JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- They're buildings you paid for. The city of Jacksonville already owns them and the mayor's office wants to spend more money to count them.
Duval County taxpayers own hundreds of unused properties. It's a mixed bag of city-owned vacant buildings and unoccupied land.
City leaders say it's time to do something about these potentially profitable properties. Mayor Alvin Brown wants to pay a private company to take inventory and assess the value, but not everyone agrees.
"I mean, anybody can look that up on the internet. I don't know why we have to hire any firm to do that," said City Councilman John Crescimbeni.
City finance committee members reviewed the mayor's request Wednesday. Action News went through the 30-plus page document and learned it calls for spending $150,000 in taxpayer funds to figure out how much land the city already owns.
"I realize they will do other things but that's just one piece of the equation I have questions about," said Crescimbeni.
The price tag is a small portion of the city's $900 million overall budget, but council members tell Action News, the city needs to get a better grasp of the condition of each property before moving forward.
Committee members passed the proposal Wednesday, but it still has to pass the council's vote.
The city of Jacksonville estimates that it has about $1.5 billion worth of unused properties.
