Jacksonville council members split from Deegan by saying they want property tax rate cut

Jacksonville City Council President Kevin Carrico and several council members say it's time for the city to offer some property tax relief, but City Council has not yet set any specific target for what that might mean for this year's tax bills.

Carrico has been joined by several members of City Council saying they want to see if the 2025-26 budget they vote on in September can cut the property tax rate that has largely been the same over the past 12 years.

"We're not making any promises, but I definitely want to address that during the budget because I think we owe it to our constituents to give them some sort of relief," City Council Finance Committee Chairman Raul Arias said at a recent Finance Committee meeting.

Jacksonville has enacted one slight cut in the property tax rate since 2013. That reduction in 2022 clipped the millage rate by less than 1% in the final year of Lenny Curry's eight-year tenure as mayor.

Jacksonville City Council member Raul Arias shakes hands with Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan before she gave her budget address to City Council on July 14 with City Council President Kevin Carrico standing at right. Arias and Carrico say they want to see if the city can cut its property tax rate for next year's budget.

At the city's current millage rate, the owner of a $150,000 home with a $50,000 homestead exemption pays $1,132 to the city of Jacksonville.

Cutting the millage rate would be politically popular among Republican voters, according to a recent statewide poll by the University of North Florida's Public Opinion Research Lab.

The poll found that 63% of the Republican respondents support eliminating all property taxes for homeowners while 31% said they opposed ending property taxes for homeowners.

“I’ve said it before: Floridians really don’t like paying taxes, especially the ideological right, and even withthe knowledge that property taxes fund local schools and police, a solid majority of these folks would stillget rid of them,” UNF political science professor Michael Binder said when UNF released the poll on July 23.

Newly-sworn in City Council President Kevin Carrico speaks at Deerwood Castle during an investiture ceremony for new City Council leadership Thursday, June 26, 2025 in Jacksonville, Fla. City Council members Kevin Carrico was sworn in as Council President and Nick Howland as Vice President.

Deegan: keeping same tax rate will sustain city's momentum

In Jacksonville, property taxes pay about 58% of Deegan's proposed $2 billion budget. Roughly half her proposal goes toward public safety for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department. The total number of all city employees would grow by 13 from 8,176 positions to 8,189 employees.

"I want to make really clear — we did not raise taxes on anybody," she said after she presented her proposal to council.

She said the city will collect more property taxes because "we're one of the fastest-growing cities in the country" and the city must sustain that momentum while making growth manageable.

"If you're looking at rolling back property taxes, you're looking at rolling back services," she said. "That's how skinny we are at this point."

Carrico said after the Finance Committee combs through Deegan's budget during a series of budget hearings in August, council will know how a tax rate cut would fit into the bottom line. He said he thinks the "political will is there" for council to do a rate cut.

"The only way to reduce spending is to reduce the money that you're going to give them to spend, and people work hard for their dollars," he said.

Finance Committee members eye some sort of tax rate cut

City Council voted July 22 to set the tentative rate at that same level for next year's budget, but City Council member Nick Howland, who serves on the Finance Committee, said that's a ceiling for what the tax rate will be. He said he will look for ways to cut spending from Deegan's $2 billion proposal to lower the property tax rate.

"If you give government an extra dollar, government will spend that extra dollar," Howland said at the July 22 council meeting.

He said his goal would be to "potentially cut $20 million or more" from Deegan's proposal in order to lower the tax rate.

"To those who would say, 'Well, that's only a few dollars (less in property taxes) per household, I'd answer this — people are hurting," Howland said. "Young couples are trying to buy their first homes. Families are struggling to stay in their current homes."

City Council Member Nick Howland speaks during a City Council meeting concerning the proposed Jacksonville Jaguars stadium Thursday, June 13, 2024 at City Hall in Jacksonville, Fla.

City Council member Ron Salem, who serves on the Finance Committee and is chairman of the special Duval DOGE Committee, said in an interview that reducing the millage rate "is definitely something I would be open to."

He said as he goes through the details of next year's budget, he'll also look at what's needed for future years when the city must start absorbing the cost of bringing back pensions for new hires for police and firefighter positions.

"The budgets in the next two or three years are going to be much tougher than this budget," he said.

To balance her budget, Deegan used a one-time $40 million extra payment from JEA that's above and beyond the city-owned utility's regular annual payments supporting the city. Salem said the city should use just $10 million of the add-on payment from JEA in next year's budget and bank the rest for for use over several years.

City Council member Rory Diamond, also on the Finance Committee, said council should cut Deegan's proposed budget by $40 million

"We got $40 million from JEA that we weren't expecting so I think returning at least $40 million to the people of Jacksonville is the right thing to do," he said.

He said budget cuts he favors would be eliminating "diversity, equity and inclusion" initiatives, a reduction in the number of city boards and commissions, and slashing spending on development of downtown riverfront parks "that people won't be using."

Matt Carlucci warns against "digging yourself into a deeper hole"

Outside the Finance Committee, which will get first crack at the budget, City Council member Terrance Freeman said he favors a property tax rate cut, noting he was council president in 2022 the last time the city trimmed the rate. He said the best way to leave Jacksonville in a good place for future generations "is to assure that financially we're living within our means."

City Council member Matt Carlucci said the city should keep the tax rate where it is.

He noted the city must be in a position to absorb the cost of once again offering pensions to police and fire fighters, starting in the 2026-2027 budget. He told council members that lowering the millage rate will mean "digging yourself into a deeper hole next year."

"I suggest that before you start making up your mind to cut the millage, you think about the expenses that we have in front of us that we have all supported," he said.

Jacksonville City Council President Ron Salem speaks during a ceremony Monday, May 6, 2024 outside the Prime Osborn Convention Center in Jacksonville, Fla. City officials, Groundwork Jacksonville and sponsors Baptist Health formally opened and celebrated the Emerald Trail LaVilla Link.

Deegan's proposed budget does not use any money from the city's financial reserves. Several City Council members have repeatedly said they don't want to tap reserves, so one question facing them in the budget process will be whether they pull from reserves for their own version of the budget.

The Finance Committee's decision on the tax rate will likely come near the end of the committee's six budget hearings slated to start Aug. 7 and end Aug. 22. Then the full council will vote.

If City Council were to cut the tax rate, the amount of the cut would determine whether property-owners actually pay less next year or if it just results in a somewhat smaller increase in their payment to the city than if the tax rate stays the same.

That's because the other factor in calculating the tax bill is the assessed value that's tied to the real estate market. The Save Our Homes state law limits the annual increase in the assessed value of owner-occupied homes to 3% or the inflation rate, whichever is less. This year, the Save Our Homes cap is 2.9%.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville council members split from Deegan by saying they want property tax rate cut