Wastewater funding requests dominate Legislative Delegation hearing

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

Updated on January 13 to reflect information from the Property Appraiser’s office, clarifying that they were not requesting funding for the heirs program but sharing one of the office’s achievements.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Funding for wastewater plants was a recurring theme at this year’s Alachua County Legislative Delegation Hearing.

The five legislators – Senator Jennifer Bradley, Senator Stan McClain, Representative Chuck Brannan, Representative Yvonne Hinson, and Representative Chad Johnson – heard from elected officials and representatives of local agencies at Santa Fe College on January 9 in preparation for the upcoming legislative session, which begins on March 4.

Hinson, who is from Gainesville and represents District 21 (parts of Alachua County and parts of Marion County), is in her third term. She will serve as the Democratic Ranking Member on the Education and Employment Committee and will also serve on the Student Academic Success Subcommittee, the Insurance and Banking Subcommittee, the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee, the Agriculture & Natural Resources Budget Subcommittee, and the Industries & Professional Activities Subcommittee.

Johnson, who is from Chiefland and represents District 22 (Gilchrist County, Levy County, and the western part of Alachua County), is in his first term. He will serve on the Health and Human Services Committee, the Human Services Subcommittee, the Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee, the Justice Budget Subcommittee, the Careers Workforce Subcommittee, and the Joint Administrative Procedures Committee. 

Brannan, who is from Macclenny and represents District 10 (Baker County, Bradford County, Columbia County, Union County, and part of Alachua County), is in his fourth term. He will chair the Judiciary Committee and will serve on the Budget Committee, Commerce Committee, and Security & Threat Assessment Committee.

Bradley, who is from Fleming Island and represents District 6 (Baker County, Bradford County, Clay County, Columbia County, Gilchrist County, Union County, and part of Alachua County), was first elected to the Senate in 2020. She will chair the Regulated Industries Committee and is Vice Chair of the Appropriations Committee on Higher Education. She will also serve on the Appropriations Committee on PreK-12 Education, Criminal Justice Committee, Ethics and Elections Committee, Fiscal Policy Committee, Rules Committee, and as Alternating Chair of the Joint Committee on Public Counsel Oversight.

McClain, who is from Ocala and represents District 9 (Levy County, Marion County, and part of Alachua County), is in his first term as a Senator after serving four terms in the House. He will Chair the Community Affairs Committee and will serve on the Appropriations Committee; the Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government; the Appropriations Committee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development; the Commerce and Tourism Committee; the Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee; the Transportation Committee; the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee; and the Joint Select Committee on Collective Bargaining. 

Overview of legislative session

Bradley gave an overview of the schedule leading up to the legislative session: they already had one Committee Week, and the next two weeks will be Committee Weeks, along with the first three weeks in February. She said 2,000-3,000 bills will be filed, but only about 200 will pass, “so as you see articles about bills, just recognize – just because it’s filed, it certainly doesn’t mean it’s going to pass.” She encouraged constituents to reach out to their representatives’ offices to get more information on bills, and she also encouraged them to make use of the House and Senate websites, which have prominent search fields for bills and statutes. 

Bradley said Senate President Ben Albritton is from a small town and has promised a “rural renaissance,” while Speaker of the House Daniel Perez is from Miami, “so we will have two very different perspectives in Tallahassee this year, which actually is very exciting, and I think it’s going to really be for the benefit of the whole state.”

Educational institution requests

Santa Fe College President Paul Broadie requested funding to renovate existing classroom space and expand Blount Hall to a downtown campus that would focus on workforce training and innovation.

Chris Emmanuel from the University of Florida asked for continued support for faculty and staff and new recurring funding for preeminent universities to address the backlog of deferred maintenance and an increased workload for IFAS, along with “final tranches of money” for several buildings and new funding for the dental sciences program.

8th Judicial Circuit requests

State Attorney Brian Kramer asked for additional funding, particularly for Assistant State Attorneys, Assistant Public Defenders, and other employees. He also asked for additional funding for Victim Advocates, which have traditionally been grant-funded, “but the community has grown to expect this service from the State Attorney’s Office… They are a lifeline of communication between our victims, our lawyers, and our staff; they serve a vital function. They are a vital part of my office.”

Public Defender Stacy Scott also asked for salary increases; she said the increases last year led to “a light at the end of the tunnel where one day soon, I might be fully staffed if no one else leaves.” She also asked for additional Due Process funds, which are used to hire expert witnesses and transcribe depositions – “anything that’s a case-related expense that’s outside of salaries.” She said the costs for all of the services have increased, but the fund has not been increased in five years.

Constitutional officers’ requests

Sheriff Chad Scott said he supports funding for a study on the Alachua County Jail facilities and requested additional funding for recruitment and retention of deputies.

