Archer City Commission sets property tax rate at 6.4332 mills, will advertise for part-time administrative manager
BY DAVID LIGHTMAN
ARCHER, Fla. – At the September 10 meeting, the Archer City Commission set the property tax rate at 6.4332 mills, an increase of 21.6% over the rolled-back rate. They passed the FY2026 budget, investigated cheaper insurance, tabled a State-required item to allow staff to approve plats and replats, failed to create a volunteer citizens advisory committee, and agreed to advertise for a part-time administrative manager. Citizens aired their grievances about recent missing cash deposits and other problems.
During public comments on approving the consent agenda, which included approval of recent bill payments, Karen Fiore said she had been making public record requests for statements to prove that bills are being paid. She said she received only one response, indicating her request had been received, and the only transaction listed in the consent agenda was one Visa payment of $823, with no further details.
Mayor Fletcher Hope asked Interim City Manager Deanna Alltop about getting copies of the detailed credit card transactions, and Alltop said the receipts could be scanned and included in future agenda packets.
Bill Lewandowski said, “You’re still approving bills without having a clue of its impact on your budget. You have no running budget.”
The consent agenda was approved by a 5-0 vote.
Property tax rate
City Attorney Scott Walker introduced the first of two hearings on the FY2026 budget and read a resolution setting the FY2026 property tax ad valorem millage rate. Walker said the proposed millage rate is 6.4332, and the rolled-back rate is 5.2910 mills. The new rate of 6.4332 represents a 21.568% increase over the rolled-back rate. The second budget hearing will be held on September 24 at 6 p.m. at Archer City Hall, Walker said.
Vice Mayor Iris Bailey made a motion to approve the resolution, and Commissioner Marilyn Green seconded the motion.
Commissioner Joan White asked about the MSTU agreement for law enforcement services from the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office and how it was benefiting Archer. Bailey said that under the MSTU, Archer receives benefits from other departments beyond the Sheriff’s Office.
During public comments on the motion, Lewandowski said such a large property tax increase should include an explanation of “why” for the public.
Charles Tufano said he would also like to see a strategy for how the dais plans to prevent future losses of money. He concluded by saying, “If you can’t do the job, then step down.”
Roberta Lopez also called for more transparency.
The millage rate resolution passed 5-0.
White said she didn’t think the MSTU agreement was necessary at all because the County is “obligated to us” to respond during emergencies, and she encouraged canceling the agreement whenever possible.
FY2026 budget
Hope introduced the second half of the budget hearing, discussion of the FY2026 budget. Walker read the resolution setting the budget, White made a motion to accept the budget resolution, and Bailey seconded the motion.
Financial Consultant and Newberry Assistant City Manager Dallas Lee spoke at the podium. He said the proposed General Fund budget is $886,051, which reflects a small surplus of $27,000 in revenues over expenditures, with a plan to put half of that into Wild Spaces repayment and the other half into the utility’s Water Fund. Lee said Water Fund revenues are estimated at $316,246. The Solid Waste Fund is budgeted at about $130,000, and the Wastewater Fund is budgeted at $14,250,000. Lee said the utilities have an expected net loss of $160.59, which is addressed in a different action item. Hope said it may be possible to renegotiate with Waste Pro (solid waste) in the future.
Responding to White, Lee said the Recreation Department has a small surplus of revenues over expenditures when fees and other revenues are considered.
The budget resolution passed 5-0. Walker thanked Lee for working unpaid for several months to help the City of Archer while he was busy with his job in Newberry. Hope said that concluded the first budget hearing.
Change of insurance provider
Lee said he may have found cheaper insurance that could save the City about $18,000 per year. He introduced Eric Parker, a senior insurance agent with AssuredPartners in Gainesville.
Bailey made a motion to explore changing insurance companies to AssuredPartners, and Green seconded the motion. It passed 5-0.
2026 Archer Masonic Lodge Fall Festival
A representative of the Archer Masonic Lodge, Jackson Cowart, said the Lodge is planning its first annual Fall Festival in 2026. Cowart said the Lodge will be covering all expenses, but they hope to partner with the City for things like permitting, public safety, and the use of public spaces. Hope commended Cowart on the work that was put into their proposal package.
White asked if they plan to close off any roads for the festival, and Cowart said they may seek permission to close a County-owned road. White made a motion to partner with the Archer Masonic Lodge for a Fall Festival in 2026, and Bailey seconded the motion.
Bailey said Archer doesn’t have enough community events, and she supports the idea. Green said, “I’m always happy to see something for the community that brings something positive, that would bring the people of Archer and of the community together.”
The motion passed 5-0.
