Gainesville City Commission’s second budget meeting reveals increasing budget gap

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At a Special Meeting on May 22, the Gainesville City Commission heard presentations about the proposed budgets for fire, police, parks, and public works and voted for a small increase in the Fire Assessment Fee; the current gap between the proposed budget and expected revenues is between $8.5 and $9 million.

This was the second in a series of budget meetings. The previous meeting, which discussed the budgets for the Charter offices, is described here.

Gainesville Fire Rescue

Gainesville Fire Rescue (GFR) proposed a $1.6 million increase in salaries and benefits from the General Fund) and a $27k increase in operating expenses, for an overall increase of about $1.6 million, or 5.9% more than the FY25 adopted budget. There is no change in the number of positions in the department. 

Executive Chief of Staff Cintya Ramos said that the increases are driven primarily by an increase in overtime, raises specified in the City’s contract with the firefighters’ union, and an increase in the cost of fleet services. $233k in funding for the Fire Assessment is being moved to the Non-departmental budget. 

Gainesville Police Department

Gainesville Police Department (GPD) proposed a $3.4 million increase in salaries and benefits from the General Fund and a $955k increase in operating expenses, for an overall increase of $4.3 million, or 10.4% more than the FY25 adopted budget. 

The budget reinstates funding for 20 police officer positions that were frozen in the FY25 budget year, eliminates a Police Service Technician position, and adds a grant-funded position. Additional funding has been added for overtime, school crossing guards, fleet services, the body-worn cameras contract, and the remaining years of the TASER contract, which was previously funded from Forfeiture funds. The department currently has 31 officer vacancies, and Chief Nelson Moya said those are expected to be filled “by the early part of next year.” Major Jaime Kurnick added that it takes 11 months from the date a police officer candidate is hired until the officer is fully trained.

In response to a question from Commissioner Casey Willits, City Manager Cynthia Curry clarified that the 31 positions include the 20 positions that are currently unfunded. 

Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs

The Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs proposed a $440k increase in salaries and benefits and a $46k increase in operating expenses, for an overall increase of about $486k, or 4.1% more than the FY25 adopted budget.

The proposed increases include contractual increases in maintenance for pools, grounds, parks, and trails, along with holiday celebrations. The budget includes $130k for the Hoggetowne Medieval Faire. No positions were added.

Public Works 

The Public Works Department proposed a $326k increase in salaries and benefits and a $630k reduction in operating expenses, for an overall decrease of about $304k, or 1.9% less than the FY25 adopted budget.

About 70% of the department’s funding comes from non-General-Fund sources, including the tree mitigation, roadway resurfacing, stormwater management, and solid waste funds. Three positions were added to the Urban Forestry Program, funded by the Tree Mitigation Fund, and the IQ Fiber 3rd-party inspections program was eliminated, along with the associated funding from IQ Fiber. The budget includes increases in the prices of contracts and vehicle tracking software.

Ramos presented the current state of the budget, which is now at a total of $128,324,526 for the departments that have been covered in the first two meetings, an increase of $7.3 million (6.0%) over the FY25 adopted budget for those departments. Six more departments will be covered on June 12, and Commissioners will see the entire budget on that date.

Budget gap is currently between $8.5 and $9 million

Curry said the increase of $7.3 million is “a creep beyond the initial number of $5.3 [million].”

Ramos explained that the police and fire departments “make up the majority of the General Fund budget, two of which have… a $1.6 and a $4.3 million increase. So obviously that’s going to drive our gap higher than what we presented to you on March 27… [The gap is] between $8.5 and $9 [million] at this point.” She said a preliminary plan for balancing the budget will be presented on June 12.

Curry said the City has an excess fund balance of about $18 million, and some one-time items could come out of that, but Public Works has expressed “the urgency behind some of the maintenance that we have not been able to address.” She said those items will be brought to the Finance Committee next week. However, she said, the remainder can be used “to balance some of what we have here, along with additional revenues that will hopefully be generated from another glance at our property tax growth,” state revenue sharing, and other sources.

Fire Assessment Fee

Curry recommended increasing the Fire Assessment Fee rates to recoup up to 53% of fire services costs, with increases ranging from about a quarter cent per square foot for single-family residential buildings to about a half cent per square foot for institutional buildings. The increase is expected to raise $317,257 more than FY25, a 2.6% increase.

Rates Per Square Foot:

• Single Family Residential $ 0.0900
• Multi-Family Residential $ 0.0892
• Commercial $ 0.1185
• Industrial/Warehouse $ 0.0884
• Institutional $ 0.2267

Willits immediately made a motion to postpone the discussion and ask staff to bring back the methodology used from 2010 through FY23; he has repeatedly argued that the methodology adopted in 2023 unfairly penalizes multifamily structures. The motion failed for lack of a second.

In response to a question from Commissioner Ed Book, Curry said someone with a 1,700-square-foot house would pay about $153.75 with the new rate, compared to about $150 last year ($149.26).

Motion

Willits made a motion to set the preliminary rate resolution at 53% of fire services costs, and Eastman seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. The rates are the maximum that can be set for the next fiscal year, but they can be reduced.

Student murder memorial trees

During Commission Comment, Ward said FDOT diagnosed one of the student murder memorial trees on SW 34th Street with lethal bronzing disease and has already replaced the tree. Ward said he would be talking to the Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization about creating a more permanent monument in that space because “living things like trees also cease to live at some point.”