JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville City Council will have its final vote on the 2025-2026 budget Tuesday. This comes two weeks after four city council members walked out of a nearly eight-hour long meeting. The budget bill tentatively passed then, but it could be in jeopardy of failing.

The council’s 19 members will be deciding whether to cut the city’s millage rate by one-eighth of a mill. Mayor Donna Deegan has been against the cut from the beginning. Jacksonville’s police and fire unions, and the city’s civic council are also against it, but Finance Committee Chair Raul Arias believes they will be able to push it through.

“I feel confident that we will be able to pass a millage rate to reduce the millage rate for our citizens in Jacksonville," Arias explained.

Councilman Jimmy Pel

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