Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
The Jacksonville City Council Utilities, Transportation, and Utilities Committee held a notice meeting on October 12, 2026, to discuss potential utility assistance programs for residents struggling with high costs. Co-chaired by Councilmembers Roger Gaffney Jr. and Jimmy Peluso, the meeting included representatives from JEA, the city's Senior Services, United Way 211, Catholic Charities, and ElderSource. The meeting explored the feasibility of a $2 million relief program from operating reserves, with $300,000 allocated for administrative support, and identified significant gaps in the current assistance infrastructure.
Councilmember Gaffney opened by stating he had received numerous calls about high rents, gas prices, and food costs. He proposed exploring relief options through JEA, social services, or city council committees. Co-chair Peluso noted that the city had passed a $2 billion budget and funded affordable housing, but utility assistance needed to be addressed outside the budget process, potentially using operating reserves.
Renee Good (JEA Government Relations) explained that JEA partners with agencies like United Way, Catholic Charities, and others to assist customers, but noted that many agencies have limited staff (2-3 people) and cannot manage large funding surges. Dr. Charles Morland (JEA Chief Customer Experience Officer) provided data on customer struggles: 6,719 active payment arrangements, 19,516 short-term pay plans, and 21,627 customers using “My Way” payment plans. He also noted that JEA offers free energy and water audits, but did not have immediate figures on total customers behind on bills.
Taria Robinson (Chief of Senior Services) described the Emergency Heating and Energy Assistance Program (E-HEAP) for residents aged 60+, which served about 50 seniors per month with an average of $114,000 in crisis support in FY2025-2026. The contract expired June 30, 2026, and was awaiting renewal with ElderSource. Sally (ElderSource Chief Operations Officer) confirmed that the state contract is still being negotiated, leaving seniors with no utility assistance at present.
Coretta Hill (United Way COO) explained that 211 receives about 500 calls on Tuesdays alone, with seven staff handling the volume. In Duval County last fiscal year, 5,100 calls resulted in utility assistance, while 1,159 were unmet due to lack of funding or appointments. The network includes Catholic Charities, Jewish Family & Community Services, and DESK, but Hill emphasized that flexible funding is needed to reduce restrictive eligibility criteria. She noted that an influx of money without additional staff would be unsustainable, as infrastructure would require investment.
Councilmember Peluso proposed a $2 million program from operating reserves, with $300,000 for administrative support to ensure fast disbursement. The program would be a one-time, two-year initiative providing flexible relief to households regardless of age or income. Councilmember Gaffney suggested a $200,000 initial amount but later supported the larger figure. Councilmembers expressed concerns: Councilmember Amaro warned that securing 13 votes would be difficult, especially with administrative costs and the need for cross-agency communication. Councilmember Johnson stressed the importance of using technology to streamline appointments. Councilmember Clark Murray recommended delaying filing until after the November 3rd Amendment 3 vote to avoid political complications.
Ted Phillips (JEA CFO) explained that the recent rate increase was driven by rising fuel costs (e.g., gasoline for trucks) and the need to replace an aging power plant (50 years old) with a new combined cycle plant costing $1.5 billion. He stated that the timing was never good, but the infrastructure was overdue.
Friendly faces in here and people who care very deeply. Um, do we want to go around and do uh some quick interrupt introductions uh starting from our left? Also, Brian Parks, you got a little thing up here if you want to. I don't know why you're in between two council members, but all right. Brian Parks, Councilwriters Office. Good afternoon, Tadwana Clark Murray, District Nine. Good afternoon, Monet Holder at large group one. Good afternoon, Jimmy Peluso, District 7. Good afternoon, Renee Good, JEA. All right, thank you all. Um I think before we even really get started, I'd like to oh my brother. I'd like to turn it over to to co-chair uh uh Roger Gaffney Jr. And I appreciate that, Chair. So I guess the reason why we're here, you know, uh for me um lately, I have received numerous calls, numerous texts, um, emails, and boxes about relief. Um I'm not sure if you guys know or not. We completed a $2 billion budget a few weeks ago, and at the end of the meeting, um I propose, I guess, legislation $200,000 as far as relief. Um my colleagues is of course that they thought we would have been doing, I guess, committee meeting on budget night. So that's why we're here today to talk about relief. You know, some of the calls I have received, say Councilman Gaffney, you know, right now rent is high. Gas prices are four dollars and fifty cent. You know, food is high. We need relief. And I questioned myself and I asked myself, is city council doing enough? You know, so we had this conversation, I say a couple of weeks ago at budget meeting. We also had um this meeting at our transportation utilities meeting. So tonight, what I would like to discuss with our colleagues to see, are we doing enough? You know, whether that's JEA, whether that's our social services, whether that's our city council committee. So that's pretty much why we're here today. So thank you, Jimmy. No, thank thank you, uh Councilmember. You um, yeah, I mean, we were we got some great things done on budget night. We for the first time in years we got uh uh real funding for affordable housing, and it was at that time where you kind of stood up and it was just we were mixing a lot of streams and there happened to be some frustrated faces at the moment. So we said, all right, if we're gonna do utility assistance, let's do it outside the budget process. Um and so here we are outside the budget process. And um I mean, I I was saying it uh uh earlier when it comes to funding or emergency funding of any kind, it may need it may mean that we have to go through our our reserves. And the reason why we have reserves is it's known as a rainy day fund. And I think if you look outside, it's pouring.