JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Aviation Authority is preparing to take the City of Jacksonville to court, drafting a lawsuit that accuses the Jacksonville City Council of overstepping its authority, demanding the unlawful diversion of federal airport funds, and attempting to strip JAA of its legal independence.
JAA’s Board of Directors will vote July 16 whether to authorize the filing of a complaint for declaratory judgment. An agenda prepared for the meeting included a copy of the complaint. The lawsuit seeks to define the legal boundary between JAA’s authority as a state agency and the City Council’s power over it.
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Background
JAA was created by a special act of the Florida Legislature in 2004 as a separate body politic and political subdivision of the State of Florida — not a department or subsidiary of the City. The authority oversees four public airports in Duval County: Jacksonville International Airport, Cecil Airport and Spaceport, Jacksonville Executive at Craig Airport, and Herlong Recreational Airport.
For more than two decades, JAA and the City operated without significant conflict, according to the complaint. JAA is entirely self-funded, generating revenue through landing fees, terminal rents, concessions, and other airport sources. It has never requested a budget appropriation from the City or its taxpayers.
Under its charter, JAA holds exclusive powers to manage its own projects, leases, contracts, revenues, and budget — subject only to limited, specific oversight granted to the Council by the Florida Legislature.
A fiscal dispute takes shape
The lawsuit traces the conflict’s origins to 2023, when Councilmember Nick Howland began pushing for what he described as redirecting JAA’s “excess profits” to “more productive uses.” Howland, who has since become Council President as of July 1, proposed a series of changes to the budget — including a $10 million contribution to the Kids Hope Alliance, a $25 million contribution to a JEA power-line project over the St. Johns River, and a $29 million contribution to fund a Florida State College at Jacksonville training center at Cecil Airport’s Hangar 14.
Each proposal was reviewed by the Federal Aviation Administration, outside aviation law experts, and the City’s own Office of General Counsel (OGC). Each time, JAA was advised the proposals would constitute unlawful revenue diversion in violation of federal law, according to the complaint.
“I don’t want to hear any more ‘no’s,’” Howland reportedly told JAA leaders at a budget hearing in August 2025, according to the complaint. When JAA’s CEO explained the refusals came from the FAA — not JAA — Howland reportedly replied, “Let’s see if we can work together to get your boss to a ‘yes.’”
The budget amendment
On Aug. 15, 2025, the Council Finance Committee voted to amend JAA’s submitted 2026 budget, inserting approximately $13 million in spending that JAA had not requested, budgeted for, or approved. The amendment included $10 million earmarked to “potentially fund” a Northeast Advanced Aviation Maintenance Training Center at Hangar 14 at Cecil Airport.
The move was significant for multiple reasons. Hangar 14 is currently leased to Jacksonville Jetport, LLC, which operates the Million Air fixed-base operation at Cecil Airport through a long-term lease running to 2041. According to the lawsuit, Counsel for Million Air warned the Council President that the amendment would interfere with their lease and place JAA in violation of the Grant Assurances it made to the FAA.
As JAA prepared to enter the bond market to raise approximately $300 million for a new concourse at Jacksonville International Airport, five of the nine investment banks that applied to underwrite the issuance flagged the Council’s interference as a risk to JAA’s autonomy and bondholder security. JAA publicly acknowledged this “could cause a lower credit rating, higher interest rates, or cause investors not to want to invest in the bonds.”
JAA’s Board voted Sept. 29, 2025, to oppose the amendment and decline to implement it.
FAA weighs in
According to the complaint on June 25, the FAA issued a written advisory letter to JAA’s Board, confirming JAA’s position. The letter itemized what the FAA called “extraordinary external pressures” being placed on JAA — including proposals to fund power-line elevation for JEA, distribute airport funds to the Kids Hope Alliance, and finance a vocational-technical school — and concluded such initiatives “would likely constitute unlawful revenue diversion.”
The FAA also expressed “serious concern” about “reports that JAA executive leadership has faced threats of personnel action for adhering to Federal grant assurances, alongside proposals to alter the JAA charter to privatize the airport.” Copies of the FAA letter were transmitted to the Florida Department of Transportation, the Mayor, and Council leadership.
