The Jacksonville Finance Committee met on July 21, 2026, from 1:00 PM to 2:15 PM in the Council Chamber. Chair Will Lahnen presided, with members Chris Miller, Terrence Freeman, Mike Gay, Rahman Johnson, and Randy White present (Rory Diamond excused). Council President Nick Howland attended. The committee heard a roll-back rate resolution preview, debated a homelessness commission liaison bill, approved 13 amended items, withdrew one, and read nine second-read bills. Chair Lahnen also outlined budget priorities.
Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the first finance committee of this council year, Tuesday, July 21st. We'll go ahead and start off with introductions, starting with Miss Norris. Brittany Norris for the administration. Colleen Hamsey, Council Research. Mary Stefopoulos, Office of General Counsel. Heather Reber, Council Auditor's Office. Philip Peterson, Council Auditor. For the first time, Rochman Johnson, District 14. And I feel like I'm at the big kids' table. Thank you. Good afternoon, Chris Miller at large group five. Will Lane and District Three. Terrence Freeman at large group one. Hi Gay District Two and for the first time. Randy White, District 12. Nick Howland at large group three, just visiting. All right, good afternoon, everyone. Excited about this year. We actually, other than myself, I think I'm the only one here today that was on finance last year, but uh pretty excited about the team we have here. We have two former council presidents, a lot of experience down here as well. Excited, I think uh this may be the first time in council history. You have a council president and a finance chair who have a uh uh uh quite a bit of experience in the corporate finance. Uh so two MBAs, what could go wrong? Um so excited about that as well. And so uh just really excited for this year. Uh, I'm sure it'll be a challenging year. Each year we always hear, oh, this is gonna be the hardest uh budget ever. That's how it usually works. The next year's budget should always be your hardest budget and making sure we're making a smart decision. So with that, I'll turn it over to our council president. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I couldn't agree more. What a um terrific and experienced group of uh council people on this committee, and I'm excited to see what you'll do this week. Uh rather, sorry, this year, um particularly in August as we go through the budget. Um to your point about two MBAs, that's probably the biggest fear of Philip and Heather because they're thinking, oh boy, they're gonna think they know what they're talking about and ask the stupidest questions, right? Um, but who knows? Um I'm just really pleased uh with this committee, and uh, I think you guys will do a fantastic job. We all know kind of the challenges that we face with the November property tax relief referendum. Um we know what it could lead to, um, and we know that we probably have to think about how to respond now to prepare in the eventuality that that referendum does pass. Um, because it won't affect this council year, but it will affect the next council year, probably to the tune of about 200 million dollars um and uh the year after that another hundred million dollars. So that's the kind of thing that when we know that's coming, um, the responsible thing to do is to start preparing now. And I know that everyone on this committee shares those thoughts. Um with that, um over to you, Mr. Chair. It's gonna be a great year. Thank you, Council President. For every good MBA out there, we need at least three or four good CPAs to help uh clean up the the aftermath of decisions we may make. So look forward to working even closer with our audit staff this year.