Jacksonville is
almost set to borrow $94 million for dozens of parks, drainage and
Town Center projects.
Three City Council committees put the finishing touches on the
bond issue this week, including adding an agreement that a similar
proposal this spring will include between $10 million and $15
million to replace outdated fire stations. The full council is
expected to vote on the plan Tuesday.
The plan is now more than six months in the making, after Mayor
John Delaney first made it public during his July budget address.
Dollar amounts for the three areas have shifted twice but will end
up with $52 million for drainage, $30 million for parks and $12
million for the Town Centers.
"I think it's got good balance," Delaney said. "These are
projects that are near and dear to the City Council members and we
appreciate their input."
Council President Matt Carlucci, instrumental in more than
doubling the recreation dollars from $13 million to $30 million,
said the proposal will help neighborhoods and families on a variety
of levels.
"I felt from the beginning that if we went through the process,
we'd come up with the right balance and we did," Carlucci said.
The debt will be paid off with the $9 million to $10 million JEA
has agreed to set aside annually since taking over water and sewer
operations in 1996. With the interest on the 30-year bond, the city
is hoping to have it paid off in 25 years, said Sam Mousa, the
city's chief administrative officer.
Committees began meeting in the fall to hammer out funding and
the project list was essentially finished last month. With that work
complete, yesterday's debate centered on finding money for fire
stations and if continuing to borrow money is in the city's best
financial interest.
Some council members were concerned that this bond, coupled with
the Better Jacksonville Plan, could deplete the city's bonding
capacity.
"I'm starting to get the feeling that we are crippling future
councils with all the bonding that we are doing," Councilwoman
Elaine Brown said.
City Treasurer Shari Shuman assured the committee that the JEA
dollars will be plenty to pay off the bond and the city is in good
shape to bond future projects if necessary.
"We are being good stewards of the taxpayers' dollars,"
Councilman Lad Daniels said.
The Town Center dollars will be split up among the city's six
planning districts, with each area to receive $2 million for at
least two projects, said Jeannie Fewell, director of the city
Planning Department.
Businesses are not eligible for the funding and corridors must be
at least 30 years old to qualify for the grants, Fewell said. The
concept is to create areas similar to San Marco Square and the town
center in Atlantic and Neptune beaches.
Last week, Delaney said he wanted to extend the council's
five-year plan for replacing fire stations to a 10-year plan.
Delaney said he plans to refinance a bond to fund several projects,
including replacing nine fire stations through 2005. Councilman
Jerry Holland, who chaired a subcommittee that developed that
five-year plan, said he plans to "hold him to that pledge."
"We know we need to do it and we want to do it," Delaney said. He
added that because of budget cuts from the state, the best way to
address the stations is with funding such as a bond, as opposed to
looking for large amounts annually.
Staff writer Matt Galnor can be reached at
or via e-mail at mgalnor.
