Alachua County Commission hears West End recommendations, sets property tax rates and budget, and approves preliminary Newberry Village plan
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At their September 24 Emergency Meeting, the Alachua County Commission declared a State of Emergency for Hurricane Helene, approved funds for West End capital improvements, set their final FY2025 budget and property tax rates, received notification of a new County organization chart, and approved a preliminary development plan for Newberry Village.
State of Emergency
Alachua County Director of Emergency Management Jen Grimes recommended to the board that they declare a local State of Emergency for Hurricane Helene, and the board voted unanimously for Commissioner Ken Cornell’s motion to do that.
West End Community Engagement
Parks & Open Space Director Jason Maurer gave a presentation on the August 13 Community Engagement Meeting to discuss recreational improvements to the former West End Golf Course. About 225 people attended that meeting, and many suggestions were made for park amenities, along with concerns and event suggestions.
A follow-up online survey indicated that a 9-hole golf course, walking trails, a driving range, pétanque, a playground, pickleball courts, and a splash pad were the top amenities favored by attendees. However, social media mentions favored a splash pad, a playground, and walking paths, so staff compared the two lists and recommended a driving range as a compromise for the attendees who wanted the 9-hole golf course.
Staff recommended:
- Approving $500,000 in Tourist Development Tax reserves for capital improvements to the park that promote tourism;
- Approving a revision to the 10-year Master Plan by changing West End from a Neighborhood Park to a Community Park and changing another location from a Community Park to a Neighborhood Park, freeing up $400,000 in impact fees for improvements;
- Approving a revision to the 5-Year Capital Improvement Plan to unencumber $6 million in Wild Space Public Places funds that were earmarked for Diamond Sportsplex and allocate the funds to West End;
- Directing staff to come back next spring with a Development Plan for West End.
Commissioner Anna Prizzia said she thought a lighted crosswalk would be needed for Newberry Road.
Cornell was concerned about spending another $6 million on West End without prioritizing the projects for the whole county. He also advocated for a tree survey of the property: “I think there’s an opportunity for us to… create an arboretum.”
Prizzia supported creating an arboretum, unencumbering the $6 million from Diamond Sportsplex, and holding a workshop to discuss how to use the money instead of allocating all of it to West End.
Prizzia made a motion to approve staff’s recommendations except that the $6 million would remain unencumbered but allocated to Parks and Recreation; she added a request for a full tree survey and the idea of an arboretum, along with a request for staff to begin discussing pedestrian crossings between West End Park and Tioga with the Florida Department of Transportation.
After public comment, Prizzia added a request for staff to reach out to the UF IFAS and Landscape Architecture departments to see whether they are interested in participating in planning the park.
The motion passed unanimously.
Final property tax and budget for FY2025
During the evening portion of the meeting, the board voted 4-0, with Chair Mary Alford absent, to set their FY2025 property tax millage and budget.
The board adopted a property tax millage rate of 7.6180 mills, a reduction of 0.0234 mills from the previous year but 6.92% more than the rolled-back rate of 7.1286 mills; they also adopted an MSTU levy of 3.5678 mills, the same rate as last year and 7.78% more than the rolled-back rate of 3.3103 mills.
Property tax revenues are expected to be about $17.5 million higher than the previous fiscal year, and the adopted FY2025 budget is $866,896,138, about $60 million more than the budget presented by the County Manager in June. The budget is about $110 million more than the FY2024 budget, an increase of 14.51%.
Assistant County Manager Tommy Crosby said the budget includes a 16% increase for law enforcement and a 10% increase for all other operations, but the bigger items are capital improvements that will require the County to issue debt, including another $36 million for the courthouse on top of last year’s allocation (the total will be over $50 million), $10 million for advance purchases of large vehicles that have long lead times, and a $15 million FDOT grant for the Archer Braid/Kanapaha trail. Crosby concluded, “That makes up your $110 million to kind of give you an idea that we’re not throwing money away. We’re investing it mostly in the capital and in the public safety and trying to stay up with the economic factors of the time.”
