Duval County Residents: Mayor Alvin Brown's Budget Link

[FCTP]

 

If you are a resident of Duval County, we thought you might want to take a look at Mayor Brown's first Budget.  He unveiled it Friday afternoon. 

 

Please leave comments below once you have had a chance to review it.

 

http://www.coj.net/Departments/Finance/Docs/Budget/Proposed-Budget-...

[Roy Anderson]

This is the Budget that also cuts High School JROTC in four schools, is it not?  One of the best programs our High Schools have, to train and stimulate the good in our youth?  Now that is a real shame.

[Rod Morrill]

I have begun to tackle the huge “budget book” and as overwhelming as it is there are two very good elements.

 

It is a "Balanced Budget" and does not start out on the presumption that the government IS going to raise taxes and that the people should just accept that and get on with it. 

 

The second thing is that there are brief narratives with each section to give some definition.

 

I must say that these factors are not enough to sell me on all the contents.   I am not judging the book by its cover but the cover is far more attractive than all the recent "editions".

 

The budget is not a flat "whack" across all departments and contains some "give and takes" in what appears to be thought out variables in the cuts being made and a few small increases to prevent some "harm" that some cuts might cause.

 

I do see some new and "biased" adjustments and I am not yet sure of the reasons or justification.

 

All of this is lot to consider and it is likely that some of what each of us individually may want might very well not be what is best for the entirety of the people but what is ultimately done needs to the best possible for everyone with balanced consideration for the short term and the long term.

 

This budget does at least have some of those ingredients and it is a balanced budget.

 

I am looking forward to some good discussions within this group as to where the "smoke and mirrors" are and where the moves in a good directions are that will get us back on the "right road" for our government.    So we all need to keep the questions and comments coming

 

If I may, I have a suggestion that if you have a copy of the entire budget, as you find things that cause concern or question that you give “chapter and verse” in the form of the page number so all of us that read your comments can follow what, in all of this, you are talking about. .That should help as all of these questions and comments are compiled that they can be tallied and indexed to best be put before the City Council and Administration by the Tea Party Experts and Wizards.  I am certainly not one of those but I do want to help them in any way I can and hope that all of us will do that.

 

I have to admit that I am pleasantly surprised by the budget coming from what I feared was an unfamiliar and unknown administration whose goals and motives I had little perception of or hopeful anticipation of. This budget relieves a lot of that fear and gives me something to hopefully examine.

 

This budget is, any way you think of it, very large and complicated and there may not be a “Readers Digest Version” but any and all who can and will must continue to ask a lot of the constructive questions that can be compiled and presented in a manner that cannot be ignored and demand answers to our sincere and searching questions.

 

There is amazing value and strength in our numbers, talents and diversity so we can approach our elected officials in a manner that they, the media and our fellow citizens cannot ignore and the officials shall be tasked to respond.

 

I offer a question to all that I like to use:

 

“What say you on this matter ?”

 

Rod Morrill

[Dean Bird]

Newspaper and TV reporting seemed rather good, but reading actual budget raises questions.

"Citywide Activities" raised from about 50 million to 78 million?

"Medicare Inpatient hospital care" raised from zip to 11 million?

"Contingencies" down from about 12 million to 1 million?

"Budget Stabilization Contingency" down from about 9 million to zip?

Hope the above will be explained and reasonable.  Worst case might be that he's just spending the rainy day funds on welfare...... Let's hope he can rise to the occasion and be a decent official. Once and awhile a politician does this, but unfortunately it's a rare thing.

[FCTP]

These are trying times but reading and questionning is what a great Patriot will do.  All the comments and questions will be gathered and sent to the Finance Committee for answers.  Remember, this is the Mayor's budget and must be passed by the City Council.  Keep reading and sending us comments and questions.  :)

[Judi]

I just looked at the budget numbers and question why when almost every category went down, the Jax Economic Development Commission's budget went up by a factor of 6? Also what is the Economic Grant Program and who will be the recipients of this money? The budget amount for 2012 is $2,919,700 when there was nothing budgeted for the previous year. Several other issues that popped out to me are: What is Medicaid Inpatient Hospital Care and Medicaid Nursing Home Care? Together these total $12,695,897. Again, these appear to be new categories or at least, there was nothing budgeted for the last budget. These are some huge numbers! Guess I will download the other 400+ pages to try to find some answers.

[John Sauer]

Pam,

The report is 411 pages long and takes a while to download. It took me about a minute to get it.

[Pam Mullarkey]

Couldn't open it. Sorry. Blessings, Pam