Gainesville City Commission faces $7.7 million budget deficit after first of three budget workshops for FY27

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At the first of three budget workshops for Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27), the Gainesville City Commission reviewed budget estimates from the Charter Offices and eight City departments; the new estimates are about $0.2 million higher than the last estimate, and the budget gap currently sits at $7.7 million.

Review of estimates provided at fiscal retreat

Allison Teslia, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, reviewed the estimates presented at the Commission’s fiscal retreat: the current FY27 estimated General Fund revenues are $164.8 million — $2.8 million or 1.7% higher than the FY26 adopted budget. The budget estimate maintains the same number of employees as FY26, maintains the current frozen positions, includes a placeholder for fleet vehicle replacement, increases the payroll allocation for general insurance expenses, and includes a 3% merit raise for employees.

At the fiscal retreat, expenditures were estimated at $172.3 million, $10.3 million or 6.3% higher than FY26; that left a budget gap of about $7.5 million.

All of the summaries below are for General Fund expenses, except where noted; every department also has a budget that incorporates funds from other sources. The full budget presentation is available here.

City Attorney

The City Attorney’s office proposed $64k in salary and benefits increases and an increase of $5k in operating expenses for an overall increase of $69k, or 4.4% more than the FY26 budget.  

City Auditor

The City Auditor’s office proposed a $54k increase in salaries and benefits and a $300 increase in operating expenses, for an overall increase of about $54k, or 7.3% more than the FY26 budget.

Teslia reminded Commissioners that they recently unfroze a Senior Auditor position and froze a Staff Auditor position.

City Clerk

The City Clerk’s Office proposed a $43k increase in salaries and benefits and a $64k increase in operating expenses, for an overall increase of $107k, or 8.2% more than the FY26 adopted budget.

Teslia said the increases reflect ADA remediation and increased costs for software; the budget also includes the Sister Cities membership, which is about $4,000.

City Commission

The City Commission office proposed no changes in salaries and benefits and a $2,500 increase in operating expenses, for an overall increase of $2,500, or 0.4% more than the FY26 adopted budget.

However, Teslia said this will be updated when the August CPI estimate is released; City Commissioner salaries are tied to the CPI and are expected to increase by about 3%.

City Manager

The City Manager’s office proposed a $479k increase in salaries and benefits, a $76k increase in operating expenses, and no change in Aid to Private Organizations ($4k) out of the General Fund, for an overall increase of $555k, or 31.2% more than the FY26 adopted budget. No positions were eliminated.

Teslia said the office added 5.5 positions; 3.5 positions were reallocated in the transfer of the B.O.L.D. program from Gainesville Fire Rescue to the City Manager’s Office, one position was transferred from Sustainable Development to the City Manager’s Office, and the Community Relations position for the Community F.I.R.S.T. program was transferred from Communications & Marketing to the City Manager’s Government Affairs & Community Relations Division. Other increases reflect the phase-out of ARPA-funded positions, which will now be paid from the General Fund.

Office of Communications and Marketing

The Office of Communications and Marketing proposed a $39k decrease in salaries and benefits and a $457 decrease in operating expenses, for a total decrease of $39k, or 3.6% less than the department’s FY26 adopted budget.

The decrease is due to the transfer of a position to the City Manager’s office.

Office of Equity & Inclusion

The Office of Equity & Inclusion proposed an increase of $233k in salaries and benefits but no other increases, for an overall increase of $233k, 21.1% higher than the FY26 adopted budget. 

The increase reflects a previous Commission decision to unfreeze a Compliance Manager position, along with the transfer of a previously ARPA-funded Immigrant Affairs Manager position to the General Fund.

Commissioner Ed Book said the department had reduced positions in the “last, essentially, 24 to 36 months, and Director [Zeriah] Folston is already doing some reorganization, some terminology, to make sure we’re in compliance with some statutory regulations which are coming down. We are already doing the correct things, as it related to state statutes.” He said that a name change for the department will be on a future agenda.

Mayor Harvey Ward said the City’s Charter calls it the Equal Opportunity Office; the office was renamed at the November 7, 2019 City Commission meeting, but no Charter Amendment was ever passed to update the Charter.

Department of Financial Services

The Department of Financial Services proposed a $5.7k decrease in salaries and benefits and no change in operating expenses, for an overall decrease of $5.7k, or 0.2% less than the adopted FY26 budget.

Department of Human Resources

The Department of Human Resources proposed increasing salaries and benefits by $68k and reducing operating expenses by $1,000, for an overall increase of $67k, 2.9% more than the adopted FY26 budget.

Teslia said the salary and benefits changes reflect a department reorgnization, and the decreased operating expenses are due to a reduction in printing needs. 

Office of Management and Budget

The Office of Management and Budget proposed decreasing salaries and benefits by $24.5k and increasing operating expenses by $15k, for an overall decrease of $9k, 0.9% less than the adopted FY26 budget.

Procurement & Contracts Management

The Division of Procurement and Contracts Management proposed a $26k increase in salaries and benefits and a $65k decrease in operating expenses, for an overall decrease of $40k, or 4.5% less than the adopted FY26 budget.

Risk Management Department

The Risk Management Department proposed no changes in salaries and benefits from the General Fund because those positions are funded from other sources. The department proposed a decrease of $17k in operating expenses, for an overall decrease of $17k, 9.3% less than the adopted FY26 budget. The department’s budget from other funds increased by $2.8 million, an increase of 6.5% from the adopted FY26 budget.

Technology Department

The Technology Department, which was created to reduce dependence on GRU for IT services, proposed increasing salaries and benefits by $2.4 million and increasing operating expenses by $60k and capital outlay by $100k, for an overall increase of $2.6 million, or 30.9% more than the adopted FY26 budget.

The salary and benefits increase reflects expenses for 18 new positions that were added to the department in the current fiscal year.

Interim City Manager Andrew Persons said staff would be bringing an FY26 budget amendment to reflect the estimated $2.2 million cost of building out the City’s data center in the RTS Maintenance Facility; those funds will come out of excess fund balance.

The budget estimates presented on May 5 will add $3.6 million to the FY26 adopted budget, an increase of 14.9%. The budget gap is currently $7.7 million, about $0.2 million more than the amount presented at the March 26 fiscal retreat. 

Upcoming budget meetings

The second budget workshop will be on May 28, covering Gainesville Police Department; Gainesville Fire Rescue; Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Affairs; and Public Works, including the first public hearing for the Fire Assessment Fee. The third budget workshop on June 2 will cover Housing and Community Development, Gainesville Community Reinvestment Area, Sustainable Development, Transportation, and non-departmental budgets. The City Commission will approve the maximum property tax rate on July 16, and budget hearings will be held on September 10 and September 24