The Alachua County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) voted Tuesday on the next version of its agreement to support Gainesville’s Regional Transit System (RTS) bus routes and asked that the city return weekend service to GRACE Marketplace and the Gainesville Regional Airport.  

The BOCC also voted on enhanced infrastructure surtax oversight and public art for the new criminal courthouse. 

RTS routes have been under scrutiny from UF and the city of Gainesville as the university aimed to right-size its contribution over the last year. The two signed a new agreement in January. 

For the current fiscal year, the BOCC has supported nine bus routes at $1.9 million, and county staff returned with three options to consider for the new contract. 

First, keep the status quo for funding routes. This option would result in $112,000 in cost savings because the new UF-Gainesville contract shifted some of the costs that the BOCC covered.  

Second, keep the status quo but add more bus service outside urbanized areas and increase the county’s contribution to the fare free program, which provides free rides to people under 18 and over 65. This option would keep the county costs the same as the current contract.  

Third, keep the status quo and add microtransit/mobility-on-demand options for Jonesville. This option would cost $275,000 over the current contract. 

County staff added that adding a weekend RTS route to GRACE Marketplace would cost $100,000.  

BOCC Commissioner Ken Cornell asked why the city stopped funding the route. Gainesville’s Jesus Gomez, director of transportation, said the route got cut because of the new UF contract. Route 25 used to run from campus to the airport on weekends, stopping off at GRACE.  

Cornell said the city should fund service to its own facility, especially GRACE. 

“I don’t know many of them that have cars,” Cornell said of GRACE Marketplace residents. “That’s how they get transportation, so I would think that that would be a high priority of the city’s.” 

Cornell made a motion to accept the second option, to ask Gainesville to fund a weekend route to GRACE Marketplace and to make the contracts one-year terms. The motion passed unanimously, with Commissioner Mary Alford absent. 

In January, the BOCC asked the Infrastructure Surtax Oversight Board for enhanced monitoring recommendations for Alachua County cities. The request came after the city of Archer discovered it had mishandled funds during a financial fallout in late 2024. A situation is still being dealt with by the city. 

Eric Drummond, chair of the Infrastructure Surtax Oversight Board, recommended that each city respond to a financial accountability questionnaire and enact an enhanced audit process to include requiring auditors to sign attestations, conducting an internal audit by an expert in surtaxes, organizing educational sessions with the board and encouraging cities to attend board meetings.  

Drummond said the audit work has gotten more complex as the 2017 surtax funds must stay separate from 2023 surtax funds, now split between Wild Spaces Public Places and the infrastructure side.  

He said Gainesville can afford staff dedicated to the issue, but smaller cities have to add surtax tracking as a duty to an employee.  

Still, Cornell said these cities’ staffs are responsible for managing entire cities with taxes, millage rates and more. He said they should be able to track surtax funds.  

“When it comes to the cities, they’re cities,” Cornell said. “They need to account for the funds. That’s just the bottom line.” 

The BOCC accepted the enhanced monitoring recommendations for Alachua County cities to follow and said the oversight board can always return with more recommendations as well.  

The county commissioners also selected public artwork for the front of the new civil courthouse currently in planning. The commission chose from three selected renderings and chose the one also approved by the court.  

The rendering, titled Justice for All, pictures the symbolic blindfolded lady justice with scales in her hands. The county asked that the statue be made of bronze to last longer than the planned resin material.