The Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee launched hearings on Mayor Donna Deegan’s proposed 2025-26 operating budget Aug. 7 by backing a reduction in the property tax rate.

In the first of six scheduled hearings, the committee approved a motion by committee Chair Raul Arias to reduce the city’s ad valorem tax revenue by $13.4 million, which would equate to a one-eighth reduction in the city’s millage rate.

If adopted by the full Council, the rate would drop from 11.3169 mills to 11.1919.

With the vote, the committee will spend the hearings looking to balance the reduction by cutting $13.4 million from Deegan’s $2.02 billion proposed budget.

In addition, the committee voted to move $14 million in Council-controlled funding from the city’s Capital Improvement Plan to the operating

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