“This is outrageous”: Alachua County Commission hears potential effects of property tax reform on County budget

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At the February 10 Alachua County Commission meeting, County staff responded to a recent Florida DOGE report that highlighted Alachua County budget increases, and Commissioners expressed the hope that initiatives to limit property taxes on homesteaded properties would fail.

Alachua County Manager Michele Lieberman said that since Fiscal Year 2018, Alachua County has reduced the general millage rate by 0.8648 mills, a 10.22% decrease, while the MSTU Law Enforcement (MSTU-LE) millage rate has remained unchanged for the past six years. Over the same time period, the property valuation in the county increased 72%, while property taxes increased 54%. 

Lieberman said the County is also committed to providing a living wage, and since Fiscal Year 2018, the County’s minimum wage has increased from $13 to $18.50. She said these efforts support workforce retention and help the County remain competitive in tight labor markets. 

How Alachua County’s property taxes compare to other counties

Lieberman’s presentation began with an overview of how Alachua County’s millage compares to other Florida counties; the County’s aggregate millage rate is 9.0768 mills, which is 51st out of 67 counties. The General Fund millage rate of 7.6180 mills is 41st out of 67 counties. County property taxes are $714 per capita, the 32nd lowest among 67 counties and lower than the state average of $942. 

Lieberman said only 67.36% of the assessed property value in the county is taxable, less than the state average of 84%. She said that a millage of 6.1045 mills could generate the same revenue if the taxable value of property matched the state average, and she suggested that a payment in lieu of taxes from institutions like the University of Florida could be a partial solution.

Referring to the slide shown above, Lieberman said that the property tax on a homesteaded property increased from $2,489.17 in FY20 to $2,875.35 in FY26, an increase of less than $100 per year.

Lieberman said the County’s inflation rate (the Municipal Cost Index or MCI) is higher than the CPI, which is linked to a consumer product index, so it’s not accurate to compare the County’s budget increases with the CPI. She said increases in employee benefits, waste hauling, construction costs, ambulance costs, fire trucks, and paving are considerably higher than the inflation rate. 

Assistant County Manager Tommy Cosby showed a chart from Florida DOGE report, demonstrating that Alachua County’s General Fund spending nearly doubled while the population only increased by 15%. Crosby said the growth in the budget was “more aligned with what we’re seeing in terms of true economic growth. Over that same period of time, we were seeing almost 30% growth in the economy, between inflation plus the population.”

The Florida DOGE report called out Alachua County’s across-the-board pay increases of 6%, 4%, 7%, and 3% in recent years, and Crosby said the County “actually provided [cost-of-living increases] of 23% over that six-year window, which is less than the cost of inflation. So I don’t think there’s any apologies needed for trying to recruit and retain good employees.”

Responding to an assertion in the Florida DOGE Report that the County had not kept any records of invoices or payment specifics regarding contracts with the University of Florida, Crosby said the Clerk’s office “has verified that any payment made had an appropriate invoice included with the payment and supported the consulting contracts.” 

Regarding terminal payouts made to employees by the County that the Florida DOGE report listed as excessive, Crosby said, “I would like to remind the State — that is consistent with Florida law and how they pay terminal payouts as well… All those are in alignment with Florida’s statutes.” Lieberman added that Florida law requires the County to pay those terminal payouts. 

Referring to the chart above, Lieberman said that 63% of the MSTU-LE and General Fund revenues come from property taxes; the second highest source of revenue is rollover funding from prior years, and the third, at 7%, is ambulance fees. 

Referring to the slide above, Lieberman said the County spends $186.6 million a year on public safety, $64 million on serving the community, $39 million on improving the community, and $40.7 million on County and facility operations, “so a majority of County spending supports direct service delivery,… especially the protection and community-serving functions.”

Services mandated by the State include $6.2 million for the 8th Judicial Circuit (including court administration, court facilities, and the State Attorney and Public Defender offices) and $12 million for state-required services (including juvenile detention, Medicaid, the Medical Examiner’s Office, and the Health Department). The budgets for all of these entities are set by the State, and Lieberman said the County could cut the property tax rate by about 0.75 mills if the State paid for those services.

Lieberman said that under current House proposals, the County would lose between $2 million and $85 million in revenue per year. The worst case, which would be the elimination of all County property taxes on homesteaded properties, would cut the County’s property tax revenue to $142 million.

Chair Ken Cornell: “In the discussions I’ve had at the legislature with some of the Senators, they’re getting polling now from the Boomer generation that is terrified of a reduction of services, and they don’t think that this would pass.”

Chair Ken Cornell said, “In the discussions I’ve had at the legislature with some of the Senators, they’re getting polling now from the Boomer generation that is terrified of a reduction of services, and they don’t think that this would pass.” He said the County’s lobbyist thinks nothing will come out of the regular legislative session: “It’s going to come out of a special session. It’s all supposed to happen this summer.”

Lieberman said the next budget has to be passed by September 30, but the County won’t know the impact of any ballot resolution until November: “So we’re trying to be responsible in what we’re presenting to you, but we’re coming from a point of not exactly knowing.”

Commissioner Anna Prizzia said her understanding is that the legislative proposals require the County to “hold harmless” the public safety budget, but the County’s expenses for the Sheriff’s Office and Fire Rescue are higher than the $142 million projected under the worst-case proposal.

