- The Children’s Trust of Alachua County set the 2027 millage rate at 0.4500 mills, projecting $11.5 million in property tax revenue, a 6.1% increase from last year.
- The 2027 budget totals $13.6 million, a 22.4% decrease due to cost savings and reduced capital project funding.
- Alachua County Reads focuses on early literacy with programs for 600 K-2 students and 5,300 licenses for elementary intervention tools.
The Board of the Children’s Trust of Alachua County (CTAC) approved a final millage rate and budget for the 2027 fiscal year during a final truth-in-millage (TRIM) hearing on Monday.
The CTAC’s millage rate of 0.4500 mills is the same as last year’s adopted rate and is 5.46% more than the rollback rate of 0.4267 mills. The Trust projects this year’s adopted rate to generate $11,506,459 in net property tax revenue, a 6.1% increase from the prior fiscal year due to higher taxable property values.
“The proposed millage rate provides for future programming needs, adequate staffing and planning for future facilities,” CTAC Executive Director Marsha Kiner said while speaking on the millage rate during the hearing.
The CTAC’s budget for FY 2027, meanwhile, totals $13,617,000, a 22.4% decrease from last year’s $17,547,676 budget, according to budget documents included with the hearing agenda.
The documents attribute the decrease “to a restructuring in the planned use of unassigned fund balance, operating cost savings and the reduction of capital project funding included in the prior year accumulated budget.”
According to the documents, the FY 2027 budget includes $1,560,741 for operating/non-personnel – a decrease of $72,921 (4.5%) from last year. Additionally, $1,732,996.65 is budgeted for personnel and fringe, down $496,070, or 22.3%, while $100,000 is allocated for capital project funding, a decrease of $100,000, or 50%, from the prior year.
While personnel spending decreased, the FY 2027 budget does include a 2.9% cost-of-living increase for all personnel and a 3.1% merit increase for employees.
Of the roughly $13.6 million budget for this year, $10,223,262, or 75.1%, is allocated for programs, grants and aids. This includes $6,678,778 in current-year appropriations and $3,544,484 in existing contractual carryforwards.
Funding for programs, grants and aids is built around the CTAC’s four strategic goals, as well as special initiatives, emergent needs and community engagement sponsorships.
- Goal 1 – Healthy Children: $3,396,140
- Goal 2 – Learning Success: $2,085,017
- Goal 3 – Safe Community: $3,505,480
- Goal 4 – Capacity Building: $551,626
- Special Initiatives: $550,000
- Emergent Needs: $75,000
- Community Engagement Sponsorships: $60,000
The board approved resolutions for the final millage rate and budget in separate votes.
Alachua County Reads update
During its regular meeting, the board heard a brief update on the Alachua County Reads (ACR) initiative, which Dr. Heidi Keegan, ACR coordinator, described in an August press release as “a concerted, collective and collaborative community effort to meet the literacy needs of our children and adults to improve life outcomes.”
While addressing the board, Keegan noted that they have “three overarching goals” that were decided. These include all children being able to come to kindergarten ready to learn; all children leaving third grade proficient in reading; and improving literacy among adults in the community.
According to backup documents in the regular meeting agenda, ACR is focusing its implementation efforts across four key strategy areas: readiness, K-3 core instructional support, intervention and remediation, and community awareness and resources.
Keegan said their “laser-like focus is K-3 core instructional support.”
“We know [that] if we teach children emergent and early literacy and they’re able to be proficient there, then there is no need for intervention and remediation, and then adult literacy support later,” she said.
Keegan noted that the University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI) has partnered with Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) in four School Improvement (SI) schools – Rawlings, Williams, Lake Forest and Metcalfe Elementary – to coach teachers and build teaching capacity.
This effort is expected to affect 600 K-2 students in the four SI schools and includes 60 educators and 40 literacy coaches and administrators, according to Keegan’s presentation.
This past week, Keegan also said the purchase order was submitted for Project Read, which will be available to all ACPS elementary schools, with roughly 5,300 student licenses. According to Keegan’s presentation, “the UFLI-aligned program allows all teachers to input weekly student assessment data to create groups for targeted intervention with lesson provision.”
“We’re very excited that a purchase order just went in,” Keegan said. “They do have a required implementation plan and fidelity that we will be, of course, reporting to you on regularly.”
In terms of intervention and remediation, Keegan noted that, at the request of the cohort in the Literacy Catalyst, operated by PEAK Literacy, they recently hired a literacy specialist to support the providers in the cohort. According to Keegan’s presentation, these providers include Aces in Motion, Girls Place, Kids Count, AMI Kids, Pineridge Kool Kids, Sweetwater Neighborhood, Residences at Oakview, Willie Mae Stokes, IGB and the Alachua County Youth Detention Center.
“In those spaces after school and those organizations that are in the cohort, if the children do not meet the requirements to start the Great Leaps program with PEAK, so they are still emergent in their literacy, our literacy specialist can tailor instruction and help the staff support those students, as well as children that require additional comprehension and support,” Keegan said. “Many of the cohort providers ask that they have additional support for children with needs such as ADHD and other neurodivergences, and so she is currently working in those spaces.”
Speaking on community resources and awareness, Keegan encouraged the community to visit ACR’s website: https://www.alachuacountyreads.org/. She noted that the website provides resources for tutoring, as well as literacy and GED support.
Nick Anschultz is a Report for America corps member and writes about education for Mainstreet Daily News. This position is supported by local donations through the Community Catalyst for Local Journalism Fund at the Community Foundation of North Central Florida.