A.G. Gancarski
In 2000, the Better Jacksonville Plan, an ambitious initiative passed via referendum to institute a sales tax increase for various infrastructure improvements, passed by a comfortable margin.
Though it now seems like a historical footnote, one might be surprised to know that even though all money has been encumbered for the BJP, there are still quarterly Finance meetings such as the one Friday morning at Jacksonville’s City Hall, which facilitates BJP oversight.
A discussion of sales tax, up 7.3 percent from the previous year, is allowing both covering of debt service and providing an infusion of cash.
Negative cash at the end of the year will be about $10 million, as compared with $13 million the previous year.
If trends hold, the fund may be in a positive financial posture.
Eventually.
There have been those who wondered if the Lenny Curry administration might embark on a Better Jacksonville Plan Part 2.
What it took Mayor John Delaney to accomplish it, in that context, is worth noting.
It was a second-term initiative, shepherded by the experienced Lex Hester, and fairly aggressively marketed through local media.
In other words, it took a lot of political capital, which Delaney worked to marshal throughout his first term.
As well, there were the tailwinds of a macroeconomic boom, in the era of Dow 36,000 and other harbingers of what was eventually called by Alan Greenspan, irrational exuberance.
Road projects, such as one at Old St. Augustine and Greenland Road and “mobility corridors,” are still being completed as part of the plan.
Not all projects, of course, were or will be completed. Cost overruns and a decrease in anticipated sales tax revenue forced an altering of some of the plan’s ambitious priorities.
The BJP very much was a generational commitment. Ultimately, it’s the legacy of Delaney that most people will remember.
Three mayors later, it’s still being administered. And discussed. And with road projects still pending, the quarterly meetings will be held for some time to come.
Those who remember the transition committee meetings held as the Curry administration prepared to take office will recall the various parties that came together to advance a holistic vision of urban renewal.
Vision is the easy part; the tougher piece, ultimately, is marshaling political capital, and timing the initiative correctly, in terms of the local, national, and even global economy.
As well, a challenge created by a plan from 15 years ago is this: however visionary it might be, it’s hard to fully anticipate the future.
