Veterans and spouses of active-duty military members will get an inside track on jobs created with the help of city financial incentives after Mayor Donna Deegan signed legislation filed by City Council President Nick Howland.
The Stand for Service Act will require businesses that get property tax rebates for job creation to make a "good faith" effort on hiring veterans and military spouses for at least 10% of those jobs.
Here's how the Stand for Service Act will work for job-seekers.
Stand for Service Act will apply to property tax rebate incentives
The Stand for Service Act is tied to the city's use of an economic incentive called a REV grant to help seal the deal with companies by offering them multi-year property tax rebates in return for committing to creating new jobs.
The 10% target is not mandatory for
a company to get the property tax rebates, but the city will keep track of how many of a company's taxpayer incentive-supported jobs go to veterans and military spouses.
Howland, who is a Navy veteran, said boosting employment in sectors such as manufacturing, logistics, aerospace, defense, marine, space and medical fields are areas "uniquely suited for Jacksonville veterans and their families."
"We grow these industries, we don't just grow our GDP, we grow opportunities for those who have served and we grow a workforce that gives back to its community," he said.
Deegan said veterans "understand being part of a mission that achieves a higher goal. The Stand for Service Act will help ensure that this community remains the economic powerhouse that they already are."
Howland says hiring veterans is not a DEI-type of program
Howland has opposed diversity, equity and inclusion programs, known as DEI, in city government. He voted for legislation last year that would have banned any city policy that promotes preferential treatment of people because they are part of groups based on "race, color, sex, national origin, gender identity, or sexual orientation."
Howland said veterans "are not DEI hires."
"Veterans are people who have earned their status through sacrifice, though commitment and though service to their country," he said. "Veterans have actually taken an oath to volunteer their services at a cost up to and including their life for their country."
Veterans can be on lookout for city approval of REV grants
The number of jobs targeted for veterans and military spouses will depend on how often the city uses REV grants in economic development agreements.
In 2025 and so far in 2026, City Council has approved legislation for economic development agreement using REV grants for a total of 1,100 jobs that would be created over a multi-year period. If the Stand for Service Act had been in place, that would have set a target for at least 110 of those jobs to be filled by veterans and military spouses.
Veterans comprise nearly 10% of city's own workforce
So how does the city of Jacksonville measure up for its own hiring compared to the standard it would set for companies getting REV grants?
City government currently employs 810 people who are veterans out of about 8,500 employees, which equates to roughly 9.5% of city employees.
The percentage would likely be higher when active-duty military spouses working for the city are added to the calculations. The city doesn't track how many city employees are military spouses.
Legislation promotes development of Cecil Airport
The Stand for Service Act also calls on the city's Office of Economic Development to give "additional positive consideration" for incentives going to companies in aerospace and space-related industries that would operate at Cecil Airport on the Westside.
The legislation does not create any new incentives specifically for businesses that locate or expand at Cecil Airport but it dovetails with the attention Howland has brought to Cecil Airport.
"I've been to Tallahassee, Cape Canaveral and Orlando to talk about Florida's economy and how to to bring jobs back to our state and back to Jacksonville and for aerospace in particular, to Cecil Field," he said.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Veterans will get inside track on jobs created by city incentives