Public comments
During public comments, Sheila Penny of St. Joseph Missionary Baptist Church said the church is planning a Praise in the Park event, consisting of a worship service followed by a meet-and-greet with the public. Everyone is encouraged to attend, and there is no requirement to dress up. The date is September 28 at 11 a.m., and the event will last about two hours. There will be a light lunch including hot dogs and hamburgers.
Penny said the church is requesting a fee waiver for the use of the park, and they only wanted the use of the restrooms and not any tables or chairs.
Bailey made a motion to waive the fee for the use of the park by the church on September 28, and she repeated her desire for more community events. Green seconded the motion, and it passed 5-0.
Lee invited Archer residents to attend the Fabulous 50s Festival and Car Show in downtown Newberry on Saturday, September 20, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. He said it will be an antique car show with music, crafts, vendors, and food. He encouraged everyone to bring their antique cars and to dress in keeping with the 1950s theme.
Responding to a question about why Scott Walker was the City Attorney on the dais instead of Kiersten Ballou or Danielle Adams, Hope introduced Walker. Walker said he has been with the Folds Walker firm since 1980, and Tom Robinson will be working with him to represent Archer. Walker said Robinson had surgery recently, otherwise he would have been at the meeting.
Responding to Hope, Walker said Robinson was “relatively new” and has been with the firm about 8 months, although they have known each other for 21 years. Walker said Ballou and Adams have been “reassigned.”
Hope asked Alltop about any progress made in selling surplus equipment or property. She said the grader sold for $18,800, the dump truck sold for $3,050, and they still have other, less-valuable equipment to sell. No land, such as the Senior Center, has been sold.
Staff approval of plats and replats
Walker read the next item: “A resolution… designating the City Manager as the administrative authority to receive, review, and process final plat and replat submittals, designating the City Manager as the responsible administrative manager and official for approving, approving with conditions, or denying the proposed final plat or replat.”
White said she wasn’t familiar with it, and Walker said, “This basically is a pro-forma process. Whenever somebody submits a plat to you, they’ve already gone through Comprehensive Plan change and rezoning. It’s now defining what’s going to be the development on that property, like where the lots are going to be, that sort of thing. Many Cities are moving towards the administrative process of approval of plat.”
White made a motion to approve the resolution, and Bailey seconded the motion, but after some discussion, White and Bailey decided to table the item until more information can be obtained.
A member of the public questioned whether the City Manager is qualified to make decisions regarding plats and replats.
The motion to table the item passed 5-0.
SB 784, which became effective on July 1, requires municipalities to “designate an administrative authority to receive, review, and process plat or replat submittals.”
Volunteer citizen advisory committee
The last item was a discussion about using volunteers for code enforcement. From the agenda for the meeting: “We need assistance with code enforcement, if a few people could volunteer it would be appreciated.”
Hope passed the gavel and made a motion to set up a volunteer citizen advisory committee with three areas of focus: volunteer code enforcement and sending out courtesy letters, oversight/auditing of the bank depositing process, and supporting current staff in reviewing land development regulations and the Comprehensive Plan. Green seconded his motion.
White said, “Auditing deposits is our job.”
Hope replied, “I’m not in the mood for what just happened, okay? A loss of 90 days of deposits.”
White continued, “Mayor, I’m telling you, stop it! Stop and stop it now!… I’m not putting up with it tonight!”
Penny suggested having more conversations before doing anything.
During public comment on the motion, Fiore said she wasn’t in favor of citizens being responsible for checks and balances with deposits, but she thought it would be acceptable for volunteers to review land development code.
The motion failed 1-4, with only Hope voting in favor of the motion.
Final discussion
During final discussion, Hope again passed the gavel and made a motion to advertise to hire a part-time administrative manager. Green seconded the motion, and after some discussion, it passed 5-0.
Final public comments
During final public comments, Fiore asked why her public records requests from the last three months haven’t been answered. Alltop asked Fiore to resend her requests and said, “I’m actually not sure what I owe you, or if not, I can just look through all my emails.”
Hope asked, “Would you send that to all the Commission and Miss Alltop, just so that we’re all on the same page?” Fiore agreed.
Tanya Dean said, “I would like to say how, as citizens, are we to trust this organization when the City Manager prior has stolen so much money, and then just this week we found out that Justin Southard is stealing $1,000 a week for three months? I mean, who knows how much more it was? Who knows how much more extensive this is? And then you’re asking us to put 21% on our property taxes, and you’re asking us to increase the water… Was he [Justin] somebody that just does the little bits and pieces around town, right? He doesn’t even, shouldn’t even have access to money. Who’s accounting for this? What’s happening? It’s very disturbing.”
Roberta Lopez called for an audit of the Community Center’s rental fees “for the last four or five years.” She finished by saying, “I think it goes beyond Justin.”
Please give the new hire a math proficiency test before hiring them.