JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan signed her transition initiatives plan Wednesday afternoon.
In it, more than $25 million to go toward improvements across the city.
There’s money for housing, youth literacy, health care – topics across the board.
One issue in particular stuck out to one city councilman – roof repair.
“I’ve never seen a time like this," said Jacksonville City Councilman Matt Carlucci. "I’ve been doing this business now for 43 years January first.”
Carlucci says he gets four or five calls a week from his insurance clients – wondering if there’s anything they can do to keep from losing their home insurance because of their old roofs.
“I have folks that have been insured with me for 40-some-odd years that call," said Carlucci. "40-some-odd years ago, they may have been in their 30s, now they’re in their 70s or 80s.”
Carlucci says he does everything in his power to try to keep those policies in place, but at the end of the day, corporate makes the call on canceling a policy.
“Then what happens is the mortgage company is going to slap on ‘single interest insurance,’ which only covers the mortgage company’s part of the home and it costs three, four, five times what a regular policy costs to begin with," said Carlucci.
As more and more homeowners face the issue, Mayor Donna Deegan’s roof repair initiative could help some.
The city council approved more than $400k eligible homeowners can apply for to get new roofs.
“I think if we can offer that resource, and from what I understand, the demand is exceptionally great, we can create a better quality of life and give people some financial breathing room," said Deegan.
Forbes reports the average roof replacement goes for a little over $11,000 – meaning the initiative could cover about 40 roofs.
Carlucci knows that may only scratch the surface of the issue, but for those families, it could mean a world of difference.
“That’ll be such great relief to a lot of people," said Carlucci.
The mayor was initially seeking $900k, but the council only approved the first half to see how much interest there will be before dedicating the other half of it.
The program will begin in January.
Some of the money included in the initiatives plan will also help clean up the city pools.
Last summer was a rough one for Jacksonville’s pools.
At one point, half the pools were shut down, many of them green with algae or left without a lifeguard.
There’s $250,000 going to the pools – to make sure they enter next summer crystal clear and inviting for families looking to cool off.
“If we can keep kids interested in things to do after school or things to do in the summer time, they don’t get into other things we don’t want them to get into, and also, we want that resource," said Deegan. "We want that quality of life for our kids.”
The mayor mentioned a lot of the issues with the pools were supply chain related and not being able to get parts when something broke.
She’s hoping this money will allow them to do that maintenance ahead of time, so that they won’t be behind the curve when something does go wrong.