Jacksonville City Council members discussed a proposed $15 million funding package for education and workforce projects during a preliminary meeting intended to gather questions and brief council colleagues.

The package would allocate $6 million to the University of North Florida (UNF), $5 million to Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ), $325,000 to a workforce industrial training center, $1 million to the Northeast Florida Builders Association (NEFBA) and $2.7 million to Edward Waters University (EWU). Council members were briefed on project uses and next steps; committee review and formal action are scheduled in the coming week.

Council members said the bundle is meant to advance workforce training, college facilities and tourism-related infrastructure and to leverage additional state, federal and private funding. Council members pressed staff and the presenting institutions on whether the city would be making one-time grants or committing to future, ongoing expenses.

The city representative who introduced the package said the five recipients were selected for education and workforce development goals and that some requests had been reduced during budget negotiations. The representative said EWU’s original request was substantially larger and was pared down to $2.7 million for the first year because EWU described the project as a multi-year effort.

Taylor Mejia Roberts, representing Florida State College at Jacksonville, said FSCJ plans to use the $5 million toward purchasing a building at Cecil Field for a new training institute and that the college would seek state grants for operational equipment and programming. “This will be a phased approach. We are not limiting it to the exact phases. It’s more when funding comes in,” Roberts said.

Council members described the University of North Florida element as a three-phase infrastructure project in the $30 million–$40 million range for which the city’s $6 million would be an initial commitment intended to attract state and private matches. Council discussion referenced Hodges Stadium renovations and adding playing fields and classroom space; council members said the funding is intended for infrastructure and facilities rather than discretionary “bells and whistles.”

Council members and staff described the workforce industrial training center — the $325,000 item — as a small-scale, short-term certification program (six to eight weeks) that provides OSHA, HAZMAT and forklift training, soft-skills instruction and employer placement assistance for logistics and trade-sector jobs. The council’s presenter said the program matches graduates with employers such as Wayfair and Amazon.

Council members asked whether city funds would be reimbursable or advanced. The presenter said most awards would be reimbursable, though some projects might require a small advance to begin work. The presenter also said the city’s Office of General Counsel (OGC) and auditors had met individually with each entity to review terms and reimbursement status.

Several council members flagged EWU’s funding as potentially creating future budget obligations. A staff speaker said the term sheet with EWU “does contemplate the city contributing $6,025,000 in next year’s budget,” and that EWU described the overall effort as a three-year project; that raised questions about whether the city would move the item from a one-time contingency allocation into recurring budget commitments.

Council members also asked whether the expenditures would count toward the city’s community benefits agreement (CBA). Staff said the answer depends on the project and use: pure workforce operations would likely count, while property purchases or facility improvements that are not guaranteed to fund workforce operations could be a gray area and might only count in part.

Council members directed staff to continue vetting details and asked that the institutions present in full at scheduled committee meetings: the neighborhoods committee on Monday and finance on Tuesday, with finance slated to take action during the upcoming meeting cycle. Council members and staff urged EWU to meet with the finance committee before Tuesday so members could resolve outstanding questions about scope and future obligations.

A public commenter, John Nooney, identified himself and referenced a separate ordinance number during his remarks; his comments included a reference to electric vehicle charging and to the bill number he cited as “20250522.” Nooney said the charging infrastructure relates to campus revenue potential but the comment was not on the funding bundle under discussion.

Next steps: the council’s neighborhoods committee will receive presentations first, followed by the finance committee where the measure is expected to be acted on in the coming week; council members said they want more detail on matching funds, reimbursement terms and any future-year commitments before final approval.