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\n Jacksonville’s $2B city budget approved with affordable housing funding restored
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The proposed property tax referendum would increase the homestead exemption for non-school property taxes. Supporters say it would provide tax relief for homeowners, but opponents argue it could reduce funding available for essential local government services.<\/p>\n
Speaking Wednesday at a celebration honoring recipients of the JWB Welcome Home Fund, Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan said she is concerned about what the amendment could mean for affordable housing programs and other city-funded services.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would not have the money to invest in affordable housing or any of the ways in which we support affordable housing. If that money should go away and, and as I said before, property taxes are how cities fund their budgets. More than 60% of budgets are funded by that. So what we need to do is go back and consider these things. And if this is the way we want to go, we need to provide a different funding source to make sure that cities can continue to provide those services, especially things like affordable housing that people so desperately need,\u201d Deegan said.<\/p>\n
The mayor said the concerns extend beyond housing initiatives. She argued that a reduction in property tax revenue could affect services residents rely on every day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not only a quality of life issue, it is a public safety issue. It’s why you’ve seen. Police, fire, sheriff’s deputies all come out and say this is a 911. We cannot do this and expect to keep those services where they are,\u201d Deegan said.<\/p>\n
According to Mayor Deegan, services such as mosquito control, maintenance of city parks and funding for Jacksonville’s police and fire departments could all be affected if revenue declines.<\/p>\n
\u201cProperty taxes are how cities fund their budgets. More than 60% of budgets are funded by that. So what we need to do is go back and consider these things. And if this is the way we want to go, we need to provide a different funding source to make sure that cities can continue to provide those services, especially things like affordable housing that people so desperately need,\u201d Deegan said.<\/p>\n
Mayor Deegan is not alone in raising concerns. In a statement to First Coast News, Jacksonville Fire and Rescue said a reduction in funding could have significant consequences for emergency services.<\/p>\n
\u201cA reduction in our budget could impact our response times, recruitment and retention efforts, and homeowners insurance rates,\u201d said the statement attributed to JFRD Chief Percy Golden II.\u00a0<\/p>\n
First Coast News also received a statement from JSO:<\/p>\n
“No matter the outcome of Amendment 3, our commitment will remain the same: to be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars while providing the exceptional level of service our citizens have come to expect and deserve.”<\/p>\n
Florida voters will make the final decision on Amendment 3 when they head to the polls in November. Election day is November 3rd.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor Donna Deegan says Amendment 3 could reduce Jacksonville’s property tax revenue, putting affordable housing, public safety and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":409013,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-409012","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\/409012","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=409012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/409013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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