JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The people who determine how your tax dollars will be spent next year, met for the first time on Thursday. It was the start of a series of budget hearings held by the Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee.
Last year, Jacksonville had the largest municipal budget in the state of Florida. This year, Mayor Donna Deegan's proposed budget is even bigger, at $3.9 billion. $1.75 billion of the $3.9 billion is proposed for the General Operating Fund; each of those figures are the largest in history for the city. Taxpayer money contributes to a significant portion of the General Operating Fund.
One of the largest factors in the Mayor's proposed budget comes from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. Sheriff T.K. Waters asked for more than $597 million, which is $40 million more than JSO requested last year. During today's budget hearing, Sheriff Waters said he'll ask for even more money next year.
"We intend on asking for more every year," said Waters, "of course, not to overburden our taxpayers, but to make sure we make a consistent, strong effort to build our forces as the city grows."
City growth was a common theme in this year's budget, which calls for an additional 242 city employees than last year's budget.
Finance Committee Chair Nick Howland believes it's the committee's job to make sure that tax dollars in Jacksonville are spent judiciously.
"Every dollar we spend in the city is from the hard work of individuals and businesses here in Jacksonville," said Howland, "government revenues don't grow on trees, they are literally extracted from bank accounts of the people, so we must be diligent in reviewing how that money is spent."
Money budgeted last year to remove confederate monuments was not fully used so it rolled over to this year's budget and remains available.
Thursday's hearing was the first of multiple over the next few weeks and another meeting is scheduled for Friday at 9 a.m. The final vote on Mayor Deegan's budget will be on September 26th.