What has Duval DOGE been up to?
- indmandarin
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
By IM Member Nicholas G.
The Special Committee on Duval DOGE held its first meeting on Tuesday, April 1st, 2025 and has held three additional meetings since then. In that time it has heard reports on a variety of matters from Council Auditor Kim Taylor and her staff.
Here's a quick rundown:
They looked at the growth of each department to see if trends matched what one might expect given the growth of Jacksonville's population & the price of goods and services.
They examined Capital Improvement Projects (funds set aside for projects to improve, repair or construct city facilities and infrastructure) with no activity for 18 months to see if those funds could be used for something else. This represents most of the money "found" by the committee.
They examined the use of P-cards (purchasing cards, aka a city credit card), and found no cases of fraud or abuse in the past month or so. Several city departments voluntarily reduced the number of P-card holders. The city is considering hiring a company to monitor future P-card transactions.
They received usage data from Parks and Libraries regarding utilization and examined their proximity to other city facilities that might offer similar programs.
A complete list of assignments can be found on the Duval DOGE webpage.
These meetings have been relatively monotonous affairs and a reminder that this committee is essentially a fact-finding exercise. It does not have authority to unilaterally make changes to existing or future budgets. However as we have a republican-lead city council, it's likely that the majority will side with the recommendations of this committee after it issues its final report on June 23rd.
On paper the committee has remained focused on its charge of identifying areas for potential savings, but certain comments from committee members have called their intentions into question:
Duval DOGE Committee Chair Ron Salem told Action News Jax back in April that he intended to return savings to taxpayers through "some type of rebate". How would Duval DOGE efforts address projected budget shortfalls of $105 million in 2028 if all of the money "saved" is given back?
Several Duval DOGE committee members, including Joe Carlucci and Raul Arias have been vocal during committee meetings about finding uses for the nearly $20 million in "found" funds for projects in their districts. It would seem these committee members also have no intention of "saving" any of the money.
So then, what is this committee really about?
As someone who has watched or attended all committee meetings thus far, it is clear to me that this is all just an act of political theater. None of these committee members are actually interested in addressing the projected 2028 budget shortfall; that was just an excuse or pretext for the creation of Duval DOGE.
This committee's only goal is to find some evidence of financial mismanagement: to come up with some large sum of money they claim is being unspent or misspent and use it as proof of inefficiency (and blame it on Mayor Donna Deegan) so that they can justify cuts to essential city services when passing the budget for the next fiscal year in the coming months.
We know this because the committee entirely excluded the Public Safety & Constitutional Office budgets from the scope of its investigation. Instead it looked at departments, which combined, make up only 14% of the budget. How does the committee expect to find substantial savings when it does not even examine a simple majority of its expenditures?
It has also failed to consider the other half of the budgetary equation: funding sources. The city of Jacksonville has one of the lowest millage rates in the state. Most of our city's budget comes from property taxes, and the millage rate is what sets the effective tax rate. All the major cities in Florida have larger budgets despite the fact that they have a lower population, because they take in more revenue.
What can we do about it?
Voice your concerns at a general City Council meeting (as opposed to a DOGE meeting). You'll get more time, and you'll get a chance to be heard by all members of the council.
Share a positive experience you've had at a park, library, senior center, or community center. Let them know that you don't want any cuts to the departments that are most important to you (e.g. Parks, Neighborhoods, Public Works, Libraries).
Suggest that the city consider examining our funding sources rather than nickel and diming already under-funded departments.
Send emails or call your council member(s) as well and let them know your thoughts.
Keep speaking up, calling and emailing throughout the coming months as we enter budget season and the council begins to discuss and vote on budget items for the next fiscal year.
Upcoming meetings:
City Council
Tuesday, June 10 at 5:00PM
Tuesday, June 24 at 5:00PM
City Hall (117 W. Duval St., 1st Floor)
Duval DOGE Committee
Tuesday, June 3rd at12:30PM
Tuesday, June 17th at12:30PM
City Hall (117 W. Duval St., 1st Floor)
Resources:
List of City Council Members (with contact information)
