- Alachua County allocated $200,000 in emergency food assistance, with $100,000 for fresh foods at six community centers and $100,000 to Bread of the Mighty food bank.
- The Board of County Commissioners referred the Yes, In God's Backyard housing program for religious properties to the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee for local standards.
Alachua County amended its policies Tuesday for the use of $200,000 in emergency food assistance issued in November.
Half of the money went to Bread of the Mighty, and CEO and President Patrick Dodds told the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) that it should receive all the purchased food by the end of next week. He said the first order of $42,000 bought 44,000 pounds of food.
Bread of the Mighty is distributing the boxed food through its normal distributions, and Dodds said the food bank will also set up its own distributions if needed.
The other $100,000 went to fresh foods for six community resource centers. Each center has purchased food through Frog Song Organics, a farm in Hawthorne. County staff said $18,000 has been spent to buy around 4,450 pounds of food.
The BOCC expanded the use of those funds to also purchase freezers to keep the food.
Another $6,000 went to the Grove Street Farmers Market and High Springs Farmers Market. The money was originally intended for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) recipients to buy fresh produce.
However, county staff said local governments are being prevented from providing extra aid to SNAP recipients. Instead, the BOCC voted to expand the definition to all food-insecure families who go to the farmers markets. So far, those farmers markets have spent $410 of the allocated funds.
County staff also asked if the programs should continue now that SNAP benefits have been restored. The BOCC said yes.
“Because a lot of folks are already behind, and this will allow them to have that extra food security until they get a little bit caught back up,” Commissioner Mary Alford said.
At Tuesday’s policy meeting, the BOCC also voted to refer the new Yes, In God’s Backyard program to the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. The program, approved by the state through the Live Local Act, opens a door for religious institutions to build housing and affordable housing on their properties.
The advisory board will discuss standards for the housing approved through the program, and the BOCC will then take the recommendations and set local standards.
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Alachua County just handed out $200,000 in emergency food funds and that’s fine but let’s stop pretending this is real relief. When a county with one of the highest property-tax burdens in Florida keeps squeezing homeowners year after year, the least they could do is give some of that money back to the people who actually fund the entire system.
Instead, taxpayers get nothing but bigger bills while the county pats itself on the back for tossing out short-term assistance programs. Families who work every day, pay every bill, and keep this county running are getting hammered by rising taxes with zero relief in sight.
If Alachua County can carve out $200,000 overnight, then it can darnwell carve out room to stop gouging residents. The county collects massive revenue, yet the people paying those taxes are the last ones to see any benefit.
Stop treating taxpayers like an endless ATM. Give the working people of Alachua County the relief they’ve already earned.
Some perspective: According to Tax-Rates.org, Alachua County ranks #14 in the highest property taxes in Florida. The “conservative” counties of Collier, Lee, and Sarasota all rank higher (they pay higher property taxes). Of all the “liberal” counties in Florida, Alachua ranks 9th. Data based on median property tax per year for a home worth the median value of $182,400. Florida is ranked #23 out of the 50 states, in order of the average amount of property taxes collected.
Florida is ranked #18 of the 50 states for property taxes as a percentage of median income.
That claim relies on outdated, non-government data from Tax-Rates.org and uses the wrong measurement entirely. Alachua’s real tax burden comes from its high millage rate, not raw tax dollars on a ‘median home.’ Comparing us to wealthy coastal counties with triple the property values is meaningless. Alachua residents pay more relative to income and home value than most counties in Florida and that burden keeps climbing because of local mismanagement, not because the state ranks us in some spreadsheet.
Who is getting this assistance? US Citizens? I am all for helping US Citizens, those who love this country and pledge allegiance to it!
NOT the groups we see invading our northern and southern borders, or who come in identified as refugees from countries who have nothing in mind but get rid of their ……………..(fill in the blank)!
The AC BOCC is so generous with the taxpayer’s money! But they never give anything back to property owners! $0.00!