Page 8 - Danny Becton News Today

The Jacksonville Transportation Authoritys request to use $379 million from a proposed gas tax increase for the Skyway took a $132 million hit when City Council members voted Wednesday to reduce it by that amount. JTA did not fight the amendment by City Council member Ron Salem and council passed it on a 16-2 vote. Salems amendment did not specify moving the $132 million to any other projects, but City Council member Matt Carlucci has another amendment that would shift that amount of money int...

09:38 PM EST Share City lawmakers aim for a final vote on the proposed tax increase for $1 billion in infrastructure before the end of May. City lawmakers cut $132 million from the Jacksonville Transportation Authority’s Downtown Skyway modernization in a proposal to increase and extend Duval County local option gas tax. The Jacksonville City Council voted 16-2 on May 12 in favor of an amendment by Ron Salem to reduce money for the JTA project in Ordinance 2021-0223. The amend...

09:15 PM EST Share The Northeast Florida business group says Jacksonville City Council should pass the bill but reduce money for JTA’s Skyway upgrades to $190 million. Plans to increase the Duval County gas tax to pay for nearly $1 billion in transportation projects gained the endorsement of the Jacksonville Civic Council on May 10, but millions in the plan to modernize the Downtown Skyway could instead go toward the creation of the Emerald Trail network of parks. The Civic Co...

City Council member Matt Carlucci said Friday he favors taking $150 million from a proposed Skyway conversion project and using the money instead for adding the long-planned Emerald Trail to the list of projects that would be financed by doubling Jacksonvilles local gas tax. The shift has full backing from Mayor Lenny Curry, his chief of staff Jordan Elsbury said. "From a policy perspective, the mayor has always supported funding the Emerald Trail," Elsbury said. "This is a revenue so...

City council floats idea of allowing voters to decide on gas tax Updated:  Tags:  City council floats idea of allowing voters to decide on gas tax JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The proposal to double the gas tax in Duval County is raising some concerns, not only with motorists but with members of the Jacksonville City Council. Now, some members want to let the public vote on the issue. Those concerns were part of the discussion Thursday during a special city council meeting. The council is being ask...

Sometimes a jar of water is worth a thousand words. Its a vividly bright spring day, but even the mid-day sunlight cannot penetrate the liquid in the jar whose murky water came from a failed well at a house on Cordial Drive, a short street in Jacksonville where residents say theyve felt forgotten when it comes to basic city services. Think a snow globe that tourist shops sell, but instead of swirling white particles suspended in liquid, the jar of water is full of heavy dark materials that ...

OPINION Eastside needs a trust fund I remember attending a city function years ago and talking with a City Council member about the city being unable to fund various projects, citing lack of revenue. This council person said, “Don’t you believe that. We can always find the money.” That statement, I believe, is still true today, especially when the administration and 12 council members supported the give-away of more than $230 million for one project. Now that the Lot J project is gone and...

Randy White After the defeat, Jaguars President Mark Lamping told media that future talks of development on Lot J are off the table. "I think its time to turn the page on Lot J," Lamping said. "Well leave that behind and, as I said, the next step was going to be development of the Shipyards. Were going to focus our attention on that." Development on the Shipyards property, directly across Bay Street from Lot J, would go through the Downtown Investment Authority (DIA), Lamping said. The Lot J de...

Jaguars owner Shad Khan encountered a setback Tuesday in his bid to build his Lot J development next to TIAA Bank Field.

Mayor Curry: ‘Vendetta over vision’ led to failure of Lot J deal Updated:  Tags:  Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry and Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan announce plans for Lot J. (Copyright 2020 by WJXT News4Jax - All rights reserved.) JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Hours after the Jacksonville City Council voted down a proposed deal to build a major entertainment complex in the shadow of the Jaguars’ stadium, Mayor Lenny Curry said personal vendettas against him and his administration were to...