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During a budget hearing Thursday, Jacksonville’s Finance Committee voted to cut $1.7 million in funding from Mayor Donna Deegan’s proposed Meals on Wheels budget.
A more than $2 million increase over last year’s budget for the line item had been proposed to support Senior Services’ Meals on Wheels program, which delivers meals to homebound seniors.
The precedent for the spending was funding the mayor previously provided for the program from her Council-approved Mayoral Task Force budget last year.
In December 2024, Mayor Donna Deegan said the $2 million helped the program serve nearly 1300 additional seniors, reducing the waiting list by 45%.
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“When you guys get a pilot program started, that doesn’t mean that we’re gonna continue it every year,” said Councilman Raul Arias at Thursday’s budget hearing.
Arias said the decision to cut the funding would inevitably make them look like they do not care about seniors, which he said is not true. He pointed to the meals funded and provided at the city’s senior centers. “If seniors wanted meals and needed meals, well guess what? We also provide transportation for seniors.”
While the $2 million was shot down, the Finance Committee allowed an increase of around $300 thousand.
Mayor Deegan called the decision “deeply disappointing.”
“This is a program that delivers not just food, but also vital wellness checks, dignity, care and safety to thousands of our most vulnerable homebound seniors. The waitlist for this critical care is now expected to triple.
“Jacksonville is strongest when we take care of each other, and this shortsighted and cruel decision takes us in the wrong direction.”
She claims the cut will cause the Meals on Wheels waiting list to go from 900 people to 2,600.
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