair Raul Arias (R-District 11) explained $1.5 million for Telehealth and $1.7 million for Meals on Wheels were added back after the community voiced concerns.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Meals on Wheels takes $1.9 million year-over-year hit after council cuts
“So, the intent from the beginning was to cut as much as possible to make sure that we come back to a net neutral number, not being in the red, and once we got to that point we said, okay, well now we need to put certain things back in the budget to make sure that we take care of those that need it,” said Arias.
Some committee members, including Council Vice President Nick Howland (R-Group 3 At-Large) continued to voice concerns about creating new expenditures that will likely keep coming back year after year.
“Things that we are supporting today because we want to help out certain parts of our city, we may not be able to do, because we may to have money to do them in future years,” said Howland.
Other programs, like Jax Care Connect weren’t as fortunate Friday.
The program was only able to claw back $270,000 of its nearly $2.3 million ask.
The committee also made an additional $130,000 cut to the mayor’s executive salaries.
The mayor’s office indicated it hopes the full council will see things differently.
“We are in the first inning of the game,” said a spokesperson for the mayor’s office in a statement.
But Council President Kavin Carrico (R-Distrct 4) said he feels the committee has the budget in a good position.
“We cut taxes for citizens, we put money back in reserves and we funded everything that needed to be funded for essential services,” said Carrico.
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