JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville City Council committee has voted to redirect $2.8 million from the city’s affordable housing trust fund to an apartment project, and Council Member Matt Carlucci says he wasn’t told the money had been redirected until two days later.
“When I found [out], I was livid,” Carlucci said.
Carlucci said he secured the $2.8 million to build affordable homes, and that the money was intended to build roughly 800 of them.
In September, the City Council approved $4.9 million for an affordable housing trust fund as part of the budget process. Under the budget amendments approved, $1.4 million would go toward utility connection assistance, $1.4 million would support affordable housing construction and $2.1 million would go to the down payment assistance program.
During Monday’s Rules Committee meeting, Councilmember Will Lahnen introduced an amendment to take $2.8 million from the trust fund and redirect it to Tori Meadows Ltd. to create 180 affordable apartment units — not homes. The amendment failed.
But on Tuesday, during the Finance Committee meeting, Councilmember Rory Diamond reintroduced the amendment, and it passed.
Lahnen, who chairs the Finance Committee, says the money is still being used for its intended purpose: affordable housing.
“This bill came to us as $2.8 million without a funding source. And so I said that, ‘hey, we budgeted $4.9 million for affordable housing in the budget. Let’s use money we intended for affordable housing on affordable housing, because that’s the way to get me comfortable,’” Lahnen said.
Carlucci, however, says the trust fund was meant to create affordable homes, not apartments.
“We got so many apartments we’re building and they’re not even gonna be built for a couple of years. They got two years to find money. These dollars that we passed budget night are for building homes,” Carlucci said.
Council Member Nick Howland said in a statement: “Affordability and responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars are top priorities for the City Council. This is an excellent project, but public resources are limited. We must ensure we identify the most fiscally responsible funding source to move it forward.”
Action News Jax also reached out to Mayor Donna Deegan’s office, which said in a statement: “We’re trying to fill a bucket to put out a fire, and this amendment is just moving water from one side of the bucket to the other. We will work with the full City Council to restore this funding to its original intent. At the same time, the Tori Meadows project, which will create 180 new housing units, has our full support. We need to do both – and much, much more – to meet the great need for more housing that’s affordable.”
The measure now goes before the full City Council on Tuesday.
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