JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville City Council member Raul Arias says he is ready to move forward on a measure that would send Duval County Public Schools’ 1-mill property tax renewal to November’s ballot — and a standing-room-only community meeting Friday helped push him there.
Arias hosted a public meeting Friday morning at City Hall to discuss the renewal before a full council vote expected Tuesday. What was supposed to be a modest gathering turned into something much bigger.
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“They picked the smallest room,” Arias said. “It was a packed house. People were standing up. It showed that the community knew that it cares about this, it’s important to them.”
“I gave everybody at least about 25 minutes of time to just voice their concerns,” he said.
Coming into the week, Arias said he had significant questions about the measure. The last time a similar vote came before the council was four years ago — before his time on the body.
“This is all new to me,” he said. “Last time this was voted on was four years ago. So myself, I never had an opportunity to even learn more about this.”
What the millage renewal means for teachers
One of the key clarifications Arias says he took away from the week’s conversations was what the millage extension would and would not do for educators.
“This mill extension will not give necessarily an increase to the salaries because that’s set by the state, by the governor,” Arias said. “But really what this does is it provides teachers a bonus — an annual bonus.”
Arias said those bonuses extend beyond classroom teachers to faculty, staff, athletic programs, arts programming, and DCPS charter schools.
Arias said one attendee at the meeting put the impact into real-dollar terms that resonated with him.
“She said that these bonuses are roughly around $400 or $500 a month,” he said. “And that makes a difference on her supplying her students.”
He noted that some staff members are earning as little as $15 an hour and that even modest increases matter greatly to working families.
What Tuesday’s vote means
Arias was careful to frame the upcoming council vote in precise terms — something he said he wants the public to understand clearly.
“At the end of the day, the way I see it is — we’re taking a vote on letting the community decide on what they want to do,” he said. “We’re not raising or extending the taxes. Just letting the voters the opportunity to vote and voice their opinion.”
Arias outlined the two-step procedural path ahead. First, Council President Kevin Carrico would need to discharge the ordinance from the finance committee — a step Carrico has indicated he expects to happen. Then, the full council would vote on whether to approve sending the measure to the November ballot.
“If given the opportunity, I don’t see why I wouldn’t be making that motion,” Arias said.
Backdrop: A stalled measure, a push for urgency
The finance committee deferred the ordinance earlier this week, drawing sharp criticism from teachers, parents, and school district leaders. The Duval County School Board voted 6-1 in March to send the renewal to city council.
The 1-mill tax generates approximately $121 million a year. It is not a tax increase — it would maintain the current rate. For a home valued at $300,000, the tax amounts to about $300 a year.
Mayor Donna Deegan said she does not believe the council has grounds to delay the measure.
“The role of the council, in what I’ve been told, is to simply be in a ministerial and managerial role — just making that request happen,” Deegan said. “So I don’t think council has a role here beyond saying ‘this is what you want, we’ll put it on the ballot.’ I don’t really understand the debate.”
John Meeks, a teacher and first vice president of Duval Teachers United, warned that continued delays put educators at risk.
“I think the only result of these delays could be the endangerment of our teachers’ well-being,” Meeks said. “There’s no increase. It’s just a keeping of the status quo, which has allowed our school system to have the A grade that it has today. I don’t think we can afford to go backwards.”
Tiffany Clark, a parent and advocate with Parents Who Lead, said the situation has become unnecessarily complicated.
“This is getting tied up in a way that it shouldn’t,” Clark said. “This is only about teachers and that’s it, and that is where the focus needs to be.”
Superintendent Dr. Christopher Bernier said the district is working through the procedural implications of the deferral.
“Over the next several days, we will consult with council and our attorneys to understand what this deferral means procedurally and how to determine a path for success moving forward,” Bernier said. “We’ll continue to work on behalf of our teachers, school police, and other staff — all who rely on the millage to make ends meet.”