Jacksonville’s proposed FY 2024/25 budget paperwork says the city met—on paper—the ordinance requiring a share of local gas-tax revenue to fund bicycle and pedestrian safety. That accounting does not resolve a dispute over whether the funded work has delivered dedicated safety infrastructure: city officials say they are identifying specific projects for next year’s capital improvement plan after an advocate questioned how the money was used.
At an August mayoral budget town hall, Stephen Tocknell, president of Pedaling for Safety, questioned whether the designated funds were supporting the improvements he believes are needed, according to First Coast News. Tocknell told the outlet that some maintenance projects had been labeled as pedestrian-related to meet the funding obligation. He called for road designs that slow traffic and protect cyclists, as well as trails connecting parts of the city.
Jacksonville’s Local Option Gas Tax is a six-cent-per-gallon tax on motor fuel and diesel sold in Duval County, with revenue divided between the city and the Jacksonville Transportation Authority. Under the proposed FY 2024/25 budget, the city retained one cent and JTA received the other five, according to a Council Auditor handout filed with the City Council. A 2014 City Council ordinance, now Municipal Code Section 799.107, requires 20% of the city’s share to fund bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements. The city’s share has amounted to roughly $1 million, per First Coast News.
A Process the City Admits Had Gone Dormant
Matt Fall, the city’s transportation programs supervisor, acknowledged to First Coast News that the process for allocating that money to specific projects had become dormant for a long time. He said Jacksonville is now in the process of better directing gas-tax dollars toward concrete bicycle and pedestrian projects, and that the city will prioritize shared-use paths in areas with higher numbers of bike and pedestrian crashes…