JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – On Thursday, the last community meeting where people can learn more about the proposal to spend hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on a new Jaguars stadium and ask questions was held at Westside High School.
Adjacent to the proposal is a $300 million Community Benefits Agreement that would be split between the team and the city for community development in areas such as housing, homelessness and parks.
However, that proposal has been controversial, even though a recent UNF poll found broad public support for it.
One vocal critic of the Community Benefits Agreement, Jacksonville Councilman Rory Diamond, said the poll isn’t changing his mind.
According to the UNF poll, 81% percent of registered voters who were asked said they support that $300 million for community development, but Diamond said he thinks there’s a better deal that the poll didn’t ask about.
Duval County taxpayers could be on the hook for $925 million as part of deals with the Jacksonville Jaguars totaling $1.4 billion, $775 million of public funds would go to the “Stadium of the Future” and $150 million of public funds would be invested in the community.
“I think the city council is gonna get it in a couple of weeks. It’s literally hundreds and hundreds of pages long. So I’m going to read the entire thing. I suspect that it will pass, but the big fight is going to be over the Community Benefits Agreement,” Diamond said.
The Community Benefits Agreement is a part of the proposal. It’s $300 million that would go toward community development on the Eastside, as well as parks, affordable housing, workforce development, and homelessness initiatives throughout the county. Taxpayers and the team would split the costs 50/50.
A majority of respondents only supported subsidizing the stadium when the $300 million additional dollars go toward the community.
Councilman Diamond has been critical from the start of the Community Benefits Agreement, tweeting “That’s a non-starter and Council will remove it.”
“The poll was total garbage because it didn’t ask the honest questions,” he said. “Have I asked you, ‘Hey, I’ll give you $100 million for free from the Jaguars or I’ll give you $150 million. But you have to pay me $150 million,’ which would you choose? You take $100 million for free every time. So that wasn’t the question they asked.”
Diamond said the Jaguars have said they will put in $100 million of community benefit for zero taxpayer dollar match.
Mayor Donna Deegan has touted the benefits of a $300 million community investment, and in a statement to News4JAX on Thursday, Deegan’s spokesperson said the agreement will help the money get to the community faster.
“The matching funds create enough investment to be truly impactful in addressing workforce development, parks construction along the riverwalk, creating more affordable housing, and reducing homelessness - thus maximizing this moment for the city’s future. That’s because the city’s portion will fund over the next few years, making an immediate impact, while the Jaguars portion funds over decades to sustain these vital initiatives over the long term,” the spokesperson said.
The Deegan spokesperson confirmed that the Jaguars offered $100 million for community development as part of the stadium deal without any city taxpayer money included in the deal, but the mayor’s officer came back and offered $150 million to match if the team raised its commitment by $50 million.
Next, the city council will review the deal in a series of meetings in June and the goal is a vote by the end of the month.