Jacksonville has two competing capital projects poised to impose generational obligations on taxpayers, yet the city's Mayor says Sheriff T.K. Waters is willing to wait on a much-needed new jail to get another one done.
"I recently sat down with the Sheriff and we talked about it and he said, 'I'm really anxious to get the stadium done too'. He said, 'We've got a little more run on the jail, we need it. But let's get the stadium done first,." said Mayor Donna Deegan on WJCT's First Coast Connect.
The Sheriff's Office frames the conversation slightly differently.
A spokesperson for Waters framed the "conversation with Mayor Deegan" as "nothing more than an acknowledgment of his understanding that both the jail and stadium renovations cannot be completed during the same fiscal year." However, Waters "strongly believes that both projects are crucial to the long-term success of the city."
The Mayor's Office, responding to a follow-up from Florida Politics, said that Deegan and Waters spoke a few weeks ago and that he said the city has a few years before it needs to build a new jail.
Financing both presents a challenge: Estimates are that jail build could cost as much as $1 billion. To put that number in perspective, the city's current General Fund budget is roughly $1.75 billion.
The Mayor and Sheriff did not discuss a novel financing scheme being explored by city negotiator Mike Weinstein that would open up pension fund assets as one of six potential borrowing sources for construction.
Weinstein noted Thursday in comments to Florida Politics that "funds wouldn't be needed for quite a while" and that "final decisions would be made when funds are needed," with potentially different options available at that time.
The Jaguars and the Shad Khan vehicle "Iguana Investments" previously envisioned a total investment that could cost as much as $2.068 billion, a number that could include stadium improvements costing between $1.2 and $1.4 billion, as well as between $550 and $668 million for development of a "sports district," an option that Weinstein previously suggested may be off the table as originally proposed.
Jacksonville was proposed to foot the bill for two-thirds of the cost of stadium improvements, with a 50-50 cost share for the total project.
Regarding the negotiations themselves, Deegan says to expect a formal proposal in early May.
Weinstein noted that more details on financing options will be available then.
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