JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The fight over how millions of Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) dollars will be spent on Jacksonville’s Eastside continues.
One organization is calling for more transparency, while councilmembers said the money needs to start moving if and when the city budget passes.
The $1.4 billion “Stadium of the Future” deal includes the CBA, which allocates $75 million that will flow from the Jags to the Eastside area over the next 30 years, and $40 million that will come from the city through 2032.
The Eastside CBA focuses on three primary areas:
- Affordable Housing: Home repair programs, housing development and revitalization
- Economic/Workforce Development: Corridor enhancements, small business incentives, job training and employment programs
- Mitigation of Homelessness: Home repairs, heirs’ property and delinquent tax support
The CBA has been an ongoing topic for many Eastside residents.
“When we start seeing the shift in the CBA, where it went from community-led to entity-led, then we got together as a community and said, ‘Hey, we need to formalize this,’” Latavia Harris, with Together Eastside Coalition, said.
That shift led Harris and other Eastside members to form Together Eastside, a coalition pushing for transparency and accountability in how millions of CBA dollars will be spent.
“Here’s what we came up with. We haven’t permanently asked for that, but I feel like if there’s no reconciliation between the Together Eastside Coalition Incorporated and some of the bigger, stronger corporations and entities, then there’s no need to be sending out funding dollars because they’re still set to the table,” Harris said.
But Councilman Raul Arias, chair of the CBA committee, said the funds are set to move forward if the city budget passes.
“We have a line item there for $4 million. Those $4 million should not and will not be put on pause right now. Our focus, which is why we’re having these CBA conversations now, is because we want to make sure those dollars get out to the community as fast as possible, so in no way or shape will we ever pause those dollars,” Arias said.
Arias reassured that transparency has been at the center of the process.
“The Eastside residents know that myself, including Councilmember Peluso and all the CBA committee members, we are here to fight for them. So we will make it a point. I will make it a point to make sure that the money stays in their community for them, no matter what,” Arias said.
City council has plans for accountability for the money, including impact reporting and a council audit.
Harris shared what her plans are if the funds begin rolling out next month.
“We’re hoping that we come together with the other entities that remain and that we’re served as leadership in the community,” Harris said.
A meeting on Oct. 8 is expected to wrap up the board structure so the funding can begin flowing into the community.
And while the fight over the Eastside funding continues, many residents said their biggest fear is still being pushed out of the neighborhood they called home for generations.