Gainesville City Manager warns that funding may not be available for community organizations in future budgets

Press release from City of Gainesville

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Gainesville City Manager Cynthia W. Curry is encouraging community organizations that receive support from the City of Gainesville to consider Fiscal Year 2025 budget plans that do not rely on City funding.

In a message sent today to community-based service providers, City Manager Curry outlined the uncertainties facing the City of Gainesville as her office begins the Fiscal Year 2025 budget process.

In past years, the City has relied on funds from Gainesville Regional Utilities to help support public services and programs. But as the members of the Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority Board continue to analyze the utility’s debt level and rate structure, this Government Services Contribution (GSC) — formerly called the General Fund Transfer — could potentially be lowered or eliminated.

The City Manager’s message reads:

Dear Community-based Service Providers,

On behalf of the City of Gainesville, I would like to thank you for your dedication to our residents and your continued partnership with the City. Your presence in the community and involvement with the City helps us to deliver important services, enrich our cultural resources, and improve the quality of life for our neighbors.

When developing the Fiscal Year 2024 Budget, General Government was faced with unprecedented challenges – including navigating a $19.0 million revenue deficit as a result of a 55.4% reduction to our second largest revenue source – the General Fund Transfer – now referred to as the Government Service Contribution, remitted to General Government by the Gainesville Regional Utilities. Through reductions in personnel, including eliminating 125.5 positions, increasing the millage rate, and making other revenue and expenditure adjustments, we were able to balance the budget and preserve outside agency grant funding.

We are now working on the Fiscal Year 2025 operating budget, and at this time, we are facing similar uncertainties regarding revenue sources. Future discussions and budget development processes will bring these uncertainties to resolution. However, we are preparing for additional reductions in our key revenues such as the Government Services Contribution and indirect costs, which could potentially further reduce our available resources. This will surely impact our ability to maintain current funding levels for General Government programs, services, and the level of outside agency support you have come to rely on.

I share this information with you in the spirit of transparency as you begin to prepare your budgets and develop your fundraising plans for the upcoming year.

Again, thank you for making Gainesville the special place it is. Please do not hesitate to contact my office with questions.

Cynthia W. Curry
City Manager
City of Gainesville

  • Dear City Manager Curry, Screw you. You couldn’t budget your way out of a paper bag with a hole in both ends and you are part of the problem.
    Must suck when you and the rest of the city’s knuckleheads can’t rely on GRU revenues to fund your pet projects.

  • Instead of a question here’s a suggestion – cut expenditures. That’s what the rest of us have to do when costs exceed income. In other words, “suck it up buttercup.” That’s what we have to do under the fiscal incompetence of her owners.

    Maybe she needs to learn to balance a checkbook before crying poor mouth and asking for our understanding of their poor use of our taxes.

  • There’s non-monetary ways of supporting the groups and organizations that this may impact. “A penny saved is a penny earned.” Allowing these organizations access to facilities, permits, and city platforms could save them money and in turn will save money for the citizens of Gainesville. City government has many ways of partnering with outside entities, and discounting basic services is one.

    • Fareed, discounting ‘basic services’ does three things:
      1) Increases the tax load on working taxpayers.
      2) Involuntary contribution to groups the taxpayers might not want to support.
      3) Reduces revenue, reducing financial support for the real job of the city.

    • This stance is exactly why many GRU customers outside the city are overjoyed about the removal of the city commission’s sticky fingers from our wallets. A review of the addressee list from WCJB’s article on this matter shows the extent that our utility payments have been redirected to fund activities many people would rather not support.

  • The GCC maxed out GRU’s credit cards with their  multi BILLION dollar Biomass/Tree Burner INCINERATOR and are wanting GRU customers to feel sorry for them.

     This is not the first pity party they have hosted when it comes to taking accountability for their FAILURES.

    Over the past 15 plus years they turned City Hall into a costly Taj Mahal and still adding on !!!!!!

    They need to DOWNSIZE city hall and stop asking GRU customers to bail them out – and deal with their spending ADDICTION. 

    Time to stop enabling their spending addiction.

    • IMO, this will be the last year any GRU revenue will go to the City. It is needed to lower rates and reduce the unconscionable debt heaped upon the GRU customers and city residents. The Democrat politicians will face a taxpayer revolt if they try to pile on still more record taxes next year.

  • Curry: “This will surely impact our ability to maintain current funding levels for General Government programs, services, and the level of outside agency support you have come to rely on.”

    It is fascinating to watch the sheer arrogance of the City’s response to HB 1645 over the past few months transforming itself into the self-serving, ‘transparent’ piety sandwich to organizations already aware the herd has been trimmed.

    Curry should consider a career in the Hallmark holiday card business since she has a real winner here.

  • Ohh the money will be there. Some other departments in city government may have to suffer but the pet projects will be funded.

  • “Gainesville City Manager warns that funding may not be available for community organizations in future budgets”

    Thanks Captain Obvious for the reality that is foreign to most liberal leaders. And NO….it’s NOT Ron Desantis’s fault. Your irresponsible leftist free spending ways is why we’re here.

  • Accounting is like wishing well
    2025 budget is a far off timelines.
    Hero is not the authority, no.
    Ronald the don’t say or read this 🤔. Omg.judasss is here. Hang in their judas there was a 🌪 🌀 🌪 tornadoes…..terrible news of governors manion 🌳 tree falling down…..omy God..
    Bitcoin holders could donate,flip a 🪙 💰 coin. In good faith for our community. The ” US” fund
    Biomass is a thing in accounting makes it look in red,very in black…accounting again..I know I am 😃 laughing a bit inside.
    🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄
    Merry Christmas 🎅 🎄 ❤️ 🧑‍🎄🤶🎁🎀enjoy the season amen Jesus 🙏.
    I know the airport has international flights ✈️ 🙃 so 🤷 or just veggies on 🛋 couch.
    🥏✨️🥏✨️🥏✨️

  • I would suggest that these so called leaders and staff keep their hands off and no budget cuts to the Law Enforcement and Fire/ Rescue services. Of course this is how the wokesters and democrats always play it out. They don’t seem to take JLAC seriously. Either they get serious about really getting the fat out of City Hall and pet projects or risk being removed from any authority over anything, not just GRU.

  • DON’T ASK.
    They wont tell:

    The City of Gainesville Florida is exempt from Florida’s Open Records Law, FS 119? Gainesville chronically hides and closely guards information on spending from the public,

    Gainesville’s highly paid management behaves like a giant interstellar presence from which no light is allowed to escape. Managers deal in multimillion dollar double talk that falls on the happy ears of city commissioners, even those that know that it is.

    For months proper requests for the number of executive management employees in the managers office and their salaries + benefits have gone unanswered. One deceptive document was circulated among city commissioners confirming curiously that the majority of so-called reductions in management costs actually don’t exist. The false data remained unchallenged by city commissioners.

    And don’t dare ask about the new secret, multi million dollar, multi year, no-bid garbage contract hiding stunning increases in the cost of home garbage containers. No bid, no disclosure, no worry, Gainesville is exempt, but the poorest are not.

    To share, here is a copy of a recent request for a real easy public record that like others that have been ignored since February.

    Mark (email deleted here)
    Nov 26, 2023, 7:59 PM
    to citymgr@cityofgainesville.org

    Dear City Manager,

    Please email a list of payment(s) made by the City of Gainesville to any former Gainesville Florida City Commissioner, Mayor, and former city manager(s) directly or through a company since January 2021.

    Thank you in advance for this public information on payments to former city employees.

    Mark Goldstein
    Gainesville, Florida

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