Urban Jacksonville

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Today Mayor Petyon announced to local business owners that he would propose an increase in the millage rate by 1.2 mils to avoid a 65 million dollar shortfall next year. This would be the first millage rate increase in over 17 years.

The Millage Rate is just a fancy name for the property tax rate:

The tax rate is referred to as the millage. The millage varies by taxing district within the county. Each taxing district’s total millage is comprised of individual millages determined by multiple taxing authorities operating within that district. Public meetings to determine the individual millages are held in September.

Much clearer now huh? Wikipedia defines the tax rate as “a tax on real estate made up of two components—the improvement or building value, and the land or site value.”

Multiply the property value by the millage (tax) rate and that’s the amount of taxes you pay COJ. There, much easier.

It sounds like the Mayor is getting ready for September (see above) when there are public meetings to determine the individual millages. So even if the rates do go up, you’re likely to not have a bigger tax payment until the next fiscal year.

I can’t help but think this is a good and long overdue thing for the city. Even though, if it passes, I will most likely have to move my family from where we live now as we’ll no longer be able to afford the taxes on our home.

UPDATE: My wonderful wife pointed out that it would only be ano ther couple hundred dollar per year and that I was overreacting. Let that be a lesson to the PR people spinning this out to the public. Break it down and point out the monthly impact with rate tables so people can see based on their home value, what the monthly will be.

Even so, it’s a harsh reality, that will be difficult for some people to deal with. I’m not looking forward to paying another couple hundred per year, but it’s for the good of the city right?

In the same Wikipedia article a case is made that traditional property taxes actually encourage sprawl. Our city is currently dealing with unchecked growth, so there may be some optional taxation models we can review.

In the absence of urban planning policies, property tax on real estate changes the incentives for developing land, which in turn affects land use patterns. The market value of undeveloped real estate reflects a property’s current use as well as its development potential. As a city expands, relatively cheap and undeveloped lands (such as farms, ranches, private conservation parks, etc.) increase in value as neighboring areas are developed into retail, industrial, or residential units.

This raises the land value, which increases the property tax that must be paid on agricultural land, but does not increase the amount of revenue per land area available to the owner. This, along with a higher sale price, increases the incentive to rent or sell agricultural land to developers. On the other hand, a property owner who develops a parcel must thereafter pay a higher tax, based on the value of the improvements. This makes the development less attractive than it would otherwise be. Overall, these effects result in lower density development, which tends to increase sprawl.

It’s interesting to consider, but there isn’t much actionable we can do. The city is in a pickle right now and we need to find a way out.

So far the Jacksonville Twitterverse has not reacted to this proposed rate hike. I suspect all heck will break loose once the Mayor announces this and it hits the 5 o’ clock news. We obviously need to hear what the Mayor has to say before we react, so I’ll reserve judgement until the press conference.

This past week, JCCI released its study of the city’s financial condition and the picture is bleak. Administration after administration funded grand developments via long-term financing. As a result, the city is in a position where future borrowings may jeopardize the city’s bond ratings. Additionally, the city faces shrinking revenues as property values have plummeted. Further complicating issues, the city’s three pension plans are now drastically underfunded.

Before suggesting steps that might be taken to remedy the city’s financial woes; however, JCCI suggested an effort to regain public trust. That trust has vanished in the wake of open government scandals, no-bid contracts and FBI raids.

Two of JCCI’s suggestions involve participation of the community at large, both in developing a community vision and in setting budget priorities. A frequent complaint heard in Jacksonville is voters feel no connection to their City Council Member, much less the Mayor or other constitutionally elected officials.

While some City Council members are faithful in holding town hall meetings, they seem to be the exception. In many cases, meetings are held at inconvenient locations and times that are hardly accommodating for working individuals or families with young children (or political bloggers -Ed).

No Jacksonville City Council members, indeed no local government agencies, have made serious attempts to harness the amazing powers of the web to engage their constituents. Barack Obama may have held an online town hall meeting, but the concept remains foreign to Jacksonville despite the free services of such programs as Cover It Live. In fact, Urban Jacksonville’s recent hosting of a live transit chat roundtable was really a “first of its kind” in connecting bloggers and citizens with a local official in a live online format. (The forum, incidentally, didn’t cost a dime.)

While Mayor Peyton has established a Facebook presence, he’s unique in soliciting public input via that medium. With the exception of Councilwoman Glorious Johnson, who occasionally engages in political discussion on Facebook, no other local officials are attempting to solicit public input in that manner. No locally elected officials maintain a blog that seeks public input.

Which brings us to the ultimate question—how do we change that? What would you like to see? If you could suggest a communication medium to your district council person, what would you suggest? Would you like online chats? A blog? A YouTube channel? Informal Sunday afternoon question and answer sessions at a public library where constituents can drop by to offer input?

Let’s hear it, Jacksonville.

Abel Harding writes about politics and the superiority of Florida Gator Football at JaxPoliticsOnline.com. Check out The Ghost of Shipyards Past, a 3-part series that will run on consecutive Sundays from JaxPoliticsOnline.com. You can follow Abel on Twitter @jaxpolitics

The Jacksonville Community Council released it’s 2008 Quality of Life Progress Report this week.

Tracking both positive and negative trends, this report provides an ongoing analysis of the state of our region. The report includes over 100 indicators that reflect trends in nine external environments: education; economy; environment; social wellbeing; arts, culture, and recreation; health; government; transportation; and safety. The document serves as a roadmap for community improvement, telling us where we are, how far we’ve come and where we need to go.

Of particular interest to me are the environmental and transportation indicators.

Environmental

Red Flags were assigned to indicators measuring the health of the St. Johns River and its tributaries and to recycling activity. A positive note earning a Gold Star was a decrease in motor fuel use per person.

This is particularly concerning in light of my post last week on the City’s efforts to reduce recycling expenses city wide.

Transportation

Transportation indicators reflected moderately reduced miles of JTA bus service and decreased bus and Skyway ridership. Restructuring of JTA routes largely accounts for the reduction in miles of service and a reduction in Skyway ridership will not suprise anyone.

I anticipate skyway ridership will increase as more people move to the Southbank and the new King Street developments come online.

I know this is a very brief analysis, but tune into Urban Jacksonville Weekly this Tuesday for a more in depth analysis with Tony Allegretti, Jonathan Bennett and myself. We’ll be broadcasting live video on the Internet at 5:30pm on our Ustream Channel:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/urban-jacksonville-weekly

The Jacksonville Community Council will be hosting a discussion of Code of the Street: Decency, Violence and the Moral Life of the Inner City on May 20th.

JCCI released it’s study Reducing Murder: A Community Response in 2006 and two years later we’re still having the discussion finding a cure for our violent city. The discussion is designed for everyone, whether or not they have read Code of the Street. For those interested, a blog authored by JCCI staff offers thumbnail sketches of each of the book’s chapters.

JCCI, 2434 Atlantic Blvd
Tuesday, May 20
5:30 to 7 p.m.
Space is limited, please RSVP by calling 396-3052

A review on Amazon says:

Not content to sugarcoat problems or to stockpile blame, Anderson takes a piercing look at the complex issues surrounding respect, social etiquette and family values in the multicultural neighborhoods along Philadelphia’s Germantown Avenue. A major artery of the city, the street reflects the vast social and economic difficulties confronting many of the nation’s urban centers.

Dr. Michael Hallett, chair of the Criminology and Criminal Justice Department at University of North Florida, recommended the book in two separate editorials in the Florida Times Union. He will be the opening speaker.