Jacksonville City Council approves community benefits agreement with Jaguars

The City Council on Tuesday paved the way for neighborhoods across Jacksonville — and particularly the one closest to the municipal stadium, the Eastside — to benefit from a renovation deal between the city and the Jaguars to renovate EverBank Stadium.

Countywide spending approved in the community benefits agreement will be $40 million over 15 years, and $40 million additionally for the Eastside over 7 years. With the vote Tuesday and a vote back in June, the City Council has fully funded its $150 million share of the $300 million agreement, to be split evenly with the Jaguars.

The spending will be aimed at workforce development, homelessness services and affordable housing efforts in the Out East neighborhood as well as across Jacksonville over the course of the Jaguars’ 30-year lease renewal  — and public support for the whole stadium deal depended on the CBA’s passage, according to polling this summer .

The vote for the CBA was 13-2, with District 13 Council member Rory Diamond and District 2 Council member Mike Gay voting no and members Ju’Coby Pittman, Reggie Gaffney Jr. and Kevin Carrico abstaining from the vote due to their work with nonprofits that may benefit from the legislation.

Gay was also the lone no vote on the stadium renovation deal itself back in June.

Council member Raul Arias said he and the Special Committee on the Community Benefits Agreement were proud of the work done over four meetings in the middle of budget season.

“We did something tremendous for the city, but more importantly, for the neighbors Out East, going from $30 million to $40 million, which was something that was not in the scope of work in the past,” Arias said. “But both of these were also in consideration of our city’s budget. Because of that, we had a lot of debate and conversations to be fiscally responsible,”

Council member Ron Salem said he felt the council took the best path forward on the agreement in June, when the body passed a partial agreement as part of the stadium financing package but split off a majority of the CBA for future consideration.

“I think the council made a good decision that night, passing the parks portion and delaying everything else,” Salem said. “Because I think we have a much better bill tonight than we did on June 24.”

Ken Amaro said he agreed to vote in favor of the agreement this week, but implored his colleagues to take up consideration of tax increment financing to make sure neighborhoods benefit from the deal over the long haul. Tax increment financing, also referred to as TIF funding, is a way for the city to fund improvements amid a redevelopment of a blighted area through the increase in property taxes that result from increased property values.

“I just feel that if we’re going to make this commitment on the front end, we’ve got to make a commitment on the back end,” Amaro said. “I think it’s an essential tool to sustain the viability of these communities some way, somehow. And so the work that we’ve done is perfect, but the work that we have done will be in vain if we don’t follow up with some sort of TIF structure.”

Mayor Donna Deegan thanked the City Council in a statement, saying that the investment will “transform our community for generations.”

“We negotiated a historic $300 million community benefits agreement that would be split equally between the Jaguars and city of Jacksonville. I’m grateful that the City Council has approved this full investment,” Deegan said. “The Eastside has increased support, and we will now have ongoing funding for critical workforce development, affordable housing, and homelessness programs. It is our goal to maximize the city’s investment in the shortest amount of time possible to create the greatest impact for our residents.”

The post Jacksonville City Council approves community benefits agreement with Jaguars appeared first on Jacksonville Today .