Committee approves $45 million downtown redevelopment package with $5 million affordable-housing carve‑out

Jacksonville’s Neighborhoods, Community Services, Public Health and Safety Committee voted June 16 to advance legislation appropriating $45 million from the city’s self-insurance fund reserves for downtown redevelopment and related countywide projects.

The committee approved the bill (file 2025-0385) as amended on a 6-1 vote. Under the final language, $30 million will be placed in the Downtown Economic Development Fund for a riverfront residential incentives contingency account and $15 million will be deposited in a special council contingency account. Of that $15 million, $5 million was designated for countywide affordable-housing projects; the remaining $10 million is available for workforce development, capital improvements at Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ), a Jacksonville University sports/Youth Sports project and downtown preservation and revitalization projects, as described in the amendment language.

Why it matters: The bill redirects accumulated reserves in the city’s self-insurance fund, a source Council staff said has grown well past required actuarial reserves, to a mix of downtown redevelopment incentives and near-term community priorities. Committee discussion focused on timing, whether the council should act before the full city budget is released and how quickly the funds will be spent.

Discussion and amendments

Council Member Joe Carlucci was the bill’s introducer but was not present at the committee. Staff said Carlucci circulated proposed red-line amendment language before the meeting. That amendment would have left $30 million targeted to the downtown parcels on a revised map and placed $15 million in a special contingency account for countywide programs including workforce development, FSCJ capital work, a Jacksonville University youth-sports project and downtown preservation grants.

Council Member Matt Carlucci offered an alternative that would set aside $9 million for countywide affordable housing and leave $36 million for downtown incentives; that proposal did not reach final form. Council Member Jimmy Paluso proposed larger carve-outs for affordable housing and for quicker payouts through the Downtown Preservation and Revitalization Program (DPRP), but his amendment to the amendment failed.

Council Member Rory Amaro offered a successful amendment to the Carlucci draft that set aside $5 million of the $15 million contingency specifically for countywide affordable-housing initiatives. The committee then approved the Carlucci amendment as amended by Amaro and advanced the…