Alachua County Commission sets tentative millage rates and budget

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – During the evening session of their September 10 meeting, the Alachua County Commission held fire assessment fees flat, set other fees for the FY25 budget year, and set the tentative property tax millage, MSTU millage, and budget. They also determined a public purpose for some nominal expenses related to Commissioner Ken Cornell’s candidacy for Second Vice President of the Florida Association of Counties (FAC), a position that leads to the presidency.

Solid waste and stormwater fees

The assessment for residential curbside collection, beginning October 1, will be $203.89 for a mini cart, $227.08 for a 35-gallon cart, $276.86 for a 64-gallon cart, and $330 for a 96-gallon cart, the same as the 2023-24 rates. 

Stormwater assessments increased from $50 to $60 per Equivalent Residential Unit.

Property tax and MSTU millages

The board then adopted a proposed millage rate of 7.6180 mills, a reduction of 0.0234 mills from the previous year but 6.87% more than the rolled-back rate of 7.1286 mills; they also adopted a proposed 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.

Budget

Property tax revenues are expected to be about $17.5 million higher than the previous fiscal year, and the tentative FY2025 budget is currently about $867 million, 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%.

Commissioner Anna Prizzia said, “We don’t typically have that large of a shift in the budget, but a lot of that was due to… increases in the capital infrastructure, right, that we’re doing? And increases in costs associated with construction, right?”

Assistant County Manager Tommy Crosby said, “So most of those are capital in nature. We added the courthouse; we knew that it was going to come in quite a bit higher.” He said there was an increase of $17 million for the courthouse and $13 million for trail work on the Archer Braid Trail, along with some other adjustments.

All of the motions passed unanimously.

The final public hearing on the budget will be held at 5:10 p.m. on September 24.

Public purpose for Cornell’s candidacy

During Manager Comment, County Manager Michele Lieberman referred to a previous decision by the board to provide a letter supporting Cornell’s candidacy for Second Vice President of FAC and said the Clerk’s office had asked for an official public purpose determination for any expenditures related to that. 

Cornell said there are two nominal expenditures: “Thank-you cards for those that I speak to – I’ve planned to call all the Commissioners around the state. And the second is, we ordered some slate cards that basically discuss my candidacy.” He said the cost is “in the hundreds of dollars.” Lieberman later clarified that it’s about $250.

Prizzia wanted to be sure that this would not open the door to more costs: “I guess I’m just not necessarily in favor of funding all of that with County tax dollars.” Cornell said there would only be the two costs he’d mentioned. Prizzia said, “I don’t know that Alachua County taxpayers should be paying for… a campaign-oriented something, other than – I like the slate card because it’s information, I like the thank you cards because it’s communication to constituents that are related to FAC, and I get that, so I get that’s a total public purpose. But if you’re talking about buying buttons or peanuts or, you know, other things that would be part of your campaigning, I guess I’m just not necessarily in favor of funding all of that with County tax dollars.”

County Communications Director Mark Sexton said he had been involved with FAC for 20 years, and “County Commissioners getting involved with FAC are doing a service to their constituents… They keep an eye on what’s good for their county. They keep an eye on legislative issues, and the more involved a county is, the better it is for the county… I can tell you, the expenses are nominal… It’s normal – people do this all the time in FAC. They don’t expect individuals to pay for it or fundraise, like it’s a political campaign. This is solely for the good of Alachua County.”

Chair Mary Alford said she supported finding a public purpose because “I see the fact that if Ken is elected, he would be in Tallahassee as a representation of a more liberal county in an environment that – you know, we need to foster communication in Tallahassee, and I think having someone from our county represented in a FAC leadership position where he would be interacting with the biggest leaders in our state, as well as leadership across the country, I think there’s real value in that.”

Prizzia said she agreed it would be a public service for Cornell to be in FAC’s leadership, but the same is true for “all of us serving up here, and the County doesn’t pay for our campaigns.” She said she just wanted to be sure they weren’t approving additional expenses beyond the $250 that had been mentioned: “It’s definitely in service to us and in service to, really, to the state of Florida, because it would be bringing, in my opinion, a common-sense approach to the work of FAC.”

Commissioner Marihelen Wheeler made a motion to approve the amount requested, but Alford said they needed to approve it as a public purpose. Wheeler made a motion to approve it as a public purpose, and Prizzia seconded the motion.

Assistant County Attorney Robert Swain interjected that they needed to make “a specific finding why it’s a public purpose – such as, you know, the fact that it supports his running for an office, supporting leadership at the county level, state-wide. Mark said some things that could be included in finding a public purpose.”

Wheeler said, “So moved.”

Prizzia said, “How about we move that we find the expenditures for Commissioner Cornell’s campaign for the Florida Association of Counties Second Vice President a public purpose, as he will be representing Alachua County at the state level and providing input for Alachua County residents into state governance of our state association?” Alford asked Wheeler if she would accept that as a substitute motion, and she said, “Of course… Whoever can say it best.” The motion passed unanimously.