- Gainesville plans to approve a $174 million budget and keep its millage rate steady at 6.7297 mills with a final vote on Sept. 17.
- Alachua's tentative 2026-27 budget is $67.16 million with a millage rate held at 6.25, which is 5.42% higher than the rollback rate.
- High Springs tentatively approved a 7.24 millage rate, up 8.94% from rollback, and is considering cutting police and fire departments in its budget plan.
With the new fiscal year just two weeks away from commencing on Oct. 1 and running through Sept. 30, 2027, millage and budget adoptions are in full swing around Alachua County.
Millage is the rate governments charge against a property’s assessed value. Instead of being a percentage out of $100, though, a millage rate is out of $1,000. So for every $1,000 in assessed value, 1 mill levied equals $1.
Millage is often a primary source supplying a city’s general fund. The millage is the percentage of $1,000 generated from a city’s taxable property, be it residential, commercial or vacant lot.
The rollback rate is the millage rate a city or county would need to pass to generate the same amount of money as the previous year. Any millage set above the rollback rate is considered a property or tax increase by the state of Florida.
The city of Gainesville is gearing up to approve a $174 million budget and keep its millage the same at 6.7297 mills, with the final vote coming on Sept. 17. Here’s what Alachua, Archer, Hawthorne, High Springs and Newberry’s numbers are looking like, even as each prepares for potential homestead exemption raises in November.
Alachua
The Alachua City Commission tentatively adopted to keep its millage rate the same as last year, 6.25 mills. The rate is 5.42% higher than the 5.9286 rollback rate. Last year’s 6.25 millage was an increase from the 2024-25 millage of 5.95.
The city’s total budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year is $65,445,330, originally up from last year’s $61,040,093 but amended to $67,160,729. Some of the projects accounted for include improving the city’s electric system, implementing live streaming for meetings and constructing a new Hathcock Community Center.
The final millage and budget will be adopted during the City Commission meeting on Sept. 28.
Archer
The Archer City Commission tentatively voted to keep the city’s millage rate unchanged at 6.4322 mills. The rate is 6.04% above the rollback rate of 6.0656 mills and is expected to generate about $387,557. The current 6.4322 millage rate represents a nearly 16% increase from the 5.5479 rate in 2024-25.
The total budget for the city is $1,559,757, up from last year’s $886,051, and accounts for ongoing projects like a joint wastewater treatment facility shared with Newberry.
Archer’s final millage and budget will be adopted during the Sept. 28 City Commission meeting.
Hawthorne
The Hawthorne City Commission adopted to tentatively keep its millage at 6.4322, which is 4.29% above the rollback of 6.1678 mills. The millage is expected to generate $575,764 for the $4,124,326 total budget.
The total is down 54% from last year’s $8,979,534 budget. The final millage and budget will be adopted during the City Commission meeting on Sept. 23.
High Springs
The High Springs City Commission approved a tentative millage of 7.24 mills, which is an 8.94% increase from the rollback rate of 6.6458.
The 2026-27 budget was originally prepared with the current 6.99 millage and will be reworked for final budget amounts, although for 6.99 the total comes out to $20,852,403 and generates $5,165,452 in taxes.
The commission is also considering cutting its police and fire departments to make space in the budget, which it will vote to finalize during its Sept. 21 meeting.
Newberry
