Gainesville City Commission signals 7.8% property tax rate increase, $3.6 million in budget cuts to close $9.8 million budget gap
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At a June 12 Special Meeting, the Gainesville City Commission held its third budget discussion for the 2026 Fiscal Year and directed the City Manager to build the budget around raising property taxes by 0.5 mills (7.8%) and making about $3.6 million in budget cuts.
Click here for our article on the first budget workshop.
Click here for our article on the second budget workshop.
Budgets for remaining departments
Executive Chief of Staff Cintya Ramos gave a presentation about the budgets for the departments that had not yet been presented; the presentation can be seen here.
Gainesville Community Reinvestment Area
Gainesville Community Reinvestment Area (GCRA), which does not get any money from the City’s General Fund, proposed a $65k increase in salaries and benefits over the FY25 adopted budget, with no change in the number of positions. The budget proposes a $64k decrease in operating expenses, a Capital Outlay increase of $450k, a reduction of $572k in aid to private organizations, and a $298k reduction in “Transfer,” for an overall decrease of about $422k, or 6% less than the FY25 adopted budget.
Upcoming GCRA projects include Cornerstone/GTEC ($25.9 million), 8th Avenue & Waldo Road ($13.7 million), Downtown ($12 million), Heartwood ($5.7 million), and the FAPS Heritage Trail ($2.3 million). In FY26, Block by Block Ambassadors will provide downtown cleaning and safety services, and the GCRA would like to expand those services to cover all of downtown.
Housing and Community Development
The Department of Housing and Community Development only takes about $560k per year from the General Fund; most of its funding comes from grants. The proposed budget recommends a $70k increase in salaries and benefits and no change in operating expenses, for an overall increase of 14.3% from the FY25 adopted General Fund budget. The department has two vacant positions.
Ramos noted that if grant funding is reduced by the federal government, services could be impacted.
Sustainable Development
The Department of Sustainable Development, which administers the City’s Comprehensive Plan and codes, proposed an increase of about $67k in salaries and benefits, a reduction of about $9k in operating expenses, and a reduction of $1,836 in Aid to Private Organizations, for an overall 1.8% increase from the adopted FY25 budget. The number of positions will remain the same; there are currently 4.5 vacant positions.
Transportation
The Transportation Department’s General Fund budget is only projected to be $1.4 million for FY25 because most of its funding comes from grants. The proposed changes to the General Fund budget include a $34k increase in salaries and benefits and a $12k increase in operating expenses, for an overall 3.4% increase from the adopted FY25 budget.
The budget includes additional funding of $75k (for a total of $190k) for free bus fares for riders 18 and under and 65 and over, leveraging a federal grant (along with $190k from Alachua County); funding is also maintained for free bus passes for City employees. A new service contract with UF significantly impacted both revenues and expenditures, with the expenditures from other funds decreasing by $3 million from the FY25 adopted budget and by $12 million from the FY25 amended budget.
RTS revenue from UF decreased by $2.9 million, and revenue from federal grants decreased by $4.5 million; the City hopes to raise $300k in the next fiscal year from shelter/bench advertising. The City also hopes to rent out buses that are not actively in service and rent empty office space in the RTS Administration Building.
Staff recommends moving ADA service from MV Transportation to RTS
Staff recommended moving the ADA service in-house (currently provided by MV Transportation), freezing 10 positions, and reducing overtime expenses for RTS Clerks on Saturdays, along with the bus service reductions that were previously announced.
In response to a question from Commissioner Casey Willits, Transportation Director Jesus Gomez said that moving the ADA service in-house would have “an impact on services for people to get used to the new system,” but the service area would be the same.
In response to a question from Commissioner Bryan Eastman about the 20% cut in overall service hours for RTS buses, Gomez said there will only be one bus per route on Routes 5, 8, 15, and 43, so “usually you have a route to have 45-minute frequency, would be 90-minute frequency.” Eastman said decreasing the frequency will make it “disproportionately harder” to use a bus, particularly when trying to make transfers. Gomez estimated that the bus system will lose a million passengers a year as a result of the cuts.
