City Council Member Matt Carlucci must enjoy taking a beating.
He plans to introduce a bill early next year that would DOUBLE the cost of garbage collection for Jacksonville residents.
Carlucci said he tried to increase the garbage fee in 2022 and, as he told a crowd in a speech Tuesday, “I got my head handed to me.”
Nevertheless, he plans to try again.
Carlucci said the current fee only covers about half the cost, so he plans to roughly double the amount to about $300 per customer.
Carlucci spoke at a meeting of former council presidents, held monthly in the Mudville Grille.
After a long career in politics, Carlucci will be termed out in 2027 and he said doubling the garbage fee could add to his legacy. “It it doesn’t pass, I can say I tried,” he said.
Carlucci said city number-crunchers are anticipating a “shortfall” of about $78 million next year. Because the general fund is now tapped to cover the cost of collecting and disposing of garbage, having the increased garbage fee would help solve the problem of taxes and fees not keeping up with the spending by politicians.
Examples of that spending include building a new football stadium ($1.4 billion), building a sidewalk through some of the most crime-ridden parts of town ($400 million), removing thousands of septic tanks that are functioning properly ($2 billion plus), trying to make the Skyway Express useful ($100 million plus) and saving three old buildings downtown from destruction ($60 million).
Carlucci, a registered Republican, also praised Democrat Mayor Donna Deegan. “She’s doing a great job,” he said.
