A Few Minutes with the Mayor – June 2022

As I sit at the Mayor’s desk in City Hall, some of the duties that I am responsible for honoring are routine and even boring. Tasks that have to be done over and over, as Mayor, are just part of the job. Thankfully, there are also plenty of hours that are filled with enthusiasm and satisfaction. It is a source of relief and fulfillment to sign-off on a project, a resolution, or even minutes from a City Council meeting. This is also a way to measure the progress made by myself, Council, Committees, Commissions, and every group that works to make Jacksonville a great place to live, with all the amenities we enjoy. As Mayor, along with the City Council, we have experienced a busy winter and spring. Plenty of projects have been crossed-off our to-do lists. I’ll give you a brief review of some of the big ones this month, with more in-depth writing on some of these projects as they come to fruition.

A great source of satisfaction is for the City Council to approve our yearly budget. We geared up to start Budget Committee meetings, working through the month of May. Some of the overall preparation for our city budget includes taking a look at where and how we spend our money, where we can save money, and how to obtain more money for basic city services and expenses. It is a task that we are thankful to have our City Administrator (Jeff Alvis), and our City Finance Director (Stacey Bray), on hand, to guide us through the process. Many of you may not realize that our city finances are audited each year by an independent accounting company. They thoroughly sift through our books and make sure we account for every penny, and also how that penny was spent. Our staff has received excellent audits and continually strives to use up-to-date accounting methods and continuing education to give Jacksonville the best budgets and audits possible. One of the most important aspects the Budget Committee looks at is the future. How will we look next year, in five years, in ten years? What will our big-ticket items be? How will we finance them? What can we let go of? This year we projected ahead through 2022/2023 and further. Budget Committee discussed what we need to do to fund the services you have come to expect. The final budget should come before City Council for approval at the June 7th City Council meeting. If you are interested in hearing the process, Budget Committee meeting audios are online through the city webpage. The complete and approved Budget will also be located on the city webpage under documents/finance/budgets.

A highly-engaging responsibility is the time I spend with students from local schools. Town Historian, Larry Smith and I focus on history, and education about our local government. Our future civic volunteers are sharp, opinionated, and serious, in looking at what happens in local government and in events that transpired here. I will share more about this project in another column. So far this spring, we have hosted about 175 students and look for many more through the summer.

A tremendous task before Council presently is research and a decision, on Urban Growth for the City of Jacksonville. Recently two different entities have come to the city with proposals for inclusion into our city limits. City Council will look carefully at these proposals. First of all, are they necessary? Do they meet the legal requirements? What are the short-term or long-term benefits? What are the pros and cons? How does it affect our citizens? How would it change Jacksonville? What are the true costs and who pays for them? The answers to these questions, and more, will require much study by the City Council and we are in the very early stages of research. There will be plenty of opportunities for everyone to ask questions and make comments, at public meetings, as we move through the decision-making process.

The Jacksonville Urban Renewal Plan is another big decision the Council will decide on, after study, this year. Urban Renewal Funds come from the portion of property taxes that are specifically designated for Urban Renewal Districts. Cities generally lack the funds to contribute to improvements and redevelopment of their infrastructure and Urban Renewal Funds provide these opportunities. The Council voted on May 3 to approve hiring our long-term Fund Consultant, Elaine Howard, to research the feasibility of increasing our Urban Renewal maximum indebtedness. The Jacksonville Urban Renewal Plan was adopted in November 2002, with a maximum indebtedness of $6,000,000.00 to spend on projects, programs, and administration over the life of the plan. After 20 years of projects, we are down to approximately $43,000.00 to spend of our maximum indebtedness. We have a one-shot opportunity to increase our maximum indebtedness, should we decide to move forward with an amendment for an increase. Some projects Jacksonville funded through Urban Renewal monies are the very visible Jacksonville Fire Hall, and the Jacksonville City Hall (the Courthouse) and projects perhaps not as noticeable include various street and water projects (including storm drains), and rebuilding our highways on 5th Street and California Street. New projects could include safety renovation on city-owned properties, historic preservation, cemetery expenses, miscellaneous public works, and continued work on water facilities.

We continue working diligently on our Comprehensive Safety Plan, particularly fire abatement. This is the time to remove hazardous materials from your property. Look for related topics on this subject in the city newsletter, the city webpage, and the Jacksonville Review. Blackberry abatement is a special concern. If you are not sure where your responsibility lies, please call the city. Also, please remember there are no fireworks allowed in the City of Jacksonville for the 4th of July or at any time of the year.

Speaking of the 4th of July, the Mayor’s Annual July 4th Picnic will be returning this year. Barring any unforeseen COVID outbreaks, fire or heavy smoke, we will be hosting the event with free hot dogs, chips, watermelon, and water, from noon-3 pm on Monday, July 4th. Please join us this Independence Day.

Thank you for taking the time to read this column. I wanted to share what I, the City Council, and the staff have been studying and working on, this winter and spring. Work here is really like any other job; some mundane tasks, and some very exciting ones. The exciting projects are what inspire us to keep volunteering in Jacksonville and help to ensure the quality of life our little city is known for. Please stay tuned for updates.