The Jacksonville City Council is expected to take a final vote Tuesday on a $15 million package that includes aid for capital repairs to the University of North Florida’s Hodges Stadium and a new community facility at Edward Waters University. 

The bill, filed by council member Raul Arias and co-sponsored by council member Matt Carlucci, also provides city funding for private and public sector-run workforce training facilities in Duval County.

Council also will consider legislation releasing city dues to the Jacksonville Black Chamber of Commerce, the First Coast Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Asian Chamber of Commerce of North Florida. Lawmakers froze the money when they passed the city’s $2 billion operating budget in September. 

Hodges Stadium and Edward Waters community center 

Arias filed Ordinance 2025-0781 back in October, about two weeks after the 2025-25 fiscal year budget took effect. 

The final version pulls $12 million from the council’s special reserve contingency fund and $3 million from the Tourist Development Council’s fund balance to pay for the projects.

If it passes, UNF would get $6 million for upgrades to Hodges Stadium and construction of additional grass practice fields at the facility. University officials tell the city this will allow UNF to host various regional and national conferences and sporting events, according to a legislative fact sheet attached to the bill. 

The agreement also would let the city be able to use Hodges and the surrounding facilities with waived rental fees.

Edward Waters would use its $2 million on design, permitting and construction costs of its proposed “Living, Learning, Community Center.” The facility would have a multiuse space for the university and the public and would double as a hurricane shelter. 

The project also includes new dormitories. City code requires that the money be spent on projects that have a public use, so council members told Edward Waters officials during committee hearings this week that the funding needs to be targeted at the public portions of the project. 

After weeks of delays and several changes, the bill received nearly unanimous support from the council’s Rules and Finance committees this week. Council member Rory Diamond, the only member to vote no on the spending proposal so far, said the money should be used for city infrastructure needs like trash cleanup, traffic issues and road resurfacing. 

“This is a bill filled with really awesome stuff. I just don’t think we have the money for it,” Diamond said.

Arias said the city should not address one need over another in this instance.

“I do agree with him; there are a lot of other needs in our community. This is also a major need in our community. We’re talking about workforce and education. We can’t just focus on just one thing,” Arias said. 

“There’s a plethora of things to tackle, and this is $15 million out of a $2 billion budget. These are peanuts in comparison. So I think we’re doing the right thing here by taking care of everything in our community, not just potholes,” he said.

The workforce development elements of the bill include: 

• $5 Million for Florida State College at Jacksonville to buy a building at Cecil Commerce Center on the Westside to house its skilled construction and logistics training institute. 
• $1 million for the Northeast Florida Builders Association Inc. to help pay for design, permitting and construction costs of its Workforce Development Center. Documents filed with the legislation say the center will have classrooms and lab instruction, outreach and community engagement programs.
• $325,000 for Workforce Industrial Training LLC for its “Operation Boost” — described by the city as a year-round, cost-free training for Duval County residents “who face barriers to employment.”

The original bill offered $2.675 million to Edward Waters, but council members paired that back to $2 million, placing the other $675,000 in a fund for future use on apprentice training.

Mayor Donna Deegan proposed $8.7 million for facilities projects to Edward Waters in her initial budget proposal in July. The council’s Finance Committee, chaired at the time by Arias, cut that money during its budget hearings in August.

Council will vote on Arias’ bill as he faces public pressure to step down as the chair of the council’s Eastside Community Benefits Agreement Committee after recent reports that question a city contract linked to an entity once controlled by Arias.

Arias stepped down as Finance chair in November.

Community chambers

Ordinance 2025-0842 would appropriate $80,000 set aside during the budget process to three community chambers. Each would receive $26,666 in dues. 

The city has holistically provided dues to these community chambers and the primary Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce — the Jax Chamber — annually as part of its budget, but the Finance Committee gave the contributions more scrutiny this year. 

Jax Chamber allots the city’s $750,000 contribution to its economic development arm, JaxUSA Partnership, for marketing. Like the larger chamber, the Black, Hispanic and Asian chambers are being asked this year to submit invoices, receipts and other documentation showing how they’ve spent the city money. 

That’s in addition to the summary report the organizations already submit every year.