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 bill out of committee.

On the record

Councilman Ron Salem, at-large, argued for council control of the funds and urged the panel to advance the piece. “I want the council to control these dollars,” Salem said during debate.

Councilman Jimmy Paluso, district 7, repeatedly pushed for a larger, earlier commitment to affordable housing, saying the issue has been the top concern in community polling. “Affordable housing is huge,” Paluso said; he later announced he would vote against the final package in committee because he remained concerned about timing and process.

Funding source and fiscal details

City staff told the committee the appropriation would come from excess reserves in the self-insurance fund. Staff said the fund produced a substantial gain in fiscal 2023 and continued to build in fiscal 2024; they described $41 million of recent increases plus additional reserve earnings that support a $45 million withdrawal without breaching required actuarial reserve levels. Staff also said Treasury/risk-management plans could return dividend payments to participating entities in a separate action.

Process and next steps

Committee members emphasized the bill will return to Rules and Finance for further review; the mayor’s office indicated it planned to release a full budget in about four weeks and encouraged the council to consider that document when finalizing allocations. The committee’s vote moves the bill forward in the council process; the appropriation and the contingency language can still be revised later in Rules and Finance or on the council floor.

Actions

The committee voted to advance file 2025-0385 as amended (motion/second not specified). Outcome: approved (6-1). Tally reported in committee: 6 yeas, 1 nay.

Clarifying details

- Funding amount: $45,000,000 total appropriation (self-insurance fund reserves). - Downtown allocation: $30,000,000 to Downtown Economic Development Fund, riverfront residential incentives contingency. - Contingency allocation: $15,000,000 to special council contingency account; of that, $5,000,000 designated for countywide affordable housing; $10,000,000 left to support workforce development, FSCJ capital improvements, Jacksonville University Youth Sports project, and DPRP projects (as listed in amendment language). - Sponsor status: Council Member Joe Carlucci was the bill’s introducer but absent from the meeting; staff presented his circulated amendment and the committee proceeded in his absence at his stated request.

Speakers (selected)

- Joe Carlucci — Council Member (bill introducer; absent; referenced in committee discussion) - Matt Carlucci — Council Member (proposed alternative amendment) - Ron Salem — Council Member, at-large (spoke in favor of council control of funds) - Jimmy Paluso — Council Member, District 7 (proposed larger affordable-housing carve-outs; announced a committee no-vote) - Michael Boylan — Council Member, District 6 (asked for details about funding source) - Clark Murray — Council Member (asked procedural questions) - Rory Amaro — Council Member (moved the $5 million carve-out amendment) - Philip Peterson — Council research (explained fund balances, reserve calculations) - Britney Norris — Administration representative (noted sponsor had expressed support for affordable-housing language) - Lindsay Ott — Build Up Downtown (public comment supporting 2025-0385 and incentives) - Christina Thomas — Northeast Florida Builders Association (public comment; described workforce program demand)

Proper_names

[{"name":"Downtown Economic Development Fund","type":"program"},{"name":"Downtown Preservation and Revitalization Program","type":"program"},{"name":"Florida State College at Jacksonville","type":"school"},{"name":"Jacksonville University","type":"school"},{"name":"Community Benefit Agreement","type":"other"},{"name":"Build Up Downtown","type":"organization"},{"name":"Northeast Florida Builders Association","type":"organization"},{"name":"Jacksonville","type":"location"},{"name":"Self Insurance Fund","type":"other"}]

Authorities

[{"type":"other","name":"Appropriation from self-insurance fund reserves (ordinance proposal 2025-0385)","referenced_by":["2025-06-16-20250385-downtown-fund"]}]

Clarifying_details

[{"category":"amount","detail":"Total appropriation","value":"45000000","units":"USD","approximate":false},{"category":"downtown_allocation","detail":"Amount directed to downtown economic development incentives","value":"30000000","units":"USD","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Mary Stifopoulos/Philip Peterson"},{"category":"affordable_housing_carveout","detail":"Amount set aside for countywide affordable housing via amendment","value":"5000000","units":"USD","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Rory Amaro"},{"category":"contingency_remaining","detail":"Remaining contingency after affordable housing carve-out; available for workforce, FSCJ, JU, DPRP","value":"10000000","units":"USD","approximate":false}]

Community_relevance

{"geographies":["Downtown Jacksonville","Duval County"],"funding_sources":["Self Insurance Fund reserves"],"impact_groups":["residents of downtown Jacksonville","affordable-housing seekers","workforce development participants"]}

Provenance:{"transcript_segments":[{"block_id":"s=75.905","local_start":0,"local_end":120,"evidence_excerpt":"the first speaker is David Stevens. Actually, it's listed as this is questions only on 2025, 4 0 5... next 1 is Lindsay Ott from Build Up Downtown, supportive 20 25 3 85.","reason_code":"topicintro"},{"block_id":"s=4030.335","local_start":0,"local_end":120,"evidence_excerpt":"By your actions, you've approved 20 25 0 3 8 5 as amended.","reason_code":"topicfinish"}]},

searchable_tags:["downtown","affordable housing","budget","self-insurance fund","DPRP","FSCJ","Jacksonville University","2025-0385"],

actions:[{"kind":"budget_adoption","identifiers":{"agenda_item_id":"2025-0385"},"motion":"Approve appropriation of $45,000,000 from self-insurance fund reserves for downtown incentives and related countywide projects, as amended.","mover":"not specified","second":"not specified","vote_record":[],"tally":{"yes":6,"no":1,"abstain":0,"absent":0,"recused":0},"legal_threshold":{"met":true,"notes":"Simple majority in committee to advance to Rules and Finance."},"outcome":"approved","notes":"Approved in committee as amended; moves to Rules and Finance."}],

discussion_decision:{"discussion_points":["Timing relative to full city budget release","Potential carryover and multi-year payout for completion grants","Desire for council control vs. mayoral budget proposals"],"directions":["Bill to proceed to Rules and Finance","Administration to present full budget in ~4 weeks"],"decisions":["Approve 2025-0385 as amended and advance to next committee"]},

salience:{"overall":0.75,"overall_justification":"Large dollar appropriation affecting downtown development, affordable housing and workforce programs; committee debate on timing and source of funds.","impact_scope":"local","impact_scope_justification":"Funds are city-controlled and target downtown parcels and countywide programs.","attention_level":"high","attention_level_justification":"Notable budgetary move and substantial public interest in affordable-housing outcomes.","novelty":0.6,"novelty_justification":"Use of self-insurance reserves for redevelopment is uncommon but not unprecedented.","timeliness_urgency":0.6,"timeliness_urgency_justification":"Committee chose to act before the full mayoral budget release; further review expected in Rules & Finance.","legal_significance":0.35,"legal_significance_justification":"Relates to city budgeting and reserve policy; no new statutory changes."}}