Mayor Peyton Pushes Salary Freeze, Job Cuts

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Mayor John Peyton is pushing for three cuts for next fiscal year to fill what could be a $65M budget shortfall.

Thursday, in his annual Mid-year Budget Review, Mayor Peyton urged the Jacksonville City Council to support three cuts for the fiscal year that begins October 1.

Mayor Peyton will include in his budget to the council - a zero-percent raise for all city employees. However, that will be decided during collective bargaining with unions.

According the Mayor's Office, more than 80% of city employees are union members. Spokesperson Misty Skipper could not tell First Coast News how much money it would save.

Mayor Peyton is also asking all city departments to submit a budget with no less than a 5% reduction of the Fiscal Year 2009 budget. That excludes the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and the Jacksonville Fire & Rescue Department. According to Skipper, this cut would save as much as $10M.

The Jacksonville Journey Committee is urging to fully fund the proposed $21M anti-crime program. Skipper says Mayor Peyton intends to submit full funding in his budget.

Finally, the mayor plans to eliminate 100 city positions that have all been vacant since the start of Fiscal Year 2009. According to Skipper, Mayor Peyton has eliminated 375 city positions since taking office.

The potential $65M shortfall is a combination of a reduction in city revenue and an increase in city pension costs.

"We're looking at between $25M and $45M on a year-over-year basis, just in the pension area. So we are already taking steps to start preparing a budget for next year that reflects that difficult financial situation," said Skipper.

"We are trying to make this as painless as possible... so we don't affect our particular workforce or hopefully affect the community," Skipper added.

The Jacksonville City Council will have the final say on whether to approve or reject Mayor Peyton's budget and proposals.

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