A Jacksonville police and fire pension plan closed to new entrants nearly a decade ago is still well under halfway funded, despite a good year of investment returns.

Deputy Director Steve Lundy told the City Council Finance Committee that the funding ratio of 44.1% at the end of 2024 is “slightly down” from the 44.7% mark a year before. The plan is expected to be fully funded by 2026, roughly four decades after it was closed to new entrants in 2017.

Nevertheless, Lundy said the funding policy is working “very effectively.”

“Our investment returns were outstanding at 20.4%, far outpacing our assumed rate of 6.5%, and our pension health remains stable, although the funded ratio did slightly decrease,” he told legislators.

A half-cent sales tax will start funding the pension liability in 2031, which is an extension of the current Better Jacksonville Plan tax.

The Lenny Curry administration sought to repurpose that surtax to the pension liability previously. But given the commitment to the Jaguars’ stadium renovations, current Mayor Donna Deegan and the City Council agreed to move the sales tax back to physical infrastructure to defray stadium build costs of $775 million.

Surtax proceeds are down year over year, to 2.4% from 9.3% the year before. But the overall number is smoothed to 6% to dampen volatility in the metric.

Investment returns make up for the surtax shortfall though, Lundy said.

“Over the last five years, our pension funds average rate of return was 8.7%, and the 10-year average return was 7.4%, which are both above the assumed rate of return of 6.5%, and this is very good news,” Lundy said.

The police and fire plan is one of three legacy pension funds in the city, along with the correctional officers’ pension plan and the general employees’ plan. All three were closed to new entrants as a consequence of pension reform approved by the Legislature last decade, which put employees on a defined contribution plan for a number of years. However, the Deegan administration and the Council approved the Florida Retirement System as an option for police and fire starting in 2026.

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Stalling tactics Democrats deployed mean Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi’s confirmation won’t happen until at least Wednesday.

Her nomination came to the Senate floor on Monday, but Democrats stopped a full vote the same day. The Senate did clear a cloture vote on a 52-46, vote, but no Democrats supported moving straight into a vote.

Still, the former Florida Attorney General appears to be on track for confirmation. A vote is now expected on Bondi’s confirmation on the floor Wednesday morning.

Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, expressed disappointment the entire minority caucus would block Bondi’s fast confirmation.

“If my colleagues won’t cross the aisle for this qualified nominee, they’ll show that they’re intent on opposing President Trump’s picks for purely partisan reasons,” he said. “Ms. Bondi’s ready and able to serve our country, and she’ll work with President Trump to restore faith in the Justice Department.”

Meanwhile, Senate Judiciary Ranking Member Dick Durbin’s office, as Bondi’s confirmation reached the floor, issued letters to several Justice Department nominees demanding answers on the recent dismissal of all FBI investigators and federal prosecutors who had worked on cases involving Jan. 6 rioters. That included a seven-page letter to Bondi demanding to know if she was involved, and what as Attorney General she would do to stop further retribution.

“As America faces a heightened threat landscape, these shocking removals and reassignments deprive DOJ and the FBI of experienced, senior leadership and decades of experience fighting violent crime, espionage, and terrorism,” the Democratic-led letter reads.

Similar letters were also sent to FBI Director nominee Kash Patel, Deputy Attorney General nominee Todd Blanche, acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll and acting Attorney General James McHenry.

In addition to sending out letters, Senate Democrats also consumed time on Monday evening in protest of a stop in funding for USAID. Instead of advancing Bondi’s confirmation Monday, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, a Hawaii Democrat, gave extended remarks questioning the legality of ceasing spending authorized by Congress.

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