Alachua County Commission hears West End recommendations, sets property tax rates and budget, and approves preliminary Newberry Village plan

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At their September 24 Emergency Meeting, the Alachua County Commission declared a State of Emergency for Hurricane Helene, approved funds for West End capital improvements, set their final FY2025 budget and property tax rates, received notification of a new County organization chart, and approved a preliminary development plan for Newberry Village.

State of Emergency

Alachua County Director of Emergency Management Jen Grimes recommended to the board that they declare a local State of Emergency for Hurricane Helene, and the board voted unanimously for Commissioner Ken Cornell’s motion to do that.

West End Community Engagement

Parks & Open Space Director Jason Maurer gave a presentation on the August 13 Community Engagement Meeting to discuss recreational improvements to the former West End Golf Course. About 225 people attended that meeting, and many suggestions were made for park amenities, along with concerns and event suggestions.

A follow-up online survey indicated that a 9-hole golf course, walking trails, a driving range, pétanque, a playground, pickleball courts, and a splash pad were the top amenities favored by attendees. However, social media mentions favored a splash pad, a playground, and walking paths, so staff compared the two lists and recommended a driving range as a compromise for the attendees who wanted the 9-hole golf course.

Staff recommended:

• Approving $500,000 in Tourist Development Tax reserves for capital improvements to the park that promote tourism;
• Approving a revision to the 10-year Master Plan by changing West End from a Neighborhood Park to a Community Park and changing another location from a Community Park to a Neighborhood Park, freeing up $400,000 in impact fees for improvements;
• Approving a revision to the 5-Year Capital Improvement Plan to unencumber $6 million in Wild Space Public Places funds that were earmarked for Diamond Sportsplex and allocate the funds to West End;
• Directing staff to come back next spring with a Development Plan for West End.

Commissioner Anna Prizzia said she thought a lighted crosswalk would be needed for Newberry Road.

Cornell was concerned about spending another $6 million on West End without prioritizing the projects for the whole county. He also advocated for a tree survey of the property: “I think there’s an opportunity for us to… create an arboretum.”

Prizzia supported creating an arboretum, unencumbering the $6 million from Diamond Sportsplex, and holding a workshop to discuss how to use the money instead of allocating all of it to West End.

Prizzia made a motion to approve staff’s recommendations except that the $6 million would remain unencumbered but allocated to Parks and Recreation; she added a request for a full tree survey and the idea of an arboretum, along with a request for staff to begin discussing pedestrian crossings between West End Park and Tioga with the Florida Department of Transportation.

After public comment, Prizzia added a request for staff to reach out to the UF IFAS and Landscape Architecture departments to see whether they are interested in participating in planning the park.

The motion passed unanimously.

Final property tax and budget for FY2025

During the evening portion of the meeting, the board voted 4-0, with Chair Mary Alford absent, to set their FY2025 property tax millage and budget.

The board adopted a property tax millage rate of 7.6180 mills, a reduction of 0.0234 mills from the previous year but 6.92% more than the rolled-back rate of 7.1286 mills; they also adopted an MSTU levy of 3.5678 mills, the same rate as last year and 7.78% more than the rolled-back rate of 3.3103 mills.

Property tax revenues are expected to be about $17.5 million higher than the previous fiscal year, and the adopted FY2025 budget is $866,896,138, about $60 million more than the budget presented by the County Manager in June. The budget is about $110 million more than the FY2024 budget, an increase of 14.51%.

Assistant County Manager Tommy Crosby said the budget includes a 16% increase for law enforcement and a 10% increase for all other operations, but the bigger items are capital improvements that will require the County to issue debt, including another $36 million for the courthouse on top of last year’s allocation (the total will be over $50 million), $10 million for advance purchases of large vehicles that have long lead times, and a $15 million FDOT grant for the Archer Braid/Kanapaha trail. Crosby concluded, “That makes up your $110 million to kind of give you an idea that we’re not throwing money away. We’re investing it mostly in the capital and in the public safety and trying to stay up with the economic factors of the time.”

County reorganization

County Manager Michele Lieberman notified the board that she will be implementing a reorganization on October 24 ( the new organization chart can be found here .) Lieberman said the change does not need approval from the board and will take effect unless the board vetoes it.

The reorganization eliminates Community Support and Strategic Initiatives, adds an Executive Liaison – Public Safety and Community Relations and a new Assistant County Manager – Chief Transformation Officer as new direct reports to the County Manager. The remaining changes mostly move departments and offices under different Assistant County Managers.

Newberry Village

The final agenda item was a preliminary development plan for Newberry Village, a Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) with a maximum of 639 units and about 225k square feet of non-residential uses on about 87 acres between the 7600 block and 8500 block of W. Newberry Road, just to the west of the Newberry Square shopping center.

The preliminary development plan was approved 4-0, with Alford absent.

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