Some council members want restored funding

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The City Council is preparing for what it thinks will be a marathon meeting Tuesday night with plenty of amendments to go over the city budget.

On Monday, a group of council members said the city doesn't need to make these major cuts, and they want to restore some of the funding.

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is set to take the biggest hit in the budget. Sheriff John Rutherford is not getting the new officers or community patrols the mayor wanted, and on top of that, he's having to cut more -- nearly $5.5 million, which he said will mean eliminating some officers used by the mayor and state attorney's office.

Rutherford will also have to close one corrections facility, a move that's not sitting well with some City Council members.

"In the last nine to 10 days, there have been nine murders," Councilwoman Denise Lee said. "That is self-explanatory to fund public safety. To not fund it is almost insane."

The sheriff agrees, and other city agencies made their last minute pitches to some council members Monday. But Rutherford said there really is only one person to blame: the mayor.

"We are in this situation because the mayor failed to address the revenue needs when he put this budget together," Rutherford said. "He tried to borrow $250 million of borrowing one-time money to make a budget that he knew the council could never pass, and if they did, we would be on the road to Detroit."

The Mayor's Office said what the sheriff said is untrue. They referred News4Jax to emails that the Sheriff's Office and mayor's staff had been in communication about the budget and the plan, and said the sheriff has signed off on it.

"The mayor's proposed budget for 2014-15 provides funding for new police officers and community service officers using the same source that the Council approved to help fund the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office in 2012-13 and 2013-14," mayoral spokesman David DeCamp said in a statement. "That funding source was approved by Council at the request of the Sheriff's Office.

"Emails among staff and the Sheriff's Office document our collaboration this summer with the Sheriff's Office to use that funding in the proposed budget.

"So the comment, as quoted by you to me, is categorically false.

"Mayor Brown provided a budget that made strategic investments in Jacksonville after several years of reducing debt and increasing reserves. The mayor's proposed budget generates a return on investment for taxpayers."

Meanwhile, Councilman Robin Lumb said Monday's meeting was to let the rest of the council know that not all council members are in agreement regarding the cuts. He knows most of the cuts announced earlier will happen, but he said the 2 percent across-the-board cuts should be restored.

"To give some council members the opportunity to say they were in favor of using a limited amount of the reserves to reverse the across-the-board cuts," Lumb said.

Lumb is among six council members not in favor of the across-the-board cuts, and it will take four more to change the current path. Councilman Richard Clark, who heads up the finance committee, which made the recommendation for additional cuts, said they can make their case, but using borrowed money or reserves is not the answer.

"Dipping into one-time reserves makes an even bigger hurdle next year," Clark said. "It's just shifting the chairs on the deck of the Titanic. It doesn't do anything. We need to learn to live with our revenue."

The council meeting Tuesday starts at 5 p.m. and could go up to midnight or later.

"It will be a long night, a very long night,"  Clark said.

"A lot of people have things they really care about everyone sacrificed. We didn't leave anyone untocuhed. It was fair to everyone and i think that was something the finance committee really tried to do."

"They were thoughtful in the process they took and resident in difficult decisions we had to make and hopefully we can have a balance budget that the city is happy about"


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Jim Piggott is the reporter to count on when it comes to city government and how it will affect the community.