Citizens packed the High Springs City Hall on Thursday evening during a budget workshop where the City Commission weighed options to address a $723,000 deficit expected in the 2025-26 budget. 

City Manager Jeremy Marshall presented multiple routes the city could take to increase revenue sources, including higher millage rates or cutting services, such as the city’s entire fire department. 

Although the City Commission, staff and residents expressed not wanting to lose such services, they agreed that financial mistakes from past commissions needed to be addressed. 

“We may not fix this tonight, but we need to stop putting band aids on and make real steps towards getting the fiscal health of the city back to where it needs to be,” Marshall said. 

According to Marshall, the city’s largest financial challenges creating the deficit come from a new sewage plant, which doubled utility costs, and a proposed 51% reduction in mutual fire aid to the High Springs Fire Department (HSFD) from Alachua County Fire Rescue (ACFR). 

ACFR’s potential $188,000 cut is projected to cause a $103,000 deficit. Changes in the city’s sewage operations show a $620,000 deficit. 

Marshall also pointed out that over half the funds for multiple utilities, such as sewage and transportation, are being supplied to the city’s general fund as opposed to the actual services themselves. He said these transfers should instead fall between 5 to 10%.  

Marshall said the idea to eliminate the city’s fire department altogether comes from 56% of High Springs’ general fund paying for its police ($3,393,307) and fire ($1,016,215) departments. 

Without a fire department, Marshall said the city’s utility transfers to the general fund would fall from around $1.2 million to just over $185,000. 

The city would go from five firefighters able to operate multiple vehicles per shift, to three on one truck under county services.  

Residents would also be subject to an 80 to 200% increase in fire assessment rates under the county. The City Commission raised High Springs’ fire assessment rate from $233 to $250 during a regular commission meeting following the workshop. 

Commissioner Katherine Weitz said she hadn’t received a response from the county to her email requesting that it keep its funding to the HSFD at $300,000 until after one full year of data from the new Fire Station 21 could justify less. 

Mayor Tristan Grunder said he thought $300,000 was too low, with only a few months of data, and that he intended to meet with the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners to negotiate. 

ACFR Chief Harold Theus said during Thursday’s commission meeting that the county and his department intend to assist HSFD as much as they can and not assume its services.  

He said ACFR met with the city in May to discuss the impact Fire Station 21 was already having by reducing about one call per day from High Springs and therefore the cost per call funding. 

Theus also said the county’s fire assessment fees reflected its sliding scale methodology, determining the fee based on property value instead of a flat fee per home like the city uses.  

He said 70% of ACFR’s services are funded by the fee and that it also has to make sure it can support its department of 382 people and 330 staff in operations when considering how much aid to supply. 

“All across the state of Florida, all across the nation, you’re seeing fire stations, especially small town fire departments, close because it is very expensive to run a fire department,” Theus said. “We’re here to help in any way that we can.” 

Instead of cutting the fire department, Marshall also proposed during the workshop reducing its staff to two firefighters and one lieutenant. Although the city would still have the $1 million expenditure from its general fund, assessment rates would stay put and utility transfers would decrease to around $573,000. 

In order to keep fire services the same, Marshall said residents would need to pay $24.50 extra in sewer rates and the City Commission would need to increase the millage by $37.50 for a $331.50 total increase per year.  

Removing police night shifts and raises, closing the tag office and selling properties, such as those used by the Boy Scout Hunt and Garden Club and lots deeded to the city by the county, were also options for raising revenue. 

Commissioner Chad Howell asked if developments coming, such as Bridlewood, would help bring in revenue. Marshall said that even though they would, more people would have to share the burden of funding infrastructure demands like roads to support the developments.  

Concerned about residents on fixed incomes, Grunder said the city would have to find a better way than raising its millage higher than any other city in the county to catch its budget up. 

“The way we’re running this with no reserves, we’re asking to get punched in the mouth,” he said. “Unfortunately, High Springs has been living on champagne taste with a beer budget for a long time.” 

The City Commission will direct Marshall at the Aug. 28 regular meeting on which budget scenario to proceed with.