City Council votes to push back $94M for community benefits agreement from Jags stadium deal

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville City Council has moved to push back consideration of $94 million of the city’s $150 million total share of the community benefits agreement in the Jacksonville Jaguars’ stadium renovation deal.

Action News Jax’s Jake Stofan was there for the overwhelming vote Thursday morning, 10-2 with seven members either having to abstain or not being present.

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The adoption of this amendment retains $56 million from the city for downtown parks and $18 million from the Jags, on top of the team’s guaranteed $100 million share of the CBA.

Council support for the amendment to split the community benefits agreement was near unanimous.

Supporters argued the $94 million for the Eastside, homelessness, affordable housing and workforce development needed more work.

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The inclusion of those initiatives also would have required five members to abstain from the final stadium deal vote next week.

Councilmember Jimmy Peluso (D), who represents District 7, including the Eastside, was one of the two no votes.

He offered an amendment to keep the $30 million for the Eastside in the stadium deal, expressing concerns the funding could be watered down or delayed if it were to be pushed back, but it failed.

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“This amendment, if it passes, we can make sure that on Tuesday night it’s a bigger win, not just for the Jaguars and the city, but also for one of the most important neighborhoods, and I have a lot of neighborhoods in my district, one of the most important neighborhoods for this specific deal,” Peluso said

“We are not delaying any money to the Eastside. That money is 15 months away. Okay? We’re talking about taking some time this summer to work on this. And it might be once we get the budget and we see what’s available, maybe we can do something even earlier,” Council President Ron Salem (R), who represents Group 2 At-Large.

Tonight on Action News Jax we’ll bring you next steps for the newly amended stadium renovation deal and the city’s remaining $94 million share of the CBA.

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