City Council members who are pruning waste from the mayor’s budget deserve credit for considering taxpayers and remaining focused on what is the government’s job and what is not.

Mayor Donna Deegan has peppered her budget with left-wing spending.

Specifically, Deegan is on a crusade to end homelessness and make housing “affordable.” One is impossible and the other is possible – but not the way Deegan is approaching it.

Bums always have been present. Some people just prefer to remain unemployed and move around at will. Police used to tell them to get a job or move on to another town.

Others are without homes for other reasons, usually temporarily. The private sector always has provided them with help. In Jacksonville, the Sulzbacher Center and other agencies do an excellent job of providing aid.

It is not in the city’s best interest to provide five-star accommodations that will make the city a mecca for bums throughout the nation. Let San Francisco and other Far Left cities have that dubious honor.

It is bad enough that the liberal-led federal government is flooding the area with invaders who have crossed U.S. borders illegally.

As for making housing affordable, that is the job of the free market. Housing prices rise and fall. Rising prices are good for the homeowners, as homes often are the biggest asset a family owns. The flip side is property taxes rise with home values, unless the local government holds down tax rates and the federal government reins in inflation.

Government thus can help by easing taxes and regulation, but throwing money at the problem is no solution.

Council members say Deegan has stuffed millions of dollars in operating reserves throughout the budget and is prone to moving the money around and into her left-wing programs.

Deegan is campaigning for the Marxist candidate for president and has endorsed her scheme to buy votes by buying homes for people with Other People’s Money.

The council’s job is to protect the taxpayer and prevent waste, not to facilitate socialist programs.