Ernso Louissaint, from the office of Property Appraiser Ayesha Solomon, told legislators about the office’s heirs property clinic, which helps heirs get title to a property after a family member dies without a will. He supported a low-income senior assessment freeze, which he said “would not have a significant impact on the revenue of local taxing authorities,” as well as a tax exemption for surviving spouses of paraplegics.  

Requests from local boards

School Board of Alachua County Chair Sarah Rockwell presented the School Board’s legislative priorities, which mirror the platform proposed by the Florida School Boards Association (FSBA). FSBA’s priorities are listed below:

• Hurricane relief and community resilience – Hold school districts financially harmless from loss of students due to hurricanes, provide funding for districts that support temporarily relocated students, mitigate the financial impact of hurricanes, and hold school districts harmless for late reporting.
• Administrative efficiency – Allow districts to set their own start times, support using additional scores or portfolios to demonstrate proficiency in required state standards, reduce unnecessary reporting, streamline and reduce required reporting, and eliminate the linking of teaching certificates to specific school districts.
• Attendance and accountability – Allow school districts to intervene after 10 absences. Currently districts can only intervene after 10 unexcused absences within a 90-day period.
• School safety and law enforcement support – Support continued school safety measures with a glitch bill based on the implementation of HB 1473 during the 2024-25 school year.
• Educational funding and fiscal responsibility – Increase the base student allocation by at least 5%, increase the mental health allocation, increase funding for school safety initiatives and officers, support funding for the Workforce Development Capitalization Incentive Grant Program, provide funding for full-time Pre-K, and include all enrolled students when calculating the Capital Outlay FTE (currently Pre-K students, adult education students, and virtual education students who participate in the classroom are not included).

Superintendent Kamela Patton said she was “thrilled to get to work with Representative Hinson again; we worked together in Miami.” She said the school district would be inviting the legislative delegation to a luncheon held at a school and emphasized absentee intervention and administrative efficiency recommendations as changes that would not require any additional funding. 

GRU CEO Ed Bielarski listed some accomplishments of the GRU Authority, including a debt reduction of $40 million in 2024 and a reduction in the average 1,000 kWH residential bill from $156 to $137, “one dollar more than Clay Electric for the same service.”

Alachua County Commission Chair Charles Chestnut said the County has three priorities this year: funding for the Newnan’s Lake Restoration Phase II initiative; funding for the Archer Road expansion Phase II to complete the design phase; and the Jail Facility Improvement Phase I Capital Efficiency Analysis, to modernize the jail. Chestnut said the priorities “address our environmental preservation, infrastructure advancement, and public safety.”

Requests from cities

Alachua City Manager Mike DaRoza said that although the City’s wastewater facility was built in 2011 to last 30 years, the city is growing so quickly that it needs an expansion. He said the City would be submitting an appropriation request for an implementation study; Mayor Gib Coerper added his hope that the legislature would support the request.

Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward said the City would be requesting funds to construct an extension of SW 47th Avenue and build the Southwest Public Safety Services Center and a Property and Evidence building for the Gainesville Police Department. 

Archer City Commissioner Fletcher Hope requested funds for a wastewater system; he said the City has needed one for some time but could not afford it, but now they are partnering with the City of Newberry. 

Hawthorne City Manager Robert Thompson also asked for funding for a wastewater system; with only 1,400 residents, the City does not have enough revenue to build one on its own, and it’s not close enough to any other city to “piggyback” off another system. He said the current system is about 50 years old and “very dated.” He said they needed funding to “get started. We don’t even have a design or anything of that caliber on the table because we don’t have revenue, just to be very candid.”

Newberry City Manager Mike New said, “Wastewater treatment has gotten very expensive.” He said the first treatment plant that he worked on cost $2.50 per gallon, and now they cost $65 per gallon. He added, “The cost of wastewater treatment is outpacing the cost of living in the state of Florida now, and it is a real struggle for small communities.”

New said Newberry has already received funding for their wastewater plant from the state, but they have a grant application through the Water Quality Program, and he requested support from the delegation for that grant.

New also asked for funding to upgrade and repair Champions Park.

Requests from the public

After the governmental requests, a large number of people spoke on topics from dental health to Alzheimer’s funding to stronger gun laws. Janice Garry from the League of Women Voters asked the legislature to “find a balance between State, County, and City responsibilities. Let each special place in Florida have the elbow room to manage their own affordable housing, gun safety measures, and what books their children may read. Let Gainesville manage its own award-winning public utility, as voters chose by 73% on a ballot referendum in November. Let Alachua County voters choose how County Commissioners are elected, as voters directed through 72% on a ballot referendum. Let each County and each City apply their unique situations to safety with firearms.” She said the League supports restoring voting rights to felons and Rep. Hinson’s bill requiring safe storage of handguns in vehicles and boats.