A Santa Fe College satellite campus is one step closer to coming to Hawthorne after the City Commission and Alachua County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) voted during a joint meeting on Tuesday to expedite plans.

The project would come in tandem with the city’s multi-purpose facility planned for 21 acres off SR-20. City Manager Robert Thompson said Hawthorne is in the process of acquiring the property and renderings incorporating feedback from Hawthorne, Alachua County and Santa Fe College are underway.  

He said the campus is a big deal for the region so that residents don’t have to commute to Gainesville for higher education. 

The next step is funding, which Thompson said usually comes when a project is shovel-ready. BOCC Chair Ken Cornell’s motion to direct staff to use county resources to get it there passed unanimously, with BOCC Commissioners Anna Prizzia and Mary Alford absent.  

Mayor Jacquelyn Randall said the state has an appetite for funding programs that equip students for various trades. Although Alachua County Public Schools interim superintendent Kamela Patton expressed interest in getting involved with the campus, Randall said she wanted to wait to pursue that route until the superintendent position was permanent.

Cornell said Santa Fe College has strong lobbying power in Tallahassee and that the county’s Forward Focus Initiative, which researches each of its municipalities to understand their needs, would help provide the data needed for grants.

BOCC Commissioner Marihelen Wheeler said she’d been championing the satellite campus in Hawthorne since she was elected to the commission almost eight years ago. 

She said the project presented a unique opportunity for Santa Fe College to launch an aqua science program in the water-rich region, also helping the county to capitalize on ecotourism.  

Wheeler said she would ask Rep. Kat Cammack for funding, but that the project was in Hawthorne’s hands as her final term on the BOCC ends in November. 

“Just because there’s a lot of water over here that has prevented development doesn’t mean that water can’t also serve to benefit the community,” Wheeler said.  

The commissions also discussed the potential repercussions from the state’s potential cut of property taxes with House Bill 203. Gov. Ron DeSantis recently announced he wants the Legislature to hold a special session on property taxes but has not finalized the date.

In preparation, Alachua County Manager Michele Lieberman gave a presentation on the potential impacts if the bill passed, which could include the dissolution of smaller municipalities like Hawthorne.  

According to a presentation from the county, Alachua County’s $714 of property taxes per capita for fiscal year 2025 is the 32nd lowest out of Florida’s 67 counties. The state average is $942. 

Lieberman said a complete elimination of property taxes would put Alachua County $24 million in debt to start, before conversations about services like parks that come out of the general fund. 

She also said the state, and therefore its counties, do not know where the funding that would’ve come from property taxes would come from instead. 

“It is a heavy conversation, but it’s the necessary one, alright?” Randall said. “So let’s just take it how we always take everything, with our chin up and let it land hard, and then we’ll come back to the table and we strategize and find a way.” 

Hawthorne staff announced a grand opening ribbon cutting for Hawthorne’s new library (6640 SE 221 St.) that will be held at 9:30 a.m. on April 25. The event will include self-guided tours of the $3.5 million and 10,000-square-foot space. 

Crews broke ground in February on the $3.5 million building, which includes a Teen Space, Snuggle Up Center, Quiet Reading Room, MakerSpace area and study rooms.   

Tuesday’s meeting was the last joint meeting for Randall, who is campaigning for the Florida House District 21 seat.  

Although she still has a few city meetings remaining, Randall said she’s appreciated the opportunity to do the work as a commissioner. It hadn’t always been easy, she said, but she delivered on what she was going to as an advocate for the community.

“My work does end here with the county as a city official of that capacity. It’s not over in no way, shape or form,” Randall said. “I still will be a resident of Hawthorne win, lose or draw. My mouth will not go to rest until God puts it to rest, and that’s on that death day.”