JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A key vote change early Wednesday morning was the catalyst that finally allowed the Jacksonville City Council to pass the city’s $2 billion budget after nearly 14 hours of intense debate.
That switch from District 3 Councilman Will Lahnen helped defeat a batch of hotly debated amendments brought by City Councilman Rory Diamond.
Once the amendments, which had passed earlier in the night, were removed, the full budget passed with a 15-2 vote.
And local activists breathed a sigh of relief.
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Those amendments would have blocked any future city funding for:
- Services for undocumented immigrants
- DEI programs
- And abortion-related care
Diamond admitted these items weren’t currently in the budget, but said he wanted to make sure they never are.
“I think that our city’s values prevailed tonight,” said Maria Garcia, a representative of the Jacksonville Immigrant Rights Alliance.
She called the blockage of Diamond’s amendments a victory.
“This victory belongs to the people of Jacksonville, especially the hard-working members of the Jacksonville Immigrant Rights Alliance and the coalition of powerful advocates, activists and other residents, and also the principal council members from both sides of the aisle who stood up and shot down these political gains,” Garcia said.
Garcia also said she hopes Diamond and other councilmembers don’t introduce amendments like this again.
″So I really, I really hope that was a final message to Mr. Diamond and any council member who wants to put forth these types of discriminatory, you know, harmful yet empty policies into into our city budget,“ Garcia said. ”That our city council ultimately is not going to be bullied, not not by one particular council member, and not by the threat of, you know, having Tallahassee take over Our budget."
Diamond told News4JAX that the amendments aren’t gone for good.
“As for our Big Beautiful Budget Amendments, we have a super majority to pass them. I will bring them back soon,” Diamond said.
News4JAX also received a list from the city showing the 2025-2026 Budget Floor Amendments that were approved. The list shows four councilmembers had amendments approved.
However, a proposal to spend $1 million on the Jacksonville Urban League Community Empowerment Center project was rejected by city council Tuesday.
In addition to Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan’s budget, the council also approved a 1/8th millage rate reduction by a vote of 10-9. The decision is expected to save about $13 million in property taxes.
“Cutting the millage sends a clear message that we must control spending, not demand more revenue,” Councilman Ron Salem said.
Mayor Donna Deegan expressed disappointment that the millage rate was still reduced, but celebrated that Diamond’s amendments were not included in Wednesday’s decision.
Read Mayor Deegan’s full statement below:
“Thank you to the thousands of people who made their voices heard during the budget process. So many of you urged us to continue investing in Jacksonville’s momentum. While I’m disappointed by the millage rate vote, especially given the strong sentiments from the public, the City Council has fulfilled their primary responsibility to pass a budget. I respect their decision and their work.
I’m especially grateful that they removed divisive and unnecessary policy amendments that should never have been included. We started yesterday with prayers from the faith community. I pray that we start to heal from this difficult budget season and move forward together with love for Jacksonville guiding us.”
Mayor Donna Deegan