City Departments Face Council Questioning

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- City departments and agencies will have the chance to make their cases on how budget cuts will impact services.

Thursday morning, the council's Finance Committee is poised to begin a seven-hour day hearing from several departments, including the Mayor's office and the State Attorney's office.

Most departments are being given ten minutes, some others thirty minutes, to present their spending plans to the council.

Downtown Vision is an agency that had been getting $239,000 from the city. The council is considering cutting by $90,000, or 39%, from the organization that promotes the downtown.

"I've never seen it anywhere near as bad as it is right now," said Terry Lorince, Executive Director of Downtown Vision.

"We are going to sell what we do and just make sure they understand why we are such an important part of the downtown fabric," said Lorince.

City Council President Richard Clark still believes $50 million in cuts can be found so property taxes will not have to raised.

"I think it is very realistic," said Clark.

"I think it is something we are going to certainly strive to get to. We are $30 million away,"

Last week, the Finance Committee found $23 million by voting to approve slashing city employee pay by 3 percent.

The Council's Budget Hearings get underway at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday at City Hall.

Additional day-long hearings are scheduled for August 27, September 3 and September 9.

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