Non-departmental
Non-departmental “is the department that covers expenditures that are governed by many different departments,” according to Ramos. The General Fund budget increases salaries and benefits from $185k to $3 million, increases operating expenses by $856k, increases aid to private organizations by $200k, decreases debt service by $1.3 million, and increases transfers by $740k, for an overall increase of $3.5 million, or 12.1% of the adopted FY25 General Fund non-departmental budget, along with $154 million from other funds.
The budget maintains GRACE Marketplace funding at $2,050,000, with $1.7 million of that from the General Fund and $350k from GCRA funds. It maintains funding for all outside agency grants, increases funding for the Combined Communications Center by $382k, increases funding for the Annual Required Contribution for Pension Plans, and includes $130k in funding for the Hoggetowne Medieval Faire, $40k for the Workplace Stewardship Committee, and $35k for the Holiday Parade.
Wild Spaces Public Places Department
The Wild Spaces Public Places Department only uses $11k from the General Fund budget; its budget also includes $10 million in expenses, including five positions, from other funds. The department is currently managing 40 active projects.
Revenue estimates
Ramos said the overall General Fund revenue estimates for FY26 are about $1.3 million more than FY25, a 0.9% increase. Expenditure estimates are about $11 million higher than FY25, an increase of 7.2%; that leaves a gap of about $9.8 million.
The City also has an excess of about $17 million in its General Fund Unassigned Fund Balance (reserves). About $9 million of that is available after funding critical life/safety projects, Workday Procurement Modules, the new Technology Department, and radio replacements for the police and fire departments, all recommended by staff.
Ramos said the General Fund Transfer (GFT) from GRU is set again this year at $8.5 million, but the City only expects to receive about $7.2 million after GRU subtracts the County streetlights and litigation expenses. She said that amount is “the lowest in recent history”: the GFT was $38.3 million in FY19, FY20, and FY21.
Mayor Harvey Ward said the City Commission adopted a formula that set the GFT at $15.3 million in FY24, “the biggest drop in the Government Services Contribution in history” at the time, but the current amount is “a fairly random number.”
“Structural revenue deficit” caused by GFT reductions
Ramos said the General Fund has a structural revenue deficit created by GFT reductions. In FY24, the City increased its property tax millage rate by 0.9297 mills (16.9%) and reduced operating expenditures to balance the budget, and she said they would be able to close the gap in this year’s budget if GRU paid the amount calculated by the City Commission’s formula for FY25 and FY26.
Four scenarios proposed by staff
Ramos offered the City Commission four scenarios to close the budget gap and said Scenario 3 is the staff’s recommendation:
- Scenario 1: increase millage by 0.8722 mills, which may be limited by the maximum millage determined by the Florida Department of Revenue on July 1;
- Scenario 2: increase millage by 0.4361 mills and use $4.9 million from reserves;
- Scenario 3: reduce fleet fixed payments by $2.9 million, reduce police and fire overtime expenses by $722k, use $551k in reserves, and increase millage by 0.5 mills
- Scenario 4: reduce fleet fixed payment by $2.9 million, reduce outside agency funding by 50%, find $3 million in cuts City-wide, and use $2.9 million from reserves.
Eastman: Commission could “bring these taxes right back down” if City regains control of GRU
Eastman said he would love to “bring these taxes right back down” if the City regains control of GRU and gets “back to some kind of a standard, regular transfer amount that is based on actual property taxes and franchise fees.” He said he would “reluctantly” support Scenario 2 or 3.
Commissioner James Ingle was “concerned about increasing the police budget by $4 million – that’s a big chunk of money.” He recommended putting the hiring of new officers “on hold.. until we’ve got some actionable money coming in, either by getting GRU back under control, or, you know, whatever happens next as we budget.”
Ingle: Religious organizations and nonprofits should pay the Fire Assessment Fee
Ingle also favored levying the Fire Assessment Fee against religious organizations and charities, which are currently exempted, because the fee is based on square footage, so churches with a lot of buildings get larger exemptions. As one example, he said, “In Gainesville, we’ve got an organization called the Pregnancy Crisis Center. It is basically anti-abortion activists masquerading as a health clinic. We give a subsidy to them through this fund; we give a 50% larger subsidy than we do to Planned Parenthood because they have a larger building.”
