JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 During a budget hearing Thursday, Jacksonville\u2019s Finance Committee voted to cut $1.7 million in funding from Mayor Donna Deegan\u2019s proposed Meals on Wheels budget.<\/p>\n
A more than $2 million increase over last year\u2019s budget for the line item had been proposed to support Senior Services’ Meals on Wheels program, which delivers meals to homebound seniors.<\/p>\n
The precedent for the spending was funding the mayor previously provided for the program from her Council-approved Mayoral Task Force budget last year.<\/p>\n
In December 2024, Mayor Donna Deegan said the $2 million helped the program serve nearly 1300 additional seniors, reducing the waiting list by 45%.<\/p>\n
[DOWNLOAD: <\/b>Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/b><\/a>]<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cWhen you guys get a pilot program started, that doesn\u2019t mean that we\u2019re gonna continue it every year,\u201d said Councilman Raul Arias at Thursday\u2019s budget hearing.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s senior centers. \u201cIf seniors wanted meals and needed meals, well guess what? We also provide transportation for seniors.\u201d<\/p>\n While the $2 million was shot down, the Finance Committee allowed an increase of around $300 thousand.<\/p>\n Mayor Deegan called the decision \u201cdeeply disappointing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis 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. <\/p>\n \u201cJacksonville is strongest when we take care of each other, and this shortsighted and cruel decision takes us in the wrong direction.\u201d<\/p>\n She claims the cut will cause the Meals on Wheels waiting list to go from 900 people to 2,600.<\/p>\n