Council splits $45 million downtown package into riverfront, housing and workforce buckets

The rules committee voted on June 16 to advance a $45 million appropriation intended to spur downtown residential development and related priorities, approving a neighborhoods amendment that divides the money into three contingencies.

Under the approved amendment, $30 million was set aside for a downtown riverfront residential incentives contingency, $5 million for a countywide affordable housing contingency, and $10 million was placed into a council contingency to support activities such as workforce development, improvements at Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ), a Jacksonville University youth sports project and a downtown preservation and revitalization program administered by the Downtown Investment Authority (DIA). The amendment also updated a downtown map shown as an exhibit and authorized carryover of funds into fiscal year 2025—26.

Council president-elect Kevin Carico said the proposal grew from prior work on a special committee focused on downtown, and that the split attempted to address other council priorities while preserving a substantial investment for the Bay Street corridor. The committee and outside witnesses also discussed leveraging private philanthropic dollars: Community Foundation representatives described a fund structure that could leverage city investment, saying a 3-to-1 match on public investment had been discussed with potential partners.

Committee members debated whether the amendment should include broad "including, but not limited to" language across all contingencies to preserve council flexibility when the city's revenue picture becomes clearer during the budget process. The chair offered and members approved a change that added that flexible language to the $30 million and $5 million contingencies but not to the $5 million affordable-housing line after further amendment; committee members also noted that funds placed in contingency will require a two-thirds council vote to spend.

The bill, as amended in neighborhoods and in rules, passed the committee by recorded vote (8 yeas, 0 nays). Supporters said the structure preserves the sponsor's focus on downtown while creating funding pathways for housing and workforce initiatives; critics cautioned that details and oversight of how contingency dollars would be released remain to be worked out.

Speakers at the meeting included Phil Peterson (council auditor), Council president-elect Kevin Carico, Councilman Joe Carlucci (bill sponsor), Keith Scroggins (Community Foundation for Northeast Florida), Cindy Trimmer (Jacksonville Community Land Trust) and several council members who asked for additional briefings before finance and full council consideration.