Ingle also called out a “private religious school” that has a $7,000 exemption and LifeSouth, which he said has “a pile of money, but we’re giving them $10,000 because they’re an organization that qualifies under charities for this fire assessment.” He said the exemption for Shands is $50,000 and described that as “cutting a $50,000 check to Shands.” He said there are “better ways to dole that money out to the people that need it, to where we do the most good” than with a Fire Assessment Fee exemption.
Ward: Not interested in a City-wide reduction of $3 million because it would reduce services
Ward said he was a “Scenario 3 guy” because “if we spent down a lot of excess fund balance, [recurring expenses] would be waiting for us next year.” He said he doesn’t like higher property taxes any more than anyone else, but “a thing I’m not interested in doing is Scenario 4, where we talk about expenditure reduction City-wide of $3 million – what that is, is a reduction in City services.”
Ward said overtime costs will increase if they don’t fund positions for officers.
Willits: Would prefer to give the amount of current Fire Assessment Fee exemptions “in one check to GRACE Marketplace”
Willits agreed that the Fire Assessment Fee for nonprofits is “nonsensical” because it’s based on “nothing but real estate… I would love to get more money in GRACE Marketplace, in almost every church in Gainesville, probably 95% of them, if they say, ‘We believe at our core in serving the homeless or the poor.'” He said he would rather “hand it in one check to GRACE Marketplace, rather than subsidizing it and then hoping it comes back to do the work.” He thanked Ingle for being “brave enough to really kick the wheels on it.”
Ward said he didn’t support removing the exemption “because I think it does open us up to Establishment Clause issues.” He said doing that would require “about a year and a half of conversation.”
Eastman agreed that it may not be possible to remove the exemption in this year’s budget cycle, but he wanted to “at least begin a conversation” in the next 60 to 90 days: “I think everything sounds good in theory, but in practice, it’s like the government has to fund itself, right?… Especially for the City of Gainesville, we have cut and we have cut and we have cut, and we’re now running on fumes.”
Public comment
During public comment on the budget, Randy Frantz from MV Transportation said the service’s on-time performance is at 98%, their accident rate is 45% less than average, they’ve received “rave reviews and the highest ratings on our most recent client survey,” and the employees have “extremely high job satisfaction.” He said when other cities have brought ADA transportation in-house, it “is always much more expensive and brings substantial lower quality because ADA service is the most operationally intensive business there is.” He said those higher costs “dwarf the imaginary $500,000 savings suggested in this proposal.” He added that since RTS is 77% of the company’s business volume in Gainesville, the company would not be able to remain operationally efficient, “stranding 15,000 trips a year” that are currently available to clients outside of Gainesville.
Spencer Morton, who uses MV Transportation, said a decision to bring ADA transportation in-house would affect not only city residents but also those in outlying areas, a situation he said could be “life-changing” and “devastating for a lot of people and jeopardize a lot of citizens in Alachua County with disabilities who rely on this service.”
Another speaker who lives in Alachua and works at the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office said, “Were this to go away, I very simply would not have transportation to get to work.”
ADA service change “because of the dramatic increase” in costs for FY26
After public comment, Commissioner Ed Book said the City decided to evaluate the service “because of the dramatic increase in monies that has been requested to go from Fiscal Year 2025 to Fiscal Year 2026… [It] came out of the cost increase by your company.” Book said he was not in favor of increasing the property tax millage, especially since maintaining the current rate would be an increase because of increasing property values. He favored looking at removing the nonprofit exemption for the Fire Assessment Fee in future budget years and freezing salaries for non-bargaining unit employees in the “top percentage of our salaries… It’s our charters, and it’s probably our top administrators.” He also suggested “changing our benefit package at the City Commission,” even if it has a small impact on the budget, “because we need to role-model some things.” He favored Scenario 4 and concluded, “This is a rough one tonight.”
Eastman: “The problem was not created by us.”
Agreeing it was “a rough one tonight,” Eastman said the City is in this position “not by our own volition” and referred again to the GFT being below the amount set by the City Commission’s formula. He continued, “What we’re doing is simply taking the pain that has been imposed upon us and finding a way to solve the problem, right? And the problem was not created by us… When you take something off of the tax roll, that has an impact, and that pain is being felt by the people of the community.” He said he still had a number of questions that he would like answered before the final budget is passed.
Ward said Commissioners have several weeks between each meeting to meet individually with Charter Officers to ask any questions they may have.
Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut said she didn’t have any problem with freezing the salaries of Commissioners, Charter Officers, or top administrators.
Ward said he was “not going to vote for salary freezes.”
First motion
Willits made a motion to direct the City Manager to bring back a budget under Scenario 3, with a maximum millage of 6.9297 mills. Ingle seconded the motion, and it passed by a vote of 6-1, with Book in dissent.
Second motion
Book made a motion to direct staff to provide an analysis to the City Commission of cost savings of salary freezes to three categories – the top 25%, top 15%, and top 10% of City employees – and any salary schedule ramifications or consequences, for employees who are not in a bargaining unit.
City Manager Cynthia Curry said, “This is not new to us; we have already been talking about it. We did not bring it as a recommendation because we would not recommend it. However, we’re not Commissioners. We’re prepared to provide the analysis.”
Book adjusted his motion to include City Commissioners and “any potential ramifications for benefits or pensions,” and Curry responded, “You want to cut to the bone.” Willits seconded the motion.
Ingle said he supported the motion, but “I don’t see salary freezes as getting us out of this hole.”
The motion passed 6-1, with Ward in dissent.
Third motion
Eastman made a motion to direct staff to review the impact of continuing to freeze some police officer positions and eliminating vacant positions under the Charter Officers, and Chestnut seconded the motion.
Ward said he didn’t support that motion, either, because “we’re looking at very small numbers here to make points, and they’re not going to make the impacts we think they’re going to make.”
Willits said he disagreed because if the impacts of Book’s and Eastman’s motions are added, they “start to get to at least protecting something that we have previously cut.”
The motion passed 5-2, with Ward and Willits in dissent.
Book encouraged MV Transportation to talk further with City staff to see if they could make a different offer that would change the decision to bring those services in-house.
Just from the headline…
Hope all of you liberal voting idiots are happy – 7.8% tax increase. In case you liberal voting idiots have forgotten, the homeless that the Commissioners keep funding don’t pay property taxes or utility bills.
Again, City leaders are doing more to keep people homeless than they are to help the homeless. I’d hope they would all have a heart attack but in Gainesville, there’d just be another fiscally incompetent idiot waiting to replace them.
You get what you vote for.
Jazzman’s favorite commissioner letting citizens down again. Im sure he will blame DJT and the GOP for this too
The state GOP took over City of Gainesville property and had no concern for how the city could or would handle the theft. Given that no one in the state GOP could be or had been elected with Gainesville votes, the act was needlessly and purposefully punitive. Even assuming GRU’s A rating at that point was not good enough – the same rating FPL had – there were other less Draconian and anti-democratic (both definitions apply) options available for mitigating that problem. Taking over city property was the most extreme and partisan.
DJT is only responsible for screwing up our country and it’s future and is hard at work doing that.
They took it because the city was using funds foolishly.
The locally elected fiscally incompetent knuckleheads have been using the “city, as in residents, owned” utility for years as their personal, politically driven piggy bank at increasing rates to the ratepayers to fund their own agenda. The citizens have had their pleas for not raising rates or increasing taxes fall on the deaf ears of those they were fooled into believing actually cared about anything other than painting a crosswalk or burning trees to cut down on green house gases.
I guess they’re the ones responsible for the fiscal state of Gainesville as well as the trash, increasing homeless population, and ridiculous new roadway changes.
The solution was to have GRU be fully regulated like FP&L so the PSUC approves all rate increases, but y’all screamed “bUt HoMe RuLE” while happily leaving 40 percent of GRU customers with less agency than the average FP&L customer
ACPS, that’s not up to the city or it’s voters. For some reason – anyone explain? – public utilities are not subject to state review of rates. That would seem a fair procedure to most I would think.
@ You voted for it, you got it.
You think you know it all. Let me ask you this: how come you’re not a commissioner? Because no one would vote for an I*d*i*o*t like you that’s why! You need to keep your mouth shut and do what you’re told when you’re told.
There’s a rope on fire that you should go pi$$ on with your idiotic comments!
What would be fair for homeowners in GNV, is if they could opt out of not paying property taxes for stupid shi# the forever Dimwit majority will continue to approve and waste taxpayers money on!
By the way, NYPD is looking for you. Call them.
