THURSDAY July 30, 2020
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Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
Small business owners offer insight into the impact of the cancellation of the Republican National Convention in Jacksonville. JACKSONVILLE
Property tax rate in Duval unchanged
Daily Record DISAPPOINTMENT
City Council debates and rejects a ¼-mill increase.
Daily Record & RELIEF JACKSONVILLE
BY MIKE MENDENHALL STAFF WRITER
The Jacksonville City Council voted 16-1 on July 29 to keep property tax rates flat in Duval County after a 90-minute debate led by Finance Committee Chair Matt Carlucci, who wanted to raise the city’s millage rate. The Council signed off on the tax rates Mayor Lenny Curry proposed July 15 in his $1.34 billion fiscal year 2020-21 budget. The rate remains unchanged at $11.4419 per every $1,000 of taxable property value. The tax rate for the Beaches was set at $8.1512 per every $1,000 of taxable value and the city of Baldwin at $9.6312 per every $1,000 of taxable value. Although the millage rate will stay the same, some Duval County property owners could see an increase in their bill because of increased property values. Jacksonville homeowners with a $150,000 home and a $50,000 state of Florida homestead exemption would pay about $1,144 in city taxes. The rate does not affect the Duval County Public Schools tax rate. The millage rate approved July 29 is preliminary. Council will set the permanent rate when it votes on the 2020-21 budget before Oct. 1. Council budget hearings begin in August. Carlucci’s floor amendment to raise the tax rate by ¼ mill failed in a 6-11 vote. His proposal was based on a recommendation from City Council Auditor Kim Taylor. “We are certainly in unprecedented times right now in forecasting revenues,” Taylor said.
Daily Record JACKSONVILLE
Special to the Daily Record
John Montgomery and Mark Shine are the owners of Designed Events in Jacksonville. Shine says that while the company could have used the business from the Republican National Convention, he called its cancellation a “blessing in disguise.” BY KATIE GARWOOD STAFF WRITER
D
esigned Events owners Mark Shine and John Montgomery have not taken a paycheck from their business since April. So when the Republican National Convention announced it was coming to Jacksonville, the two hoped it would bring a boost to their event planning and catering business, which has received little work since the start of the pandemic. He had one party signed, which canceled July
8. That would have been for 300-400 Texas delegates. Shine said another series of three parties would have been for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, with 100 people each. When President Donald Trump canceled the RNC’s Jacksonville events July 23, potential vendors lost the opportunity to profit from them. Shine said he refunded the Texas group for the $25,000-$30,000 party. He had not signed a contract for McConnell’s parties. “I was disappointed because we don’t have a lot
INSIDE Mandarin Ramada General Manager Fred Pozin says cancellation of the Republican National Convention cost local hotels millions in revenue. Page 6
SEE RNC, PAGE 6
MMENDENHALL@ JAXDAILYRECORD.COM (904) 356-2466
MATHIS REPORT
Snowbird Technologies consolidating in Deerwood Plus: Retail, development notes. PAGE 3 VOLUME 107, NO. 180 • TWO SECTIONS