Jacksonville's Debt Is Ridiculously High
Jacksonville is Ranked 55 out of 75 in overall Fiscal Health according to this Patch.com article: https://patch.com/florida/jacksonville/jacksonville-ranked-no-55-nation-fiscal-health.
Out of all 50 states within the Union, we are 4th in the top 5 most debt-ridden cities with the most hidden debt. The listing is as follows:
Los Angeles - Hidden Debt: $666.5 million. Taxpayer Burden: $4,000.
New York City- Hidden Debt: $635 million. Taxpayer Burden: $68,200.
Detroit - Hidden Debt: $363 million. Taxpayer Burden: $6,100.
Jacksonville - Hidden Debt: $357 million. Taxpayer Burden: $10,100.
San Jose - Hidden Debt: $309 million. Taxpayer Burden: $10,300.
https://patch.com/california/los-angeles/which-city-has-most-hidden-debt
Out of all of the cities in Florida, we're again ranked 4th behind:
Riverview
Apopka
Port. St. Lucie
Jacksonville
Deerfield Beach
Here's the nitty-gritty of it all: The city has only $3.6 Billion in Assets that are available to pay off about $6.4 Billion in Bills. This puts us into a $2.8 Billion Financial Hole. In order to pay that off, each Taxpayer has to hold up the burden of $10,100 each! This gives us the Honorary title of what is known as a "Sink Hole City". This means the city has more liabilities than Assets. The interesting thing is that most of Jacksonville's money problems come from unfunded retirement Obligations from over the years.
Of the 8.3 Billion in retirement benefits promised, the city has not funded $3.7 Billion in pension & $249.3 Million in retiree health care benefits.
What's Interesting is that of all the age demographics represented in Jacksonville, FL, the majority is made up of Millennials and Generation X'ers which 16.8% of the population ranging from ages 34-44. This means that if we don't do anything to cure the debt right now; We're poised to work 12 hour days for 7 days a week for the rest of our lives as wage slaves with no chance of retirement.
Although we may believe that we're making more money by working more hours, this cant be further from the truth. This is how you can measure this: By the Consumer Price Index(CPI). The CPI has risen to a staggering 6.2% since last year. The highest it has ever been in 30 years. What does this mean? This means that products & goods that we consume are the most it's ever been in 30 years due to the devalued purchasing power of the USD as illustrated here:
The Blue margin as shown in the graph = The "Expected" rate hike. The Green = The ACTUAL rate hike. As you can see: It unfortunately rose above expectations.
https://www.infoplease.com/us/census/florida/jacksonville/demographic-statistics
https://20somethingfinance.com/american-hours-worked-productivity-vacation/
However, There's still hope. In October, 2020 the then Mayor of Jacksonville Beach, Charlie Latham, cured a $42 Million debt to render the City "Debt Free". The former Mayor said that "when he took office in 2012, the impact of the Great Recession on small businesses had shaped his view of debt. He figured the less of it, the better positioned Jacksonville Beach would be.
https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/local/2020/10/05/jacksonville-beachs-becomes-debt-free-after-8-years-paydown/3594164001/
This is a far-cry from the attitude of our current city officials who've raised the Gas Tax, Using our Tax dollars to create trash, shot up the cost of living, not to mention inserted by a 16-2 vote to make Juneteenth a paid Federal Holiday, even though each Federal Holiday costs the tax payers over $800 Million to pay for workers NOT working in order to produce positive revenue.
With your vote as your representative of Jacksonville City Council District 8; I WILL succeed in curing the debt that our city has accrued over the years because of greedy city officials.
With your help in donations: I can move my campaign forward and reach farther to end the perpetual cycle of debt. Any amount will be much appreciated. Go to the home page, click the donations tab and give only to your own hearts content.
This is Liberty Without Permission.