Here’s your answer Hoyt. Because the really stupid people wouldn’t vote for me.
You know, people like you.
You’d rather get on this medium and show people what a really stupid dumbass you are by continuing to support those you bow down to…or is it suck on? Will you be just as forthcoming with an answer to that question or will something be caught in your throat?
Hoyt is a small hat. Can’t change them. Start noticing and act accordingly.
Hoyt needs to calm down and get another Covid shot!
Nothing makes me feel better than knowing if we as leaders run out of money it is just not a problem. I just go to the underlings I rule over and reach into their pockets and take what I need. Of course they cry and say I should just cut the budget, but I just look at them and say you better cut your budget because I am taking more and more of your money. NOW BRING ME MY DONUTZ!!!!
I’m not a city voter but I would vote for those who are trying to mitigate our national homeless problem. I also favor the county taking a more active role as the local manifestation pf that problem is not the city’s responsibility alone.
PS I keep private and under my breath those who I wish would have a heart attack. This is in the interest of public civility and living within a democracy. Some here are openly opposed to democracy and now think it OK to cross over into uncivil and uncivilized behavior, maybe taking their cue from our rude and uncivilized president. Maybe we can have higher standards here, keeping in mind what a low bar that is.
Have you ever been to the local Antifa HQ (aka Civic Media Center)? Then tell us about who’s behind our *local* urban decline. 🤡👹
Have you ever been to the Alachua County Republican HQ and home of dark money, dirty tricks, misleading flyers, and cult worship of MAGA and Brother John Birch by cultist idiots? That is where the real problem lies.
jk: “Antifa” does not exist. It is a MAGA Fox News invention to paint all their opponents as the ebil “boogeyman”. Got to hate something. MAGA hate.
May want to pass some of your high moral ground to Maxine Waters, Al Green, Jimmy Kimmel and many other very public figures in the Democratic party.
Although before you start casting stones, you may want to review some of your own past comments directed at some on this forum. I just take it as a grain of salt, people gonna vent.
Constitutional Republic, dummy. Look it up. Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what’s for dinner.
A Republic is a form of democracy you jerk.
“In fact, every single regime on earth today that calls itself “a democracy” clearly qualifies as a republic according to Madison’s definition. All the countries that are described as democracies in contemporary discourse use representative schemes of government, and all have a system which at least in part “derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people.” They also all elect representatives instead of employing direct lawmaking.
Consequently, in contemporary usage, there is no relevant difference between the words “republic” and “democracy.” Thus, claiming a preference for a republic over a democracy communicates essentially zero information.”
Jazzman: The joy of being a liberal: throw money at problems like homelessness—no results required, no questions asked. When will you get pissed off at your own lefty government for spending YOUR MONEY on problems that they NEVER FIX! Perhaps you’d like to share with us the benefits of the years of spending on homelessness in our area?
Jazz: if you are not a city voter, then you should stay out of city politics and shut your pie hole about GRU.
Sherman, dollars to donuts I’m not the only one of that status here offering an opinion and – unlike most here – I have always been out front about what elections I am qualified to vote in. I am also a GRU customer with that experience as well as a customer of other utilities at my same address as well as at another location on the county.
✨Seriously, Jen can you P LEASEban You Voted”s HATEFUL Comments ?
” You Voted “, is a Vile person only posting Hatred in every post.
☝️NOT OK.
✨I do not like maggats nor Chump nor Meatball.
All of whom ” You Voted ” worships falsely.
☮️Yet, their is something called HUMAN KINDNESS
DECORUM
COMPASSION &
EMPATHY.
✨It is NOT OK to wish for Legislators to have a Heart attack.
” You Voted, ”
YOU NEED TO STOP NOW !!!!
Before your comments are reported to HOMELAND SECURITY !
You must have missed the “but” in there.
Thanks for your concern towards your locally elected royalty though. Remember, it’s those on the dais who are wanting to cut funding for MV Transportation if they don’t get what they want. You might gain more empathy if you didn’t say you “didn’t like maggats nor Chump nor Meatball.” If it makes you feel better, neither do I. Especially maggots, I found a great way to get rid of them if you ever need one, but the best thing is not to have anything for flies to lay eggs in.
