City Council amends stadium deal to reduce city's contribution for community benefit part

In a major change to the proposed stadium deal with the Jaguars, the Jacksonville City Council split the city's proposed contribution to the community benefits agreement by keeping $56 million for downtown parks and moving the other $94 million into separate legislation that will be decided later this summer.

While the majority of council members approved the amendment, they said they still want to put money into programs for affordable housing, reducing homelessness and workforce development, including for the Eastside neighborhood next to the sports complex.

Council member Ken Amaro said OutEast, as supporters call the Eastside, has been hurt by "benign neglect for decades" and the city has "an opportunity to be transformative" by helping the Eastside in a way that moves Jacksonville forward.

"My fear is that with the separation, we may get mired in a political mishmash," Amaro said.

But he said with council president-designate Randy White and Mayor Donna Deegan agreeing to the amendment as a way to move the legislation forward to a vote, he supported the amendment.

The community benefit agreement negotiated by Deegan and the Jaguars totaled $300 million with the Jaguars paying $150 million over 30 years and the city committing to $150 million over the next two years.

More: City Council hears lopsided support for community benefits agreement in public hearing

The Jaguars say the team is committed to at least $100 million and would contribute above that amount at a rate of $1 from the Jaguars for each $3 put up by the city. As a result of that formula, the Jaguars contribution now would be about $119 million so the total community benefits agreement in the legislation will be $175 million.

The $56 million in city spending kept in the stadium legislation would go toward three downtown riverfront parks — Riverfront Plaza, Shipyard West Park and Metropolitan Park — and renovating the city-owned Flex Field in the sports complex.

The $96 million deferred to a future decision entails $50 million for countywide workforce development, affordable housing and homeless programs, another $30 million for the same programs concentrated in the Eastside neighborhood next to the sports complex, and $14 million for parks spread across each of the 14 council districts.

The Jaguars have said their share of the agreement would pay for workforce development, affordable housing and homeless programs. Half of the Jaguars' support would be focused on the Eastside and the other half would be for countywide use.

City Council members Jimmy Peluso and Rahman Johnson tried to keep the city's commitment of $30 million in the stadium legislation. Johnson said separating the funding from the bill voted on Tuesday could result in council ending up with a "watered down" version down the road.

Peluso said city is "leaving a lot of money on the table right now" by not fully funding the community benefits agreement and maximizing what the Jaguars are willing to commit financially.

Four City Council members declare conflicts of interest on legislation

But White said if the city kept the Eastside funding in the stadium bill, some council members would have conflicts in voting Tuesday on the legislation.

Three council members — Council members Kevin Carrico, who is employed by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida; Ju'Coby Pittman, who is CEO of Clara White Mission; and Reggie Gaffney Jr., who works for Community Rehabilitation Center — declared conflicts of interest because those nonprofits are involved in the kind of programs eligible for funding in the non-parks part of the community benefits agreement.

They will be able to vote Tuesday as a result of the amendment.

City Council member Terrance Freeman declared a conflict of interest because his employer Miller Electric might do work on the stadium renovation. The amendment doesn't remove that conflict of interest for Freeman so he will be abstaining from voting Tuesday on the stadium legislation.

Council member Mike Gay, who owns M. Gay Construction that specializes in installation of stadium lights, said he will be able to vote Tuesday because he has decided his company will not be involved in any phase of construction work on the stadium.

"I've elected to remove our participation in it to focus on being able to vote and represent the citizens that elected me to represent them," he said.

Council member rejecting the attempt to keep the Eastside funding in the stadium bill said the the $94 million for those programs should go through a closer look during the summer budget review on exactly how the money would be spent.

"This is not us denying funding to the Eastside," council member Nick Howland said. 

City Council member Raul Arias said the proposed agreement just has general buckets of spending for the $96 million without detailing specific programs. He said he would "love to see more than $30 million" for the Eastside.

"So let's not rush this," he said. "Let's do the process correctly."

Darnell Smith, chief of staff for Deegan, said she remains committed to getting the entire $150 million contribution from the city in the community benefits agreement, which would maximize the Jaguars contribution at $150 million, when City Council takes it up after the summer break in July.

Deal links riverfront development to $25 million of Jaguars support

In addition to the downtown riverfront parks, the stadium legislation also contains a potential $100 million or more development by the Jaguars of property just west of where team owner Shad Khan is building the Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Jacksonville and an officer building.

The city owns the land now but the Jaguars have a right to make a first offer for the property as part of the development deal with the city for the Four Seasons.

When the city was negotiating the stadium deal with the Jaguars, the team offered to pay $600 million of the $1.4 billion of work that will be done on the stadium. To further boost the team's share, the Jaguars and Deegan agreed that if the team increased its amount to $625 million, it could use the additional $25 million as a credit toward its cost of exercising the option to buy the property.

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The Jaguars would have to craft a proposed development worth at least $100 million in order to take ownership of the property. Lamping said work has begun on a plan that he said would be a mixed-use development that might contain a medical component, residences and a parking structure. The proposed agreement says the development would have to be complete by Aug. 1, 2032.

If Khan does not exercise the option to purchase the property and develop it, the city would "have to cut a $25 million check back to them in 2034," Assistant Council Auditor Phillip Peterson said. "So that's something to keep in mind."

The city has not done an appraisal for what property would be worth if the city sold it at market value. Lamping said that based on an appraisal done last year on land Khan purchased from the city where his development team is constructing the office building, the nearby property in the stadium agreement would be worth around $15 million to $16 million.

The proposed agreement calls for an appraisal to be done by the end of December 2025. If the appraisal shows the property's market value is less than $25 million, the Jaguars would be able to use the remaining amount of credit toward obtaining other city-owned property. If the appraisal shows the property is worth more than $25 million, the Jaguars would pay for any amount above $25 million.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville City Council amends deal with Jaguars