County reorganization
County Manager Michele Lieberman notified the board that she will be implementing a reorganization on October 24 (the new organization chart can be found here.) Lieberman said the change does not need approval from the board and will take effect unless the board vetoes it.
The reorganization eliminates Community Support and Strategic Initiatives, adds an Executive Liaison – Public Safety and Community Relations and a new Assistant County Manager – Chief Transformation Officer as new direct reports to the County Manager. The remaining changes mostly move departments and offices under different Assistant County Managers.
Newberry Village
The final agenda item was a preliminary development plan for Newberry Village, a Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) with a maximum of 639 units and about 225k square feet of non-residential uses on about 87 acres between the 7600 block and 8500 block of W. Newberry Road, just to the west of the Newberry Square shopping center.
The preliminary development plan was approved 4-0, with Alford absent.
A crosswalk? On one of the most traveled, busiest roads in the entire county?
She’s an idiot and anyone who votes for her is an even bigger idiot.
If something is needed for pedestrian traffic it should be a pedestrian bridge over Newberry Road. Putting a walkway across Newberry Road is inviting vehicle crashes as well as pedestrian injuries, if not mortalities.
Use some of those millions of taxes collected for that.
Thank you!
For what? Higher taxes? Driving range? New departmental organization?
So, these residents bought property on a golf course. Anyone who has a brain knows that living on a golf course is a risky proposition – things such as closing and selling the property for other uses can happen.
These people somehow convinced the County to purchase the property, instead of keeping it on the tax rolls for other uses.
Now, the County is coming up with ideas of what to do with the property. They’ve asked COUNTY RESIDENTS what they want.
IMO, the residents have decided that want quiet – with essentially nothing acceptable other than “quietness” that won’t impact property values.
Well, I’ve got news for them. That property is for the use of ENTIRE COUNTY – not just them. I personally hope a One Love Cafe type operation is put there, with a band-shell, etc.
They don’t get to dictate (alone) what happens with that property. It’s infuriating the entitlement that are putting forth.
Please listen to the wonderful Dr Prizzia. She has the wisdom yo lead Alachua County.
Tax rate set and most would think what a good thing that the rate is staying about the same. What you don’t see is that your properties have increased dramatically, and your TAX BILL will increase too even though the millage hasn’t increased! My land value went up $40,000 – that is about the same amount as my exemption – GRRR. Revenues will increase about $17Million so they can spend on more driving ranges, pet projects… If they said that increase in revenue would be for roads, I would be quite content! Fire them all!
Property values are set by the Property Appraiser, not the County Commission. If you have an issue, call the Property Appraisers Office and set a complain. The West End property and road repairs are being funded by voter approved Wild Spaces Public Places; half a penny goes to parks and conservation, other half goes towards roads and other infrastructure.
You must have been one of those who voted to increase a tax on yourself.
Not the brightest.
Probably voted for Prizzia too.
Definitely not the brightest.
Thanks for more congestion on Newberry Rd at the coming Newberry Village. We needed that. Good luck coming into work in Gainesville.
Instead of complaining about traffic please start riding bikes like they do in more advanced countries like Cambodia and Vietnam. Hopefully Dr Prizzia will sponsor bike only days in Alachua County
Would the “arboretum” contain the entire park, or just a part of it (and add add’l trees not already in that)? That will NOT attract enough visitors. The entire site needs to attract more visitors, to justify its security costs, discourage malevolent users, help Tioga businesses, and add to nearby property values.
I love trees too, but any “arboretum” should be like a museum of planted trees — like UF and Kanapaha already do.
The county can’t maintain what they have already and they keep buying property and taking it off the tax rolls.
Check out the bike paths/sidewalks on NW 53rd or 43rd. The paths were originally 4 ft wide and there are parts where they’re overtaken by weeds and are now only 1 ft in places.
Why doesn’t the county fix those?
I’ll wait for an answer…