$2 billion city operating budget.<\/a><\/p>\n
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Council members like Matt Carlucci and Mon\u00e9 Holder want to put the money back in before the budget is finalized. The final vote is scheduled for Sept. 22.<\/p>\n
The money was originally proposed to help create an Affordable Housing Trust Fund, a dedicated source of funding that supporters say could help Jacksonville address housing costs over time.<\/p>\n
Holder said the $4.9 million would be divided among three areas: about $2.4 million to help build affordable housing, $1.5 million for down payment assistance for workforce housing and $1 million for utility tap-in costs.<\/p>\n
Workforce housing is intended for people who work in and serve the Jacksonville community, including teachers, first responders and public safety workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it applies to those who serve our communities,\u201d Holder said. \u201cSo anywhere from first responders to our public safety officers, our teachers, those who take care of our community qualify for workforce housing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holder said the need extends beyond people looking for a place to rent.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing able to afford to not just rent, but purchase homes, being able to provide a legacy for their families and their children to return home to,\u201d Holder said.<\/p>\n
She said she regularly hears concerns about housing costs from people throughout Jacksonville, from the beaches to Baldwin.<\/p>\n
\u201cLots of our neighbors feel like they’re being priced out of this city,\u201d Holder said.<\/p>\n
The city says about 90,000 Jacksonville renters spend more than 30% of their income on housing, while more than 42,000 spend more than half of their income on housing.<\/p>\n
Jacksonville’s affordable housing director, Joshua Hicks, has also said the city needs another 47,000 rental units for renters earning 50% of the area’s median income or less.<\/p>\n
Holder said Jacksonville already has programs and community organizations helping with housing needs, including down payment assistance and help for people facing eviction. She said the proposed trust fund would give the city a dedicated source of money for housing.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, the Affordable Housing Trust Fund is a dedicated allocation into our budget that hopefully grows over time,\u201d Holder said.<\/p>\n
Holder said the money could help with development costs and utility tap-in fees that can be passed on to homeowners and homebuyers.<\/p>\n
The proposal is also intended to support homeownership, not just rental housing. City officials said the down payment assistance program could benefit households earning up to 120% of the area’s median income, while the other two programs would target households earning 60% of the area’s median income or less.<\/p>\n
Holder said Jacksonville’s housing needs also have to be considered as the city continues to grow.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo make this city more affordable, we need to diversify in many things,\u201d Holder said. \u201cSo it’s definitely prioritizing our affordable housing.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said that includes expanding workforce development and making sure there are enough jobs and opportunities throughout Jacksonville.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it’s also figuring out what we are developing across, we’re doing smart growth, and we’re figuring out infill development, multi-use dwellings, everything that really ties to different sectors of the community,\u201d Holder said. \u201cSo we’re making sure that we all have quality of life here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Finance Committee voted 7-1 to remove the $4.9 million from the budget as it looks ahead to the possibility of a statewide property tax-cut referendum in November that could reduce Jacksonville’s annual revenue by about $300 million.<\/p>\n
Carlucci has said he plans to introduce an amendment to restore the funding, and Holder said she plans to introduce one as well.<\/p>\n
Carlucci also hosted a public meeting about the proposed affordable housing funding, giving council members and members of the community an opportunity to discuss the issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn our last council meeting, we had a large number of constituents come during public comment and speak about the need for affordable housing and the investment there,\u201d Holder said.<\/p>\n
Holder is encouraging Jacksonville residents to contact their district council members ahead of the vote and to participate in public comment at the meeting.<\/p>\n
The City Council is expected to take up the final budget, including any proposed amendments, on Sept. 22. The meeting will start one hour earlier than normal due to expected debate amongst council members.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jacksonville City Council members want to restore $4.9 million cut from the city budget for affordable housing, including…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":400190,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-400189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=400189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/400190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}