JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Mayor Donna Deegan is warning local voters about the proposed property tax phaseout for cities and counties set to appear on the November ballot, calling it a “hastily conceived, short-sighted overhaul”.
That plan, according to an analysis by the Florida Association of Counties, would slash nearly $224 million from Jacksonville’s budget starting in 2027 and drain nearly $387 million from the local budget the following fiscal year.
While voters may have the final say on the matter, Mayor Deegan branded the push a “Tallahassee takeover” as she argued it would take control over local quality of life spending decisions out of the hands of local governments.
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“This proposed reduction will inevitably result in road deteriorating, libraries, pools and parks closing, public safety response times going up, housing affordability worsening and more homeless on our streets,” Deegan said. “Those are just the facts.”
Mayor Deegan also contested the branding of the measure as a “tax cut”, arguing that while some may see their property tax bills reduced, other costs will add up as a result of those lost services.
“The nurse whose rent will go up. The teacher whose property insurance skyrockets because, well, we can’t build that fire station close to her house like we were going to. The small business owner who loses foot traffic because the park next door had to close,” Deegan said.
Councilmember Rory Diamond (R-District 13) has been steadily posting on social media various programs and city initiatives he wants to see cut, including arts grants, funding for non-governmental organizations, non-profits and city incentives for developers.
“You’ll see in about a month, but I’m going to post 30 posts on things that we can cut and it’s more than $300 million that can come out of our budget,” Diamond said.
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He argued those cuts could be made without impacting core services like police and fire.
“The big enchilada is economic incentives. Hundreds of millions of dollars the mayor has wanted to send to millionaires and billionaire developers downtown. We could cut them and we absolutely must,” Diamond said.
But Mayor Deegan had this to say when we asked about Diamond’s proposed cuts.
“If you want to be the city that Rory Diamond imagines, you know, apparently that just is falling apart at the seams in every way. I mean, hey, at least we’ll have police and fire funded and the garbage may or may not be picked up. I don’t know,” Deegan said. ”That’s not the city that I think most people in this city want.”
The property tax measure will need 60 percent voter support to pass.
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