Why don’t you express the same frustration, using the same enthusiasm, with regard to what your elected representatives are spending money on? Maybe it’s the irresponsible spending, the increased taxes, rising trash fees, painted crosswalks, taking away vehicular traffic lanes – maybe that’s what you do like.
To ” You Voted “.
✨I encourage you to change your handle too:
🤔” You Voted just does not get it. ”
☝️I stated I do not like Chump, Maggats or Meatball.
✨To make an analogy that while I can not stand the idiot maggats you idol worship.
✨I do NOT call for their death !
🤬And, that is exactly what ” You Voted ” did !
🤦You called for Legislators that you do NOT like to have 💚 Attacks.
That is NOT OK.☝️
✨And, the fact that ” You Voted ” can not see that is VERY DISTURBING.
✨Please, I encourage ” You Voted ” to seek Immediate Counselling.
✨” You Voted ” you are part of the Problem.
Now fix it.
☝️Also your posts always are Vile & Hateful.
Good thing you still have the right to your opinion.
Thank goodness no one has taken that away; not that some haven’t tried and/or are trying.
Tax and spend liberals at play.
Note that Comm Eastman has brought up reducing/freezing Police/Fire budget again. It seems that he likes to use them as a PR stunt. A question, “how is police/fire overtime used. Is it because they are understaffed and forced to use overtime to meet staffing needs or is it meet immediate service needs even though fully staffed or some other reason. As they plan, they best be watching all federal grants to estimate what might be on the chopping block and how the city would adjust. An example would be RTS electric bus purchase grants.
Electric buses catch fire, often on their lots next to other busses. What’s their insurance rates for those, by the way?
Raise my property taxes and change my vote. Can’t handle it being higher than it is. And yes im I liberal.
Total lack of accountability, total lack of cutting non essential government functions (dei & climate change jobs) unfortunately will never change with voting demographics here. Gee, wonder why Newberry is growing so much? It’s a real mystery…
Newberry should annex Archer before the county takes over the latter.
Newberry should annex unincorporated west Gainesville too.
And thats why The Commie Commissioner’s want their
PIGGY BANK BACK!😢
GRU, 😩
Afraid to cut bloated services that they keep expanding?
These tax and spend liberals are out of control!
No fiscal responsibility whatsoever. Just finger pointing and excuse making for their own fiscally irresponsible spending decisions when they were repeatedly emptying the GRU ATM machine to fund their insatiable spending addiction with taxpayer money for wasteful spending and pet projects.
Just look at the % increases in taxes and property tax revenue over the past fives years. Even with the GFT they were spending even more and more money.
Absolutely shameful and tone deaf.
The goal of governance should be to make decisions that best serve the greater good. If you’re like me and have any fiscal responsibility you read the 4 options and thought “well… Option 4 actually isn’t a bad plan”. Harvey shoots it down immediately and sticks by the plan that negatively affects the greater population while protecting GRACE bums and extremely bloated city staff. Makes me sick
Ceb, I agree with you on this.
I did not like ANY of the Options and this needs to be scheduled for a PUBLIC MEETING.
To hear from Constituents before cutting Lifeline Services.
Such as MV TRANSPORTATION for Disabled Community Members.
Option 4, did seem like the better option.
And, yes I am really over the fact that so much goes to Grace.
What about Disabled, Veterans, Single Folks Struggling ?
Cut the city manager’s and charter officer’s pay. Cut the city attorney’s pay. Cut the DEI position altogether. Get rid of the homeless services!
Best comment in a nutshell.
Idiotic commission so out of touch.
Typical Democrat ,raise taxes, instead of cutting the budget they raise taxes , so typical…
VOTE THEM ALL OUT!
They just can’t stop spending. The governor and legislature better get this property tax stuff under control.
Can DOGE please come to Gainesville
“Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, says it has saved $160 billion through its push to root out wasteful or fraudulent government spending. But that effort may also have come at a cost for taxpayers, with a new estimate from a nonpartisan research and advocacy group estimating that DOGE’s actions will cost $135 billion this fiscal year.
The analysis seeks to tally the costs associated with putting tens of thousands of federal employees on paid leave, re-hiring mistakenly fired workers and lost productivity, according to the Partnership for Public Service (PSP), a nonpartisan nonprofit that focuses on the federal workforce….”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/doge-cuts-cost-135-billion-analysis-elon-musk-department-of-government-efficiency/
So, saving $25 billion out of a $6.75 trillion budget also cost us in less services, inefficiencies in functions, ceding soft power across the world to the Chinese and hundreds of thousands of kids in the 3rd world dying or suffering serious and probably fatal diseases.
