With revenues growing, budget includes new investments and no tax increase
 
Calling Jacksonville “a city of opportunity,” Mayor Alvin Brown today presented a Fiscal Year 2014-2015 balanced budget proposal that includes no increase in the tax rate and invests in job creation, public safety, Downtown revitalization and quality of life.
 
“This is a dynamic time for our city,” said Mayor Brown.  “Our unemployment rate is falling and our high school graduation rate is rising. Foreclosures are down and home values are up.  Our businesses are investing, our port is expanding and our college-educated population is growing.  Our Downtown is coming alive, our neighborhoods are getting rid of blight and our parks are being enjoyed by millions of visitors.”

2014-2015 Proposed Budget | 2014-2015 Budget Fact Sheet | FY 2015-2019 Proposed Capital Improvement Program | Mayor's Full Remarks, July 14, 2014
 
The mayor said his budget will sustain and build Jacksonville’s momentum with strategic investments to expand opportunity and achieve a more prosperous future for the city.

The Jacksonville City Council will meet in the Council Chambers today at 4 p.m. for the installation of the Honorable Clay E. Yarborough, as the 2014-2015 Council President, and the Honorable Gregory B. Anderson, as the 2014-2015 Council Vice President.  In accordance with Council Rules, the positions will become effective July 1, 2014.

Click here to watch video of this event.

Mayor Alvin Brown today joined representatives from the Downtown Investment Authority, City Council and Friends of Hemming Park to announce that an agreement has been reached to manage Hemming Plaza.

“This public-private partnership to reimagine and revitalize Hemming Plaza is great news not only for Downtown,” said Mayor Brown. “It’s also great news for our entire city and for everyone who visits Jacksonville.”

The City Council Hemming Plaza committee, chaired by Council Member Denise Lee, played a key role in assisting efforts to enhance programming at the park. Mayor Brown applauded the group’s leadership in making sure that Hemming Plaza becomes all that it can be.

In accordance with Ordinance 2005-361-E, the first Committee week and City Council meeting during the month of July are suspended for a summer break. The Jacksonville City Council meeting cycle will resume with Standing Committee meetings the week of July 14, followed by the City Council meeting on July 22, 2014.

Mayor Alvin Brown announced today an urban parks initiative that will provide supervised activities this summer for youth at 11 parks in Jacksonville neighborhoods affected by an increase in violent crime.

The Jacksonville law firm of Pajcic & Pajcic donated $50,000 to fund the urban parks initiative as a pilot project that will employ “old school” practices to keep kids engaged in healthy activities and out of trouble during their break from school this summer. Attorney Steve Pajcic grew up near Woodstock Park, the site of today’s announcement, and remembers spending his younger days there engaged in sports under the watchful eye of a park supervisor.

See photos from the June 2, 2014 news conference at Woodstock Park

The morning departure times for the St. Johns Ferry have changed.  On Monday through Friday, the Ferry now departs from Mayport Village at 6:00 a.m., 6:30 a.m., and continuing on the hour and half hour, with the final departure at 7:00 p.m.  Departures from Ft. George Island are at 6:15 a.m., 6:45 a.m., and continuing on the quarter after and quarter before the hour, with final departure at 7:15 p.m.

In a city famous for its river, beaches and parks system, safety around the water is essential to enjoying all that Jacksonville has to offer. This summer, as part of Mayor Alvin Brown’s People+Parks Connection, free water safety education and swim lessons will be available to more qualifying families than ever.

Mayor Brown announced plans to expand the citywide drowning prevention campaign, called Waterproof Jacksonville, May 3 at the Cecil Aquatic Center. The program will offer free lessons to an estimated 1,500 children this summer, including students attending summer school at Woodland Acres Elementary, as well as to 150 dependents of active military personnel.

“Waterproof Jacksonville is about nothing less than saving lives,” said Mayor Brown. “The ability to swim is absolutely essential in a state like Florida, especially here in Jacksonville. Our state has the nation’s highest drowning rate among children ages 14 and under. That needs to change, and that’s what we’re trying to do with Waterproof Jacksonville.”

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office held their annual Police Memorial Day Ceremony on the front steps of the Police Memorial Building on Bay Street. Mayor Alvin Brown joined Sheriff John Rutherford and many other city officials for the May 1 ceremony to honor the lives of Jacksonville's 60 fallen officers and their families.

See more photos from Police Memorial Day 

During the ceremony, Mayor Brown presented a proclamation declaring May 1, 2014 as "Jacksonville Police Memorial Day," and the week of May 11-17, 2014 as "National Police Appreciation Week." The ceremony also included remarks from Sheriff Rutherford, a Final Roll Call, a twenty-one gun salute, missing man formation flyover, and much more.

The St. Johns River Ferry will extend operating hours to 9:00 p.m., on Friday, May 2nd, for the Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival in Fernandina Beach.

The Federal Highway Administration has awarded the St. Johns River Ferry a $900,000 grant from the Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP).  The grant will be distributed to the ferry in two $450,000 annual payments beginning this fiscal year.