Firefighters at Station 22 in Jacksonville salute as the station's flag is raised on July 31, 2024. | Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today
Published on September 5, 2025 at 2:42 pm
Free local news and info, in your inbox at 6 a.m. M-F. Sign up for the Jacksonville Today newsletter.
The leaders of Jacksonville’s fire and police unions say public safety will be at risk if City Council follows through with plans to reduce property tax millage.
In a joint statement issued Friday, the two union chiefs said the proposal to lower the property tax millage rate by ⅛ mill “will severely damage the ability of our city to pay for needed public safety issues in years ahead.”
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
Together, their unions represent almost 4,300 police and firefighters who have endured years of pay cuts, stagnant wages and pension reductions, all in the name of balancing the city budget, say Kelly Dobson, president of the Jacksonville Association of Firefighters, and Randy Reeves, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 50.
The two say current City Council members and the mayor have been “incredibly supportive” of their members, but they stress that the effects of cuts made by past administrations still echo today.
“We’ve seen what happens when short-term savings lead to long-term setbacks,” their statement said. “We urge the City Council to vote against this rollback and protect the future of Jacksonville’s fire and rescue service and Sheriff’s Office.”
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
The council’s Finance Committee voted 6-2 on Wednesday to cut ⅛-mill off the city’s millage rate. That would lock in an almost $14 million drop in projected revenue next year.
The committee is proposing to offset the revenue loss by cutting close to $27 million from Mayor Donna Deegan’s $2 billion proposed budget. The biggest reductions would come from increases in spending on affordable housing, homelessness programs and Edward Waters University.
Council Vice President Nick Howland argued that residents deserve tax relief.
“Look, to me, if you don’t think every dollar matters, then you’re out of touch with families that know every dollar matters and that are struggling now,” said council Vice President Nick Howland. “I’ve always said if you give the government an extra dollar, it will always spend it. So I’d rather leave that extra dollar in the hands of Jacksonville families to spend as they see fit.”
Howland also disputed that the millage cut would affect public safety.
“There’s $134 million of nonprofit spend that will be crowded out well before we hit public safety,” he said. “Most of that nonprofit spend is not core to the role of local government — not pubic safety, not infrastructure, not vital city services.”
The police and fire union chiefs disagree. Auditors are forecasting a substantial budget shortfall in coming years, they say.
“Reducing revenue without a sustainable plan will jeopardize our ability to recruit and retain the best and brightest for the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department and the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office,” the statement says.
“Jacksonville has worked hard to shed its reputation as a ‘training ground’ for first responders who leave for better pay and benefits elsewhere.”
City Council member Randy White has proposed creating a special account for public safety with funds pulled from the city’s reserves, according to the Florida Times-Union. White is not on the Finance Committee but is a retired 32-year veteran firefighter and deputy director assistant fire chief.
White said that if the city ever gets into a situation “where public safety is hurting,” the money set aside would give police and firefighters “the comfort that they won’t be injured in this rollback in the future.”
Deegan issued a short response to the union statement, saying that she is grateful that the union chiefs have “the courage to speak out.”
“They’re right,” Deegan’s statement said. “We’ve seen this movie before, and we don’t want to see it again.”
Deegan says social programs like ones City Council wants to cut are necessary to make Jacksonville a “world class city.” Losing revenue also would limit essential services like road repairs and public safety, she says.
The union leaders said they want Jacksonville to be a “great place to live, work and raise a family.” They support responsible governance and eliminating wasteful spending, they said.
“But these goals must be pursued with a clear, actionable plan — one that does not compromise public safety,” their statement said.
City Council will have public hearing on the millage rate during a meeting at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Council then will take the first of two votes on the proposed millage rate and full budget.