You’ll never be a woman Jazzman.
Seriously, Rafal ?
Your comment makes no sense.
I do not think Jazzman is posting anything about being a woman.
Stop posting irrelevant, hateful & bigoted comments.
Muchas Gracias.
Thank you.
You follow CBS News 🤡👹?
CBS still *has* news??
Yeah anonymous, and I prefer news sources with a reputation to protect, have actual reporters, who cover all news, and provide corrections when wrong. I’m sure someone’s crazy uncle on Facebook is all you require for your bias confirmation, at least judging from what you add to discussions.
Really! Well, I guess you have a convoluted (and always entertaining) rationale for Project Mockingbird, redirecting the blame to Reagan, Trump, and DeSantis.
https://youtu.be/C-4HOgULcd8
Dude, that link goes to an opinion video “exposing” Sinclair Media for it’s biased and uniform reporting across the numerous local TV stations it owns. Sinclair Media features pro-Trump right wing opinion pieces and actually has ex-Trump officials on it’s staff.
You sure that’s what you intended to post?
Thanks Jazz. The original video is getting harder to find.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZggCipbiHwE
We needs to get GRU back like Jazzydude say. So we can fund needed stuff for the peeps like the chestnut football magnification. Then we ain’t got shooters at McPherson park.
Such cruel people on the City Commission. Knowing that forty per
cent of us can’t vote in the election, they threaten property taxes and our homes. These people need to work outside of government jobs before they reign over us. Then they would know not all working people are offered salary increases, cushy pensions and increased benefits. It can’t be legal to threaten us if we are not allowed to vote. All hail, Queen Cynthia and King Ward.
If you are the “40%” then that means you do not live in city limits so the city’s property taxes would not affect on you. Do your research the next time to save embarrassment.
Massive GRU Service Level Agreement (SLA) losses totaling MORE than the GRU Direct Transfer are being ignored by GRU AND the City Commission in violation fo HB 1645. See whypaygrumore.com for the details.
Q: Why aren’t the NEW student luxury apts and high density neo-traditional subdivisions paying off in tax revenues?
A: because they simultaneously appease the criminal growth sector (ACLUSPLCDNC) who donate to their local political campaigns…🤡👺💩🏳️🌈👿👹
Most of those units are going for $1K a month and up *per bedroom* … move along, nothing to see here
But the city also adds section 8 or demands “affordable” (unscreened criminal occupant) tenants elsewhere, to appease their lawyer donors. 👺👹
I communicated badly; I wasn’t rebutting, just pointing out that if those rentals are even close to capacity, there should be a TON of new tax revenues headed to the City. If not, why? If so, where’s it going?
What a bunch of snake oil salesmen. They are disgusting people.
They won’t freeze salaries of Commissioners, Charter Officers, or top administrators but want to increase property tax and cut funding for disabled transportation.
Eastman: “bring these taxes right back down” if City regains control of GRU. They want their hands on that GRU money so bad.
There is an ad on Indeed for an Organizational Culture & Belonging Specialist for the City…….paying $60k-$92k, wtf is that??? why? This is not what they were elected for, govt spending is out of control and as long as they have access to our money it will never change. If you think they will not continue to increase utility rates if they ever get their slimy hands back on that money, you need to be slapped into reality.
its one of many non-essential positions that the city is making a conscious choice not to cut. In a functioning environment when fiscal austerity happens responsible leaderships #1 priority should be to cut these types of services.
Imo the city believes they will get the gru money back through the courts to fund these non-essential positions so they don’t want to cut and re-hire once the slush fund rolls back in.
should close the golf course as well in a fiscal crisis. oh well.
One might conclude they’re buying votes.
‘Give us the utility and we’ll lower your taxes.’ Where and who have we heard this lie from before?
