Council president seeks to ‘park’ $10M in strategic initiative funds for later allocation
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Summary
Council President Kevin Carico asked the Finance Committee to file a resolution directing roughly $10,019,006 in council strategic initiative money into the mayor’s contingency account so the incoming president and the finance committee can allocate it during next year’s budget process. Some council members urged a broader, council‑wide prioritization process.
Council President Kevin Carico told the Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee on Jan. 6 that he intended to file a resolution to identify and “park” the council’s statutorily required strategic initiative set‑aside in the administration’s proposed budget rather than allocate the dollars now. "I'm opting to allow that to go through the finance committee process instead of us trying to earmark it now," Carico said, citing the fact priorities often change by budget time.
Kim Taylor, council auditor, told the committee the amount corresponds to about 5.5% of the general fund GST budget and provided a staff figure of $10,019,005.91. Taylor said the resolution would ask the mayor to include that amount in the FY27 contingency so the finance committee and the incoming council president could determine allocations during the budget wrap‑up process.
Several council members objected to conferring sole control to the finance committee. Councilman Matt Carlucci said the original strategic planning process allowed all 19 members to propose and prioritize initiatives, and he warned that moving the decision to a single committee could limit participation. "The strategic plan was a chance for all council members to say what was important to them, not just one committee," he said.
Supporters, including Council Vice President Hallen and Council Member Layne, said past practice and code permit parking the funds and that doing so does not prevent individual members from subsequently proposing appropriations. Legislative services said the committee would file a resolution the next day to memorialize the approach and that filing would meet the administration’s Feb. 15 deadline for budget submissions.
No final dollar allocations were made in committee; rather, the committee agreed to introduce the resolution and route the fund through the budget process so allocations could be determined during the standard committee and wrap‑up schedule.
What's next: Legislative staff will file the resolution on behalf of the finance committee; the mayor’s budget must include the contingency by Feb. 15, and allocations will be decided through the finance committee and wrap‑up process later in the budget cycle.