The Emerald Trail is meeting the color of money as city leaders enter the home stretch on whether to increase Jacksonville s local gas tax.
The late emergence of the Emerald Trail as a contender for funding from the proposed doubling of the local gas tax continues to evolve as City Council member Matt Carlucci said Tuesday he will seek $132 million for construction of trails rather than the $150 million he previously signaled support for last week.
Carlucci also said he would support having the Jacksonville Transportation Authority oversee construction of about 19 miles of future trail segments instead of keeping the work in the city s public works department as he originally contemplated.
City Council to discuss doubling Jacksonville’s gas tax
Some council members want the public to have a say in the proposal to raise the tax
Updated:
Tags:
City council floats idea of allowing voters to decide on gas tax
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville residents could learn Wednesday if they’ll have a say in whether the city doubles its gas tax.
At a special meeting Wednesday afternoon, the City Council is expected to discuss Mayor Lenny Curry’s proposal to raise the gas tax from 6 to 12 cents a gallon to pay for major transportation projects as well as other improvements to city infrastructure.
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 Council urged city lawmakers to pass a proposed increase and extension to Duval County’s local option gas tax to pay for nearly $1 billion in transportation projects, but reduce the amount planned to modernize the Skyway.
The proposed doubling of Jacksonville s local gas tax has won backing from the Jacksonville Civic Council, but the influential group of business leaders said the amount of local money spent on converting the Skyway system should be cut in half so $190 million of gas tax dollars go to other transportation projects.
The Civic Council weighed in Monday as proposed proposed amendments to the legislation will be coming fast and furious in the final weeks of deliberation by Jacksonville City Council.
City Council will decide whether to add 10 years to the current 6 cents per gallon local gas tax, which is set to expire in 2036, and add another 6 cents for a 30 year period. That would double the 6 cent gas tax to 12 cents per gallon.
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 Jacksonville s 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 source that can cover it and the mayor is 100 percent supportive of the amendment.
That amendment to the gas tax legislation would still leave the Jacksonville Transportation Authority with $229 million in the Jobs for Jax project list for turning the elevated structure where Skyway trains run into a system that uses autonomous vehicles that also can operate on city streets.