Lieberman said that the required expenses for the 8th Judicial Circuit, state-required services, the ambulance subsidy, and law enforcement add up to $24 million more than the $142 million in projected revenue that would result from eliminating property taxes on homesteaded properties. She also pointed out that not all of the County’s other revenue can be reallocated to those expenses because some funds are restricted to certain expenses.

Lieberman listed examples of General Fund expenses that would not be funded under the scenario above: Animal Services, Community Support Services, Parks, and the offices of the Property Appraiser, Supervisor of Elections, Tax Collector, and the County Clerk. She said other unknowns are how the Water Management Districts, Children’s Trust, and Library District would be funded. She said schools are not affected: “People will still pay school taxes under all of these proposals.”

Commissioner Mary Alford said she thinks property insurance is a bigger burden than property taxes, and “coming after us is, I think, a fool’s errand.”

County Manager Lieberman: “There is a very real recognition at the state level that many municipalities may not survive the elimination of property tax, which means that the County becomes responsible… for the municipalities who can’t survive.”

In response to a question from Commissioner Marihelen Wheeler about whether the State might reduce the mandated spending if property taxes are reduced, Lieberman said, “As a reminder,… the elimination of property tax also hits every municipality, and there is a very real recognition at the state level that many municipalities may not survive the elimination of property tax, which means that the County becomes responsible… for the municipalities who can’t survive.”

Commissioner Charles Chestnut said, “What the state has been doing to the cities and counties over the years hasn’t been fair. We all know that.” He said most legislators have never served in local government, so some of them don’t understand local budgets, “and then you’ve got politics. They’re playing politics. They’re playing to their leaders… If you’re going to judge us, okay, let us judge you, also, in terms of how you’re spending and what you’re funding… We’re not in a position to do that, but they are, and I think that’s the unfair part for us.”

Commissioner Charles Chestnut: “This is outrageous.”

Chestnut continued, “This is outrageous… If we have to start at a $24 million deficit to develop our budget,… how do we… continue the level of services that we provide to our citizens?… They’re using DEI as an example for this foolishness that they’re doing, which has nothing to do with it. When you really look at the DEI stuff that’s being spent across the state, it’s not very much.”

Chestnut expressed his frustration with legislators who have “no experience” and added, “It’s just frustrating to me. I just don’t think that people are really paying attention… Let’s hope that this doesn’t go far at all. I hope that the citizens wake up and start paying attention.”

Prizzia said, “I think it’s very clear, looking at this, the things that people rely on every day, whether that’s just road repaving or an ambulance showing up, could have really detrimental effects if some of these property tax proposals make their way through the legislature.”

Regarding schools, Prizzia said they have not been protected from the cuts “because the voucher system gutted our schools’ funding systems already… I’m also really frustrated with the hold-harmless for law enforcement. While — 100% — public safety and law enforcement are one of our most important duties in government, holding law enforcement harmless is saying… they don’t also have fat they could cut, or they don’t also have places where maybe they could be thoughtful about the way in which they’re expending funds… If you’re asking us all to take a hard look at our budgets and a hard look at the way in which we expend public dollars, then I think the largest expenditure of our budget should be the very first place that we look.”

Chair Cornell: “I’m actually kind of embarrassed for the State, to be honest.”

Cornell said he owed the other Commissioners an apology because when he heard the County was being audited, “I got really excited — like, this is gonna be great… So, first of all, I apologize for that. I mean, I’m actually kind of embarrassed for the State, to be honest. [The Florida Association of Counties (FAC)] put out a statement and said… ‘there are serious concerns about the accuracy of the data and the conclusions drawn from it. It relies on selective snapshots, one-size-fits-all formulas that do not reflect the full and correct range of services local governments are required to deliver.'”

Cornell said FAC “loaded this report into AI,” and “here’s what AI said about the report… Basically, what [the state] did is, they fed into AI what they wanted to say, and here’s the evidence that AI kicked back out from what the report said… It says there was a formulaic argument flow: nearly every section follows the same sequence — data, moral judgment, political framing, conclusion. That consistency across unrelated topics and jurisdictions strongly suggests automated narrative generation from structured inputs.”

Chair Cornell: “Despite what the appointed CFO from Florida says — which, by the way, he’s not a CPA, and he used to be the head of the Republican Party for the state — in my opinion, that report was an AI-generated political hit job.”

Cornell concluded, “[The Florida DOGE report] reused templates across cities and counties. We have 67 counties; they’re all different… Our county’s budgets are transparent. They’re fiscally responsible… Despite what the appointed CFO from Florida says — which, by the way, he’s not a CPA, and he used to be the head of the Republican Party for the state — in my opinion, that report was an AI-generated political hit job… I am grateful for the work that our staff has done, for the input that our citizens give us as we set our budget, and I’m sorry that the rest of the counties are going through this pain of how to fund the local services that your community desperately needs.”

Lieberman concluded by saying that state legislators are saying the people should have a say in limiting property taxes, but “people have a say when they go to our elections here in the community… And as a reminder,… because of where the population centers are, approximately eight-ish counties could pass a constitutional amendment for the other 59. So if it is important to keep your decisions on that local level, it’s important not to vote for this on a statewide level.”