Legal battle over independent counsel
The lawsuit also centers on JAA’s right to hire its own attorneys. After the Council Finance Committee’s budget hearing, JAA retained the law firm Lawson Huck Gonzalez, PLLC, which issued a written memorandum concluding the Council had exceeded its limited fiscal authority.
The City’s General Counsel sharply disagreed — and in October 2025, sent the Lawson firm a termination letter, purportedly firing JAA’s independent counsel.
The complaint argues that OGC cannot represent JAA in a dispute where it simultaneously represents the Council — an adverse party — creating an irreconcilable conflict of interest. It further argues that JAA’s charter expressly allows it to “sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded, complain, and defend in all courts.”
The City’s General Counsel has contended that JAA lacks the authority to bring this suit at all, according to the complaint.
What JAA is asking the court to decide
The complaint seeks eight declaratory judgments from the Circuit Court, asking the court to rule on the following questions:
- Count I: Is JAA an agency of the State of Florida — not a component or subsidiary of the City?
- Count II: Does the City Council have any right of ownership or control over JAA’s revenues?
- Count III: Is the Council’s fiscal authority limited strictly to increasing or decreasing budget appropriations JAA itself requests?
- Count IV: Is JAA an independent — not dependent — special district under Florida law?
- Count V: Are the City General Counsel’s legal opinions binding on JAA, or does JAA retain the right to seek judicial review?
- Count VI: Can JAA retain independent legal counsel when OGC has a conflict of interest?
- Count VII: Does the Council’s investigative and subpoena power extend to JAA as a separate state agency?
- Count VIII: Are JAA’s powers over its own projects, leases, and contracts exclusive — beyond the Council’s reach?
JAA’s position
Throughout the dispute, JAA says it has offered to partner with the City and FSCJ in ways that federal law permits — including providing existing hangar and training space to FSCJ at reduced rental rates, an option the FAA itself suggested. The City has declined to engage on those alternatives, according to the complaint.
What happens next?
A special meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. July 16 at the JAA administration building’s Ed Austin board room. the only listed action item is the proposed resolution.
If approved, the resolution would authorize outside counsel to prepare and file an action for declaratory and related relief against the city, asking the court to clarify the powers of the JAA and the city council under state law and the JAA’s governing charter.
The authority’s meeting notice says the meeting will be held in person and includes time for public comment.
Jacksonville council president defends authority over JAA amid lawsuit threat
Jacksonville City Council President Nick Howland is pushing back against the Jacksonville Aviation Authority’s plans to sue the city, saying the council acted within its legal authority — and that state lawmakers unanimously agreed.
“By an 18 to zero vote, city council passed changes to JAA’s budget, as well as a J bill to send to state legislature to change their charter,” Howland told News4JAX Anchor Kent Justice on This Week in Jacksonville. “By a vote of 149 to zero, the state legislator changed their charter to enumerate JAA’s role in economic development at Cecil Field.”
Howland said the legal groundwork has already been laid.
“Absolutely convinced because we already had it reviewed by the Office of General Counsel,” Howland said, responding to concerns that the council’s proposals could violate FAA rules and jeopardize federal funding. “Proposals don’t violate law.”
Cecil Field aerospace hub at heart of dispute
At the center of the debate is Cecil Airport and Spaceport, which Howland envisions becoming a major aerospace and job creation hub for Jacksonville. He said the council’s proposed investments fall within FAA-permissible categories.
“FAA Revenue Diversion Law also has a whole section about permissible investments,” Howland said. “And that is one of the investments that we proposed in last year’s budget meeting — to grow Cecil Airport and Spaceport to be an aerospace hub. It will create thousands of jobs and be a major job growth engine.”
Response from City of Jacksonville
News4JAX reached out to the city of Jacksonville, which said:
“We are aware and decline to comment on the potential lawsuit.
Response from Jacksonville Aviation Authority
The Jacksonville Aviation Authority also declined to comment, saying:
“Prior to the Jacksonville Aviation Authority (JAA) Board of Directors meeting on July 16, we’ll let the proposed legal action speak for itself. The Aviation Authority will have no further comment until the JAA Board votes on this matter next week.”