Alachua County Commission sets final property tax rate and budget, signs management contract for Scottish Inn

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – During the evening session of the September 23 Alachua County Commission meeting, the board finalized the County’s FY2026 property tax rates and budgets and approved a contract with the Alachua County Housing Authority to manage the Scottish Inn.

After hearing a report on recommended changes to the Court Services Department during the daytime session, the board adopted a Green Procurement Policy, decided to use a grant application process to select a developer for the Legacy project, decided against joining the lawsuit challenging SB 180, and discussed whether to develop a Special Area Plan for Melrose. Click here for our article on the daytime session.

Agenda management

When the board returned for the evening session, they moved an update on motel conversions to the October 14 meeting and a discussion about MV Transportation to the October 7 meeting. 

Property tax rate

County Manager Michele Lieberman presented a resolution setting the property tax rate at 7.6000 mills, 6.36% higher than the rolled-back rate of 7.1455 mills and 0.018 mills lower than last year’s property tax rate of 7.6180 mills. The property tax rate for the Municipal Service Taxing Unit (MSTU) for Law Enforcement is 3.5678 mills, 6.66% higher than the rolled-back rate of 3.3450 mills and the same as last year’s rate.

The rolled-back millage rate is defined as the millage rate which, exclusive of new construction, additions to structures, deletions, and property added due to geographic boundary changes, will provide the same ad valorem tax revenue for each taxing authority as was levied during the prior year.

Lieberman said the property tax revenue for FY2026 will be $16,519,946 greater than FY2025’s property tax revenue, and “the increase in property tax revenue is necessary to fund the appropriations to operate the general County and MSTU taxing units.”

FY2026 Budget

Assistant County Manager Tommy Crosby said the All Funds budget for FY2026 is $946,936,554, the proposed General Fund budget is $323,980,568, and the MSTU Law Enforcement budget is $43,528,502.

Crosby said Alachua County is 51st out of 67 Florida counties in aggregate millage (9.0768 mills) and 41st in General Fund millage at 7.618 mills. He said the County has improved one position, from 52nd to 51st, since he last checked, two years ago. He said the property tax per capita is $714, compared to a state average of $942. Crosby said Alachua County has the 32nd lowest per-capita property tax and has reduced the property tax rate nine years in a row; in FY2017, the property tax rate was 8.9290 mills, 1.329 mills higher than the FY2026 rate. 

Crosby said the taxable value of property in Alachua County is 53.4% of the just value, because of the University of Florida, and he said he “would like to keep the conversation going [about] payment in lieu of taxes. The federal government does a lot of that with forest property. So it would be nice, as the State is looking for property tax solutions, one of those could be as a payment in lieu of taxes.”

Motions to adopt the general County property tax rate, general County budget, MSTU property tax rate, and MSTU budget all passed 4-0, with Commissioner Mary Alford absent. 

Wildflowers Music Park

During the evening general public comment period, a representative from the State Road 26 Corridor Safety Initiative, a group of about 216 people, said the music festival will double the population of Melrose during the festival, “and Melrose cannot accommodate it.” He also said that amplified music would “pierce the peace and quiet we’ve always known.”

A woman from Melrose said the town does not have the infrastructure to support the festival, and Josh Mitchell said he strongly opposed it. 

Management contract for Scottish Inn

The last item on the agenda was an agreement with the Alachua County Housing Authority (ACHA) to manage the Scottish Inn for a fee of 12% to 13% (depending on occupancy) of the effective gross income each month (all rent and fees actually paid for the units). The agreement runs through October 31, 2027, with the option to renew for two additional three-year periods. The 38-unit motel is being converted to efficiencies and will provide permanent supportive housing to homeless individuals. The 12% management fee will go toward the salaries of a property manager and maintenance staff who also serve other ACHA properties. The first residents will probably move into the Scottish Inn in November. 

Commissioner Anna Prizzia said the security budget of more than $84,000 “seems extremely high… While I understand we need security, this isn’t a jail.” An ACHA representative said they will start out with on-site security from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. and on weekends, but “hopefully [we] won’t have this forever.” She said the addition of cameras and fences will reduce the need for on-site security, but “I want to make sure that the residents are safe, and my staff.”

Prizzia also asked how people will be referred to live there and who will pay the rent, and Director of Support Services Claudia Tuck said referrals will come from the Continuum of Care TaskForce for Ending Homelessness, and individuals will be referred to a case manager, who will show the individual a variety of apartments throughout the community, including those owned by the County. She said the referring agencies have rapid rehousing funding to pay the rent for each individual; the individuals will only pay 30% of their income in rent, and if they have no income, they do not pay rent. 

Prizzia made a motion to approve the contract with ACHA and brought up a concern about providing housing for people who are released from the jail. She said that when “unhoused” people go to jail, once they’re in jail for “more than a certain period of time, then they become housed, and then they have to be unhoused again” to get on a list for homeless services. She wanted to know whether there is a way to “dedicate some number of housing units… specifically for re-entry housing that would support people coming out of jail not having to fall into homelessness and live on the streets while they’re also trying to get their lives back in order, and maybe reduce the recidivism and the cycle of jail homelessness.” 

Tuck said the Sheriff’s Office has a new unit called the Change Unit, and they go into the jail and work with inmates to get them on the list that qualifies them for housing before they are released.

Commissioner Ken Cornell seconded Prizzia’s motion, and the motion passed 4-0, with Alford absent.