Will Lahnen, chair of Jacksonville City Council's Finance Committee, leads day one of the committee's budget review on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. | City of Jacksonville
Published on August 13, 2026 at 6:14 pm
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A majority of the Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee came into day one of its review of Mayor Donna Deegan’s $2 billion city budget determined to find cuts.
By 3:30 p.m., the committee had voted 7-1 to hit pause on half the proposed funding for Public Service Grants and the Cultural Council, and stripped $4.9 million in new spending proposed for the mayor’s proposed public housing trust fund.
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Committee Chair Will Lahnen and council President Nick Howland said before Tuesday’s meeting that they wanted to fund only what is determined by the committee as core city services.
They say any cuts to Deegan’s budget are to prepare for an expected $300 million shortfall by 2028, should Florida voters approve a property tax cut referendum in November.
The committee’s move holds back $3.6 million from the city’s public service grants, which provide funding to Jacksonville nonprofits, and $3.5 million from the city’s community arts funding arm, the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville.
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Whether the remaining money will become available would be triggered by the referendum. If the tax cut, known as Amendment 3, fails Nov. 3 , the Cultural Council and the other nonprofit grant recipients would automatically be fully funded.
If it passes, the money goes into city reserves and would take two-thirds of the full City Council to release it.
Howland said hitting pause on 50% of these two nonprofit funding sources “makes the most sense” for the city.
“Everyone needs to think about this. If Amendment 3 passes, the next (council) president and the next Finance Committee are going to have to cut $200 million from this budget. There’s a word for that. It’s called austerity,” Howland said
“And no one is in a happy mood when they have to cut $200 million.”
Although they made the budget change, the full City Council could decide to override the Finance Committee’s decision before they pass the final budget Sept. 22.
In addition to Lahnen and Howland, the committee includes council members Rory Diamond, Terrance Freeman, Chris Miller, Mike Gay and Randy White.
Lahnen says the vote just waits 34 days from when the budget goes into effect on Oct. 1 and the November vote before committing the funds.
Council debates money tied to tax cuts
If the tax cut passes, city revenue would not be affected until the 2027-28 fiscal year budget. Currently, the city has $527.62 million in reserves, according to the latest figures from the City Council Auditor’s Office.
Johnson, the lone Democrat on the committee, said that means this is the time to fully fund programs while the funds are available, instead of acting on “the possibility of what could happen.”
“I’m looking at the now,” Johnson said. “If we’re going to make those expenditures, now is the time to do it. While I do understand saving for a rainy day, we do have a rainy day fund. And I don’t want to completely just cut everything because of possibly what might happen.”
Committee member Terrance Freeman asked that the measure be tabled to research which nonprofits are solvent enough to temporarily operate with only 50% of their city funding and which organizations would be forced to immediately make cuts to services.
He ultimately voted yes but was concerned that children’s programs tied to school schedules were already operating and could be hurt by the funding uncertainty.
Cultural Council Executive Director Diana Donovan told the committee Thursday that $207,000 of its grant awards are used to fund children’s programming.
In the weeks leading up to the budget hearing, Donavan and some of Cultural Council’s grant recipients have pressed city lawmakers and the public about the economic effect of the arts community.
According to the organization, the city’s arts and cultural sector drew 2.1 million event attendees and $319 million in economic activity with cultural service grant programs making up 44% of that.
Council member Matt Carlucci, who is not part of the committee, encouraged committee members to increase the initial funding to 65% of what was budgeted.
Donavan said anything above 50% would have been welcomed.
“If it (the tax referendum) were to not pass, and it (cultural council dollars) comes back above the line, we’re grateful for the sustained funding, and we’ll come back to you with the (return on investment) that we promised and we’ll deliver in taxable revenue,” Donavan said. “We do understand the hard conversation around this, and we want to make sure that we’re sitting in the gap as an economic driver to say that, whatever you decide to give us, we will give you back ten fold.”
Affordable housing deja vu
Deegan has made affordable housing a key policy push over the last year. The $4.9 million she put in this year’s budget would go to fund a down payment assistance-homeownership program; money for developers to build attainable housing; and funding to help pay water and electric connection fees to keep the price of new homes more affordable.
The motion to remove the funding was made by council member Rory Diamond.
The trust fund proposal was a compromise with the Nehemiah Assembly of the Interfaith Coalition for Action, Reconciliation and Empowerment — known as ICARE — which wanted a $10 million commitment from the city.
In 2024, the council removed funding from the budget for Deegan’s first attempt to create an affordable housing trust fund.
Other cuts
On Thursday, the committee also tied 50% of the funding for the Healthlink Jax service — $750,000 — to the fate of Amendment 3. Healthlink Jax provides telehealth services for the uninsured.
Council members Johnson and White opposed the move.
The committee also voted 6-2 to completely eliminate $237,427 that went to pay the city’s membership dues the for Florida Association of Counties, the Florida League of Cities, the National Association of Counties and the National League of Cities.
White and Johnson were the two no votes.
The second day of budget hearings will start at 9 am. Aug. 14, at City Hall.
