Jacksonville, Fla., Mayor Lenny Curry has used nothing short of end-of-days prophesying in his push for voters to support a first-of-its kind sales tax to help pay down the city's $2.8 billion pension debt — even invoking the specter of large-scale municipal failure akin to Detroit's 2013 bankruptcy, the Tampa Bay Times reported yesterday. However, economic data, city budget numbers and outside analysis of the city's financial condition muddy the fateful choice Curry created for voters on the Aug. 30 ballot. He says his plan — a half-cent sales tax that would begin in 2030 and would pay off the city's pension debt over time — will alleviate a burden that has left the city "on the cusp of falling off a financial cliff." There is little empirical evidence to suggest the city is on the brink of financial disaster or that the local economy suffers from widespread systemic problems that could lead to a Detroit-like meltdown, no matter what voters decide this summer. It is undeniable that Jacksonville's climbing annual pension costs, projected to reach $280 million next year, are suffocating the city's budget and its ability to provide residents with robust basic services like police protection. Addressing pension costs have for years been a bipartisan top priority, particularly as community problems like crime, juvenile justice, aging infrastructure and underfunded parks and libraries persist. Jacksonville's pension costs far exceed those of its peer cities.
