Tonight, the Jacksonville City Council is expected to decide whether or not to move forward with a 9-percent property tax rate increase to fund the city's $1 billion budget. Protests and vocal opposition is expected, both before the 5 p.m. meeting and during the public hearing.
Here are some useful links to get you up to speed on how we arrived at this place, some of the people and places that are involved in the debate and how you can keep up with the meeting even if you can't attend in person.
How we got here:
Mayor John Peyton began holding community budget workshops in February to gain citizens' input on spending priorities. The council also held a series of budget workshops.
Peyton proposed the city budget, including a millage hike, in July
The council Finance Committee spent about 8 weeks analyzing the budget, approving $4 million in reductions that could decrease the millage ...
The First Coast Tea Party held a press conference around Labor Day criticizing the council and offering suggestions for reducing the b...
The council gave tentative approval of the budget two weeks ago
Shopping center developer Toney Sleiman became increasingly vocal and purchased TV ads encouraging constituents to oppose the tax rate increase
All leading to tonight's expected showdown
Go directly to the horse's mouth by visiting the Web sites of key players:
Mayor's Office's official budget Web site
City Council budget page, including links to related bills, notes from budget workshops and archived videos of budget discussions
Concerned Taxpayers of Duval County, which is holding a "Team Taxpayer Tailgate Party" outside City Hall at 4 p.m. today and also has published its own plan for reducing the budget to avoid a millage hike
The First Coast Tea Party has also criticized the budget and suggested spending cuts
Tonight's meeting:
Begins at City Hall at 5 p.m. If you go, arrive early because a large crowd is expected and everyone must pass through metal detectors.
If you plan to speak, you must fill out a blue speakers card.
If you can't go, the meeting will stream live from here.
I will also be live-tweeting updates and pictures. Even if you don't have a twitter account, you can still view my updates here (click refresh for the latest tweets). If you want to dialogue with me on twitter, my handle is @coachtia
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