Mayor Deegan and finance committee work to decide how to spend over $25M from remaining COVID-19 grants, city money
Mayor Donna Deegan's plan to spend $25 million on a variety of issues that came up during transition meetings with the public. Deegan is proposing using federal funds left over from COVID-19 and other city money to pay for programs ranging from housing, public safety, recreation and more.
Jacksonville City Council begin budget talks, focus on public safety
The Jacksonville City Council began debating how your tax dollars are going to be spent. On Thursday, they took up two top priorities, the fire department and the sheriff's office. Each department is asking for more financial help, and it looks like they're going to get it.
Mayors budget includes $100 million for Northwest Jacksonville community
Of the budget, $250 million is for capital improvements -- city projects like a new library in Oceanway. Of that, $100 million is targeted to go to Northwest Jacksonville, where promises made during consolidation more than 50 years ago were never kept. With this budget, I maintain the top spending priority for public safety, Curry said during his budget presentation. This budget also includes prevention and intervention programs like Cure Violence with the Kids Hope Alliance, he said. One hundred million dollars can cover about three to four blocks inside of a city when we talk about infrastructure.
Jacksonville mayor presents $1.34B budget to City Council
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. โ Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry on Wednesday laid out his upcoming budget to the City Council, and right now, it does not call for a tax or fee increase. Some Jacksonville City Council members are already saying itโs a possibility. City Council would certainly have the ability to change that if they like.โCity Council President Tommy Hazouri and others talked about that possibility. READ: Proposed annual budget for fiscal year 2020-21 | Jacksonville mayorโs budget address to City CouncilLast yearโs budgetLast year, the mayor proposed a $1.37 billion budget. The budget approved by the City Council was $1.2 billion.
Painful health care vetoes predicted for Florida budget
The News Service of Florida obtained a nine-page spreadsheet that contains more than 175 health and human-services projects, slated to receive $99.4 million, that could get vetoed. The Florida Health Care Association, the states largest nursing home group, sent a letter to DeSantis in April asking him not to veto the increase. Lawmakers also funneled $128 million in new state and federal funding to the Agency for Persons with Disabilities. The Florida Developmental Disabilities Council sent a letter to DeSantis in May asking him to keep the increased funding intact. Additionally, lawmakers approved spending $10.3 million in state money so the Agency for Health Care Administration can hire a contractor to help Florida get a Canadian prescription-drug importation program established.