First responders are cautioning that the millage cut could jeopardize Jacksonville’s public safety funding and staffing levels. In response, the Council has unanimously decided to establish a new public safety fund.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — One week from Wednesday, the city of Jacksonville’s $2 billion dollar budget plan begins, following weeks of tensions.
The final budget vote stretched nearly 14 hours with fiery comments, clashes over tax cuts and controversy around some proposed amendments.
While the budget passed, Councilman Rory Diamond’s so-called “Big Beautiful Amendments” did not.
Council President Kevin Carrico said council members made some compromises to get the budget approved.
“All the essential funding required to operate the city was approved tonight. Although we ended up debating minor issues, just some isolated ones, there was a significant amount of compromise,” Carrico stated.
Something that did pass was a cut to the millage rate, with council saying it will save $13.4 million in property taxes for homeowners.
However, first responders are raising concerns the cuts could impact funding for future services.
The city’s police and fire union leaders strongly opposed the decision. Both unions have expressed concerns about how this change could affect the city’s capacity to address public safety challenges in the future, as well as its ability to attract and retain personnel.
“The timing for this is not appropriate,” said Randy Reeves, President of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5-30. “We need to learn from the past and consider historical outcomes.”
Reeves said he’s worried that this rollback may be a repeat of history.
“We have previously seen officers face layoffs, endured a decade without pay raises, experienced a 3% pay cut, and even lost our pension, which we have now renegotiated, all due to budget balancing and millage rate reductions,” he explained.
“We literally heard our first responders urge us that we need this funding, and we understand the potential consequences based on past events,” Councilman Rahman Johnson remarked at Tuesday’s meeting.
To alleviate these concerns, council members unanimously agreed to create a new public safety reserve fund. Right now no dollar figures have been announced.
“The thing is we just are hopeful that we can get to a comfortable place where we can get this fund,” Reeves said. “I do believe this council wants to try to set up public safety in this city to be taken care of not only while they’re here but setting it up where it can be taken care of in the future.”
Jacksonville Association of Firefighters President Kelly Dobson sent First Coast News a statement, saying: “We firmly support our position opposing the millage reduction. Historical evidence demonstrates that providing minor relief can have significant repercussions on the funding of services and benefits for Jacksonville’s firefighters in the future.”
The city council is expected to officially create the public safety reserve fund at their Oct. 14 meeting.
On September 5th, both police and fire union released this joint statement:
“As presidents of the Jacksonville Association of Fire Fighters Local 122 and the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5-30, representing nearly 4,300 firefighters, paramedics, police officers and correctional officers in Jacksonville, we carry the responsibility of speaking out when public safety is at risk. We’ve done this time and again—and history has proven us right.
We’ve endured years of pay cuts, stagnant wages, and pension reductions-all in the name of balancing the city budget. While these decisions were made by past administrations, their impact still echoes today. The current City Council and Mayor have been incredibly supportive of our members, and we are grateful for that. But this proposed 1/8 millage rate reduction has a compounding effect that will severely damage the ability of our city to pay for needed public safety issues in the years ahead. Past council members and mayors made similar promises we are hearing now about protecting public safety. When it came time for them to uphold their promises to protect public safety they had all moved on to greener pastures leaving us and others to fix the effects of those broken promises.
Jacksonville has worked hard to shed its reputation as a “training ground” for first responders who leave for better pay and benefits elsewhere. This rollback threatens to reverse that progress. Council auditors themselves are forecasting a substantial budget shortfall in the coming years. Reducing revenue without a sustainable plan will jeopardize our ability to recruit and retain the best and brightest for the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department and the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office.
We all want Jacksonville to be a great place to live, work, and raise a family. We support responsible tax reductions and eliminating wasteful spending. But these goals must be pursued with a clear, actionable plan-one that does not compromise public safety.
History has a way of repeating itself. We’ve seen what happens when short-term savings lead to long-term setbacks. We urge the City Council to vote against this rollback and protect the future of Jacksonville’s fire and rescue service and sheriffs office.”
