Alachua County Commission discusses departmental budgets, a new jail, and a request to object to proposed Alachua development

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At their August 15 Special Meeting, the Alachua County Commission discussed budget requests from several departments, the need for a new jail in the future, and a request from a member of the public to intervene against a proposed development in the City of Alachua.

This is the second article about that meeting; the first part can be found here.

Budget overview

Assistant County Manager Tommy Crosby said the total FY25 proposed budget is $806,653,893, an increase of $49,617,397 over the previous year’s adopted budget. He said that with the upcoming “aggressive building program,” Commissioners need to be prepared for annual debt payments of around $10 million a year that will increase. Upcoming projects that will require new debt include the court building, animal services, renovation of the old court building, the “whole master plan,” and vehicle purchases.

Affordable Housing Trust Fund

Commissioner Ken Cornell reiterated that he is frustrated with the limited permitted uses of the infrastructure surtax funds and would support using General Fund money to add to the capital stacks of private developers who are building affordable housing by making local contributions that enable the developers to qualify for other funding such as state grants.

Commissioner Anna Prizzia said the voters approved an Affordable Housing Trust Fund, and “I don’t think that just randomly putting in whatever we happen to have left over at the end of the year, or just putting in a million every year, is going to cut it… We need to have dedicated money that we know we can count on every year… We need to decide, okay, we’re gonna put 1% of our budget in the Affordable Housing Trust Fund every year.”

Cornell agreed, “We can talk about the percentage.”

Supervisor of Elections

Crosby said the Supervisor of Elections has asked for an additional $365,058 for a Clear Ballot Election Audit System, a new IT Manager position, additional postage for the General Election, an additional Sunday for early voting at eight sites, and one additional early voting site. 

Sheriff’s Office

The Sheriff’s Office requested an additional $2.85 million, with the revenues coming from a variety of sources, for vehicle replacement and six positions (two mental health co-responders, a General Counsel, a Benefits Coordinator, a Civil Technician, and an Evidence Specialist); new equipment requested by the agency (a bomb truck and a mobile van) will be financed. Crosby said the County would need to “address the salary issue, and next year we’ll probably have to address substation issues.” He said the Sheriff also requested an additional location where deputies can secure evidence and other items without having to drive all the way back to headquarters during a shift.

Alachua County Jail 

Commissioner Chuck Chestnut pointed out that the jail “is in bad shape,” and they need to plan for a replacement, which could be close to a billion dollars. Chair Mary Alford said they need a strategic plan, “like an eight-year plan.”

Prizzia said before they have a conversation about a new jail, they need to have “a conversation about how we get that population down exactly and a conversation about what can we do to renovate what we have. Because the building is in bad shape – it’s old, and there are pieces of it that maybe need to just be completely demolished, but there are pieces that we could potentially renovate… There’s a lot of conversations we have before we start having a conversation about a new jail.”

Alford said they might be able to “do something modularly and in pieces there and really upgrade the experience of the folks that are in the jail, so that they have time to deal with their own mental health, time to learn – you know, private space.”

Court building

Crosby said the estimate for the new court building keeps growing and is “approaching $50 million,” with some employees saying they still have concerns about the amount of space that will be available. Crosby said his staff has been meeting with the Architect/Engineering firm “about specifically what needs to change and where do we need to include space where we can, realizing that we can price this thing out of our ability to even build it.” He said the requests are not unreasonable, but they need to plan for additional judges in the future, for example.

Tara West development in Alachua

During General Public Comment at the end of the meeting, a man who said he is a cave diver asked the board to intervene in a pending City of Alachua decision regarding the Tara West development near Lowe’s, north of U.S. Hwy 441. The board discussed concerns about the property being uphill from the Mill Creek Sink; a dye study has shown that anything that enters the sink flows to the Santa Fe River within about two weeks.

After some discussion about whether the County would have standing as an affected party, allowing them to present for more than three minutes at the City of Alachua’s August 26 meeting, Cornell made a motion to ask the County Attorney to submit a party status request because the sink is a County resource, and Commissioner Marihelen Wheeler seconded the motion. Prizzia said, “It’s really beyond a County resource – it’s water, it’s regional.” Cornell added a request for staff to brief the board on the issue at their August 22 Special Meeting. The motion passed unanimously.

Policy regarding pets of incarcerated individuals

Prizzia asked what happens to a pet if someone is arrested, and Deputy County Manager Carl Smart said it depends on how long the person is expected to stay at the jail; if they will be in the jail for some time, they may make arrangements to have the animal adopted. Prizzia said, “See, I guess that’s what I’m concerned about. I would really hate for someone that hasn’t been convicted to have their animal adopted while they’re awaiting trial. I mean, I think we can hold that animal or we can foster that animal, but fostering with an understanding that animal is not adoptable.” She asked staff to send her an email with the current policy.