The Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee convened on May 5, 2026, at 1:00 PM in the Council Chamber, City Hall, and adjourned at 2:32 PM. Chair Joe Carlucci presided. The committee heard presentations on single-source procurement and the P-card audit, received public comments regarding the proposed Winn-Dixie incentive package, and took action on several legislative items. The meeting was marked by extensive debate on the Winn-Dixie Economic Development Agreement, which was ultimately deferred to allow further negotiations regarding a store closure in an economically distressed area.
Item 23 – Winn-Dixie Economic Development Agreement (2026-0326): The committee considered a resolution authorizing up to $12 million in incentives (a $6.5 million Headquarters Retention Grant and a $5.5 million Recapture Enhanced Value Grant over 20 years) for Winn-Dixie to renovate and expand its headquarters and renovate 13 existing full-service grocery stores. The agreement required a minimum $65 million private investment, retention of 500 jobs, and creation of 200 new jobs at an average salary of $100,000 by 12/31/31. The Office of Economic Development calculated a return on investment of 1.07 over 20 years.
Item 11 – Opioid Settlement Proceeds Grants Amendments (2026-0288): The committee approved amendments to Chapter 84 of the Ordinance Code to clarify eligibility, application requirements, scoring, and appeals procedures. An auditor-recommended amendment was also adopted to allow the annual appropriation to be in separate legislation and to update the calculation method for annual funding. Council Member Ju'Coby Pittman abstained from voting due to a potential conflict of interest (her employer, Clara White Mission, may apply for grants). The bill passed 6-0-1.
Item 9 – Jacksonville General Apprenticeship Association Funding (2026-0265): The committee approved an amendment extending the contract term to 9/30/28 and requiring repayment of $2,500 per enrollee if they do not remain in the program for one year after payment. The bill, which appropriates $675,000 from the Jax General Apprenticeship Association Contingency Account, was approved unanimously (7-0).
Item 10 – JEA Employee Survey Contract (2026-0268): The committee approved a rules amendment removing emergency language and providing that the survey results will be presented to the JEA Board (at the board's discretion). The contract with SelectionLink, Inc. for up to $9,250 was approved unanimously (7-0). Council Member Boylan explained his amendment was to ensure consistency with Article 21 of the city charter, which gives the JEA board responsibility for personnel matters.
Item 7 – Historic Stanton School Grant (2026-0260): The committee approved a $143,710 grant from General Fund Operating Reserves to Historic Stanton, Inc. for improvements to the historic Stanton School, including replacement of electrical wiring and interior remediation. The vote was 5-1, with Council Member Diamond voting nay.
Item 8 – Riverside-Avondale Preservation Program Budget Amendment (2026-0264): The committee approved amending the program budget to include printing, advertising, professional fees, and equipment. The vote was 5-1, with Council Member Diamond voting nay.
Other Second-Reading Items: The following bills were read a second time and rereferred to the full council (no votes taken at committee):
We're gonna go ahead and start with introductions to the left. Brittany Norris for the administration. Phil Peterson, Council's Office. Kim Taylor, Council Auditor. Good afternoon, Rory Diamond, District 13, the beaches. Ron Salem, group two at large. Nick Howland at large, group three. Joe Carlucci, District Five. Raw Wearies, District 11. Will Lane and District 3. Jacoby Pittman, District 10. Peluso, District 7, just visiting. Rachman Johnson, District 14, visiting. Good afternoon, Michael Boylan, District 6, just here the visit. All right. Councilmember Arias wanted to go ahead and make a quick announcement before we get started, go through the agenda and so on. So go ahead, Councilmember. Thank you, Chair and colleagues. Uh yesterday we had a public notice meeting to talk about House Bill 1134 as well as uh the funding of the uh Asian American Black Chamber and Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Um it was a great meeting, had a lot of participation from council members to to add value to this meeting. Um I we did have uh a question for the administration and Ms. Norris was there to answer it. And I'm just gonna ask you now in a more public setting with with more individuals here. Um is the administration gonna do good on their part to honor our commitment as the city council to fund these chambers effective immediately. Um and that's the question I have for you right now. Uh thank you, Councilmember to the chair to the uh committee. We have finalized the term sheets, the contract with the entities that'll be going to the NBRC and they'll be looking um to move it very quickly through council. Um so I'll actually probably be coming to you, Councilmember Arias, to talk about that. All right, well, thank you so much. That's all I want to hear. And um, and thank you everybody for joining us yesterday because honestly, it was because of all the input that we all had to move the city forward and just FYI. Um the bill comes uh in place January 1st, 2027, Houseway 1134. However, moving forward, we could still fund these entities. So if you feel you want to help out our community, um don't feel like you can't because of 1134. You can. Uh we just got to make sure that these entities are following proper guidelines set in uh in place by the state. And so I'm gonna be working with Senator Yarbrough to get that checklist of guidelines to make sure that we give all these entities uh to make sure that they they meet the criteria. Thank you. Thank you, Chair. All right, no problem. So committee members, we have two presentations today. But before we go to the presentations and before we go to public comment, we're just gonna go to the agenda since we're moving like one or two things around. Uh item number one is deferred, two is deferred, three is deferred, four is deferred, five is deferred. I don't know if that's marked on y'all's agendas. It probably should be or is, but five is deferred. Six is up for action. Seven uh is up for action eight. It's action item number nine is uh there's an amendment, and then we will move that bill. 10 has a rules amendment, and then we will move. 11 has two amendments uh that we will be reviewing, and then uh 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22 are all on second reading, and we will get those officially read into the record after we take up all of our action items.