Affordable Housing Trust Fund
At a glance
- What: a floor amendment to the 2026-27 budget restoring 4.9 million dollars for affordable housing that the mayor proposed and the Finance Committee removed.
- Where it stands: passed 2026-09-22 on a roll call (13 votes), after more than a dozen residents and faith leaders asked for it. As amended by Dr. Salem: 2 million for down payment assistance, 1.4 million for capital stack funding for affordable development, and 1.5 million for utility tap fees.
- What's next: the council still has to set programs, safeguards and reporting; Gaffney wants utility bill help handled as separate legislation.
- 2026-10-13 update (City Council): a returning public commenter said the council still misses the affordability problem (median household income about 72,000 dollars against homes mostly priced 300,000 to 499,000 dollars) and asked it to stop approving large developments of small lots priced out of reach. At the hearing on 2026-753 (the captions do not name it) she thanked the council for money restored for down payment assistance but said assistance alone will not close the gap.
- 2026-10-20 update (Finance): the committee voted to pay a roughly 2.8 million dollar housing development loan from the 1.4 million capital stack and 1.4 million tap-in portions of this money; Boylan and Dr. Johnson objected. See Affordable Housing Development Loan Funding.
- Official minutes (2026-10-20, Finance): the Tori Meadows loan substitute draws 2.8 million dollars from the 4.9 million dollars appropriated by Ordinance 2026-504-E for affordable housing (1.4 million capital stack, 1.4 million utility tap fees); see Affordable Housing Development Loan Funding. Also approved 8-0: 2026-0753, 247,929 dollars of state SHIP funds (24,793 dollars administration, 223,136 dollars forgivable down payment loans).
- Official minutes (2026-09-22, City Council): the minutes record only the bills, not the floor amendments. The Holder emergency bill 2026-0754 (2,773,815 dollars: 1,358,615 for the capital stack, 849,065 for down payment assistance and 566,135 for attainable housing utility tap fees, from the CIP debt service repayment fund) was withdrawn 19-0. The amendment votes described elsewhere on this page come from the captions.
Arguments
- For: the fund helps teachers, nurses, first responders, seniors and service workers who cannot afford rent or a first home; speakers noted the original ask was 10 million; Matt Carlucci sponsored the amendment and said the council funds big projects but leaves "the little guy" behind.
- Against: Lahnen and Howland said the council has already committed about 79 million dollars toward housing this term (15 million appropriated for 2026-27, about 9 million pending), that this would be a new line in the budget bill, and that Amendment 3 argues for a flat budget.
- Funding source: the public safety contingency created by Finance.
- A separate emergency bill by Holder (2026-754) was laid on the table and then withdrawn 19-0 once the amendment passed.
Sources
- 2026-10-20 - Finance (meeting of 2026-10-20; auto-captions)
- 2026-10-13 - City Council (council meeting of 2026-10-13; auto-captions)
- 2026-09-22 - City Council (council meeting of 2026-09-22; auto-captions)
- Council agendas and legislation: https://jaxcityc.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx
- Finance Committee minutes, October 20, 2026: https://jaxcityc.legistar1.com/jaxcityc/meetings/2026/10/3818_M_Finance_Committee_26-10-20_Meeting_Minutes.pdf
- 2026-10-20 - Finance
- City Council minutes, September 22, 2026: https://jaxcityc.legistar1.com/jaxcityc/meetings/2026/9/3731_M_City_Council_26-09-22_Meeting_Minutes.pdf
- 2026-09-22 - City Council
Discussion time
About 92 minutes across 2 meetings (from transcript timestamps; approximate).
| Meeting | Minutes |
|---|---|
| 2026-10-13 - City Council | 4 |
| 2026-09-22 - City Council | 88 |
Log
2026-10-20 - Finance
Finance Committee passed the housing development loan 7-1 after an amendment funding it from this 4.9 million dollar set-aside (see Affordable Housing Development Loan Funding).
Minutes: 2.8 million dollars of the 4.9 million dollar set-aside redirected to the Tori Meadows loan by the Diamond substitute (6-2); SHIP appropriation 2026-0753 approved 8-0.
2026-10-13 - City Council
A resident urged holistic housing policy beyond down payment assistance during public comment and at the 2026-753 hearing.
2026-09-22 - City Council
Dozens of residents asked for the 4.9 million dollars; Matt Carlucci's floor amendment, amended by Salem, passed by roll call. Holder withdrew her own housing bill.
Minutes: Holder's housing bill 2026-0754 withdrawn 19-0.
2026-11-04 - Finance
Item 2026-0858 (renaming the Affordable Housing Special Revenue Fund) is on the 11/4 Finance agenda for second-cycle consideration.