The Alachua County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) on Tuesday unanimously approved the tentative millage rate and budget for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 and voted to provide $10 million to preserve agricultural land.  

The BOCC also authorized $10 million to purchase a 75,000-square foot warehouse off NW 18th Drive for future county offices. The property, formerly used by Budweiser, came under contract in May.  

The county plans to house the facilities department at the site. The county said warehouse needs for the Public Health Department, Fire Rescue and Food Programs was the primary driver of the purchase.  

The commissioners approved a preliminary millage rate of 7.6180 mills—down from 7.6414 last year. The BOCC needs one more vote to finalize the rate. That vote will happen on Sept. 24. at 5 p.m. at the Alachua County Administration building.  

This rate will be applied against every $100,000 of taxable value on a property. For a property with exactly $100,000 in taxable value, the owner would pay $761.80 compared with $764.14 in the current fiscal year.  

The county highlighted that this is the eighth year it has cut the millage rate. However, Alachua County revenues continue to climb since property values have risen during those years, with properties overall having more taxable value. Alachua County’s proposed millage rate is 6.78% higher than the rollback rate—the rate at which the county would collect the same tax revenues as the year before.  

The county manager’s proposed budget shows that the general fund revenues coming from property taxes will increase by just over $15 million even with the lower millage rate. Alachua County’s total general fund revenues are projected to rise by nearly $30 million, from $216,127,738 in the current fiscal year to $245,785,239 in the coming fiscal year.  

The total revenues for Alachua County will sit around $806,653,893 for the fiscal year running from Oct. 1, 2024, through Sept. 30, 2025. For the 2022 fiscal year, the total revenues were just under $569 million.  

The county manager has the following breakdown for the expense of the 2024-2025 budget: 

Fiscal Year 2024-2025 expenses 

• Personal Services: $128,759,443 

• Operating: $204,910,959 

• Capital Outlay: $127,697,741 

• Debt: $13,276,822 

• Grants & Aid: $30,347,487 

• Other Uses: $301,661,441 

The proposed Municipal Service Taxing Unit (MSTU)–law enforcement rate would stay at 3.5678 mills. This rate passed unanimously.  

The BOCC also moved forward with a new agricultural land acquisition program, setting aside $10 million in Wild Spaces Public Places funds. 

Agricultural land fails to rank highly in the county’s current land acquisition program, Alachua County Forever. County staff presented the new program in June to BOCC approval.