Local Governments Spending Millions on Homeless Problem, But Taxpayers Not Happy

As local governments start laying out proposed budgets for the upcoming year, millions of dollars will be spent on the homeless problems many Florida communities are dealing with.

Last year, Jacksonville Democratic Mayor Donna Deegan and the local city council approved $3.1 million to address the city’s homeless problem. This year, the mayor wants a bigger increase, up to $10 million.

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Some homeless advocates like Dawn Gillman, CEO of CHANGING Homelessness, say that amount isn’t enough.

However, local taxpayers say they are frustrated with the government’s spending more money to exacerbate the problem instead of helping to fix it.

Viewers of local TV station WJXT went on the station’s social media page to complain about the mayor’s spending proposal.

Here are some of the comments.

“The mayor is ignoring the most important fact: many people are homeless because of their personal choices. When people choose to abuse drugs and alcohol, homelessness is one of the results.”

“Some people even choose to be homeless because they prefer that to working. We need to promote personal responsibility, not just throw money at the problem.”

‘It’s no different than when they “gave” stimulus checks for rent, etc. Those who should have used it for rent didn’t. It was free money, so they got Jordans and nails done… those who didn’t need it just had it. Same with any handout program, too few that benefit from it actually use it to improve their lives, they just use it and don’t appreciate it, they have no vested interest or skin in the game. It’s tax money, and they don’t pay taxes.

“For 10 million, we can add several bus stop benches around the stadium. That’s where they like to sleep, right?”

“Yes, for many, $10 Million is not enough, and neither would $100 Million. Providing lots of services will draw more, so what is really needed is a way to work with these people to find out if there is a solution to their homeless situation that they would accept and, if not move on to another person

“How much of this $10 million will be devoted to establishing a giant tent city? We can’t be a top-tier big blue city without a “world-class” tent city, even if taxpayers must provide the tents and the land. Maybe the city can even provide spots for broken-down RV’s. California, here we come!”

Unlike other Democrats, Mayor Deegan has lately sounded more moderate to conservative on this issue.

She has said she wants to avoid having a “tent city” in Jacksonville, which occurred under her republican predecessor, and she plans to involve more of the private sector through Public-private partnerships.