These "one-size fits all" mandated cuts from Tallahassee will take a massive bite out of an already quite lean budget. Say good-bye to public service grants, many hours of open libraries, acres of park maintenance, and much more, if the cuts contemplated reach fruition.

What does that mean for downtown? Perhaps less police? A cut to Downtown Vision's budget perhaps? Less park maintenance (which isn't really isn't all that hot as is)? Reduced hours for Main Library? Forget about lighting Laura Street.

The city could be living with the ramifications made in the next 10-15 days for the next 10-15 years...

Property Tax Relief:  What it could mean and what you should do

Have you seen these articles?  
I’m sharing these links with you—friends and colleagues—because I am concerned that, while the idea of property tax relief sounds great, I wonder if we really understand what it means.  

For those of us who have lived in Jacksonville for the past several years, we’ve been energized by the positive growth of a city on the rise.  Chances are, you play a part in that growth.  

Just think:  who would have imagined 10 years ago that Jacksonville would be elevated to first-tier status worthy of hosting a Super Bowl?  Certainly this would not have happened if we hadn’t achieved the infrastructure and quality of life improvements that all of us enjoy today.  

This will likely change if one of the current versions of property tax reform is approved.  Basic services will be reduced including library access, services to vulnerable people, crime prevention initiatives, economic development efforts which help bring higher wage jobs to the city, and arts and culture which in Jacksonville has successfully spurred downtown development, attracted tourists and positively impacted learning and literacy along with a host of other dynamic quality of life indicators.  This is because Duval County is being asked to bear a much heavier burden than communities in South Florida.

The members of our Duval Delegation need to hear from us right now so that they can harness our concerns and share them with the Governor and State legislators. If we do not speak up for ourselves, we will once again go to the back of the line while other Florida cities flourish in the phenomenal growth of our state.

The back of this page has contact information for the Duval Delegation and for Speaker of the House Mark Rubio and Governor Charlie Crist.  I am asking you to call these State leaders and to e-mail them with your simple message of concern.  That message might read or sound something like this:

If you’d like to write a letter detailing what these issues mean to you, you can get more contact information by going online to www.flca.net .  Click on the big A; in the next screen click on Advocacy and then scroll down to number 2 under section 1.  Select Duval County, and everything you need will be right there!

This effort will take all of us working together!  

Thank you for your advocacy!

Here I was trying to post some lovely pictures of the city's Memorial Day activities at our "Wall" and there was no METJAX to post 'em on.