JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – Should Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach, and Atlantic Beach form their own county separate from Duval County?
The most recent University of North Florida Public Opinion Research (PORL) poll asked that question to 742 Duval County voters and found they are evenly split on the idea.
According to the poll results, overall, 48% of voters expressed their support for the Beaches creating their own county, and 48% of voters said they oppose it.
Here’s a breakdown of the overall responses to the question:
| Do you support or oppose the Beaches forming their own county? | Total n=742 |
|---|---|
| Strongly support | 19% |
| Somewhat support | 29% |
| Somewhat oppose | 18% |
| Strongly oppose | 29% |
| Don’t know [VOL] | 4% |
| Refusal [VOL] | <1% |
| Combined support | 48% |
| Combined oppose | 48% |
The poll found that while voters are evenly split on the idea, more respondents strongly oppose the idea than strongly support it.
“While folks seem to be pretty evenly split on the idea of the beaches seceding from DuvalCounty, it’s pretty telling that support is higher in the House Districts encompassing the urban core andouter rim (Districts 13 and 15), than in District 16, which includes Jax, Neptune and Atlantic Beach,” PORL faculty director Dr. Michael Binder said.
News4JAX asked Jacksonville Councilman Rory Diamond whether it would be a positive or negative if Jacksonville beaches became their own county.
“If the beach cities were their own county, they would have the best school district, lowest crimes, lowest taxes, and the best city services. It would be wonderful for the beaches unfortunately; the rest of Jacksonville would lose their ATM,” Diamond said.
While things like a separate sheriff’s office and other city services would have to be made, Diamond said that something that can easily be done.
“This has been a longtime-discussed issue whether not multiple times discussed, but there’s never been a very organized effort, but if there were a huge number of people at the beach with that, maybe it’s 50-50 for the county of Duval, but at the beaches it would be 80%. [People] would love to be their own county,” Diamond said.
A quarter of those surveyed for the PORL poll said the most important problem facing Jacksonville is housing costs.
Among the 742 registered Duval County voters surveyed, crime came in a distant second as the top issue at 12%, followed by education, transportation and infrastructure, each with 9%. The economy and property taxes each received 8%.
