The Fort White Town Council eliminated the possibility of dissolving the town on Monday after members struck an ordinance to do so from the night’s regular meeting agenda.
The impending dissolution surfaced in January when the council scheduled a special meeting to hear citizen input on the topic. The council cited staffing holes—including no attorney—and a lack of finances to fill vacant positions.
On Monday, Council Member Monica Merricks moved to take the dissolution off the agenda, which Member Lonnie Harrell, who put the item on the agenda, agreed with. Meeting attendees applauded at the move.
“I wanted it to be on there if we wanted to address something,” Harrell said. “But we don’t have an attorney [so] there’s no ordinance. There wasn’t enough support here for dissolution of the town, so I agree with removal of that.”
During the Feb. 17 workshop at the Fort White Community Center, residents and non-residents pressed the council on why it wanted to dissolve the town.
Members said they didn’t want to but that they would need to brainstorm other budget ideas to keep the town afloat.
The town currently lacks an attorney, accountant, clerk, manager and code enforcement officer, which council members said they need but can’t afford as Fort White grows.
Council Member Kathryn Terry said more concerning than possibly being in debt next year was not having an attorney now.
She said the council has considered not meeting until there is an attorney and that future finance plan needs to account for one. Terry suggested Fort White apply for grants, which she said it hadn’t done since she got on the council in 2024.
“These expenses are going to add up quickly,” she said. “And that does not mean dissolve the town. That means let’s come up with income ideas to keep the vote afloat.”
Terry also said the town was nowhere near dissolving because it would have to garner a majority vote from the council in order to bring it before voters to ultimately decide.
If dissolved, Columbia County would absorb Fort White as an unincorporated community. According to the Florida Association of Counties, the county would assume all debts, assets and titles to government-owned property of the dissolved town.
Since the Florida Legislature passed Home Rule passed in 1973, 32 municipalities have been incorporated, and 11 dissolved.
Some workshop attendees asked what would happen to town employees if the county did take over.
Terry said she’d told employees who asked the same question that she assumed they’d be absorbed into the county, which could take months, but that she didn’t know.
“I assured them that it’s not an overnight process, but I didn’t really have the answer,” she said.