Yes, they are buying votes… “if we get GRU back, these property tax increases will disappear…”
This bunch of inept and incompetent politicians has not reduced the budget one single dollar the entire time they have been in office. Smoke and mirrors, yes; actual cuts, NO. Notice they of course need yet another 7.8% PLUS yet still more ($3 million) for their “austere” budget. I guess they don’t realize that stealing from GRU doesn’t effect how much citizens pay in total fees and taxes to this grossly expensive and poorly run city.
Thank you, Jennifer, for this and all your hard work to cover important news well and provide space to comment on it.
Rent will have to go up 10%
We don’t need sustainable development…that’s not a mandate from the state or federal government..that’s United Nations agenda 21z
Get rid of Grace and I wish I got a raise. They should not be getting raises.
For once, Mr. Pink I agree with you.
Stop funding Grace Marketplace.
Grace Marketplace, takes too many funds away from many other programs & services.
And, whomever of two jerks that downvoted my previous post.
Too SAVE MV TRANSPORTATION.
Your downvote signifies you have no 💚, no Conscience & lack empathy !
✨MV TRANSPORTATION, is a Lifeline for Disabled Folks !
✨SAVE MV TRANSPORTATION NOW !
✨All the budget cuts are due to the GRUAB Takeover which is NOT good for any of the GRU Customers or Community !!!
Our GRU payments once supported Our Communities.
Now Ed BS Bielarski is squandering all the GRU funds with his maggat UNELECTED GRUAB.
Talk to GRU Employees…Ed BS is despised !
Wake up People !
Be Kinder.
As long as they keep raising taxes on the already high taxes, there never will be sustainable development.
I’d wager there are more people moving out of Gainesville than there are in. Look around the downtown corridor and along University Ave, 60% of the businesses there now weren’t there 2 years ago and likely won’t be there 2 years from now. Not under current Gainesville fiscal ignorance anyway. (Shouldn’t count the student population, many of them aren’t educated yet.)
City of Gainesville and alachua County in financial peril so rope the property owners. Way to go!!
Cut the useless spending. Get the gru monkey off the backs of the taxpayers.
This place is a freakin fiscal catastrophe. Seriously.
GRU should be restructured as a CO-OP. Then ALL rate payers can vote on how much to give the city
The county would have to buy part of it from the city.
Jazzy, Why would the county have to buy part of it? City can still own assets. Customers get to vote in board so DeSantis will be out of mix. We can even start with current board and we can vote to retain or replace each. Limit the vote to actual GRU customers, where each account/meter gets one vote. The Co-op would determine the GFT, which the city earns by owning GRU’s assets. Like now, it will be smaller because paying down the debt.
The other idea, having the PSC fully regulate it may work if they can pass legislation capping GFTs too
Both have been brought up in committee– capping GFTs and requiring full PSC regulation of municipal utilities– but municipal lobby groups are very strong
The idea of restructuring like a co-op, where customer-members vote on/approve board while city retains ownership of assets (think of reasonable GFT as “lease” on equipment), would be the most democratic and wouldn’t require another layer of regulation/management.
Let me get this straight… Raise taxes on the public and increase salary to the staff. Hard no!
SAVE MV TRANSPORTATION.
MV TRANSPORTATION, helps the most vulnerable in our Community.
Differently abled Folks.
Folks that need to get too dialysis.
Folks that are blind.
Folks that can not walk !
That still need too get too appointments.
RTS is, very poorly run & is a nightmare.
Please, call, write & go in person to GNV Mayor & Commissioners.
Tell them to SAVE MV TRANSPORTATION.
MV Transportation can not be cut !
SAVE MV TRANSPORTATION !
RTS is a clown show. 99% ride free. UF keeps it going. Get educated
Did you know UF is a huge, part of the problem ?
UF is cutting RTS.
Now RTS who has NO EXPERIENCE AT ALL operating Paratansit.
Is trying to take over MV Transportation.
MV Transportation does a Awesome job & provides an vital service that we must save.
MV Transportation is the provider for ADA trips in Alachua County.
SAVE MV TRANSPORTATION.
Here’s an idea…
STOP THE LAWSUITS! This infighting isn’t doing anyone any good. GRU was placed under the management of GRUA to get the debt paid down and reduce rates. I don’t know about the rest of y’all, but my bill has significantly reduced. If your bill isn’t going down, have someone come out and educate you on where the leaks are (too many electronics, thermostat wars, insufficient insulation, just to name a few).
Bring back sanity!