Mayor Donna Deegan’s proposed budget for next year is cast as “new” thinking yet it focuses on the same things every mayor for the past 75 years has focused on.
She proposes to spend $3.9 billion on the general government, not including the independent authorities. The size of her budget is being reported inaccurately by the local media, as they have been trained to do by previous mayors.
Deegan says she is concentrating on infrastructure and claims it has been neglected.
Beginning with Haydon Burns and the Jacksonville Story, every mayor since the end of World War II has spent money on infrastructure, to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars.
Burns cleaned up the waterfront, and major new companies built new structures along the river, including the Atlantic Coast Line, Prudential, Gulf Life and Baptist Hospital. The city built a new courthouse and City Hall, both since replaced.
Two new bridges were built across the St. Johns River and others on smaller tributaries were replaced.
Hans Tanzler’s administration cut off sewage outfalls and replaced or removed aging water and sewer treatment plants. Jake Godbold paved hundreds of miles of dirt roads.
John Delaney and Ed Austin built new roads, parks and public buildings at a cost of more than $2 billion. JEA tore down its generating station downtown.
People who talk about “revitalizing” downtown Jacksonville are whistling in the wind. Jacksonville has been there and done that.
Meanwhile the suburbs have grown by leaps and bounds as roads, electric lines and water and sewer lines have been extended. Claims that they have been shortchanged are bogus.
In short, the idea that Deegan is addressing a neglected need is mere fantasy.
There are and always will be needs for infrastructure. Even when the city is completely built out, it will be necessary to replace or upgrade older infrastructure. Improving infrastructure is a necessary and ongoing function of the local government.
Although the tax roll could produce an extra $100 million next year for the general fund, the general government budget is growing only $70 million, or 2 percent.
The outgoing administration had instructed all departments to budget for the same level of service, to allow the new mayor to set her own priorities.
Kids Hope Alliance will get $5 million more. The person who headed the alliance previously now is the interim finance director and largely the author of the budget. About $361 million in capital outlay is slated for next year, providing new fire stations and replacing old ones, and 40 new police officers will be hired. Another $7.5 million will be added to health, housing and homelessness programs.
The City Council will begin its reshaping of the mayor’s budget soon and some of these numbers undoubtedly will change.
