JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- According to a newly released study of eight American cities, violent crime on average costs each Jacksonville resident at least $246 each year.
The 70 page report from Washington public policy group Center For American Progress studied Jacksonville, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Seattle, Houston, Dallas, Chicago and Boston.
Its numbers suggest one less homicide equals a 1.52% increase in home values the following year.
Property values are one of the study's many quote "intangible" costs of crime which it claims amount to $1,221 annually dollars for each Jacksonville resident.
The study claims a 10% drop in violent crime next year would save each taxpayer more than $120.
Jacksonville Sheriff John Rutherford, however, does not believe the numbers put forth in the new report because the violent crime rate in this city has fallen for three consecutive years. Rutherford said, "Our property values are going down as the crime rate is going down and homicide numbers are down. So how they make this correlation I don't understand."
Mayor Alvin Brown's office said, "We have just received the report, and we look forward to reviewing its conclusions on how reductions in violent crime can result in budget savings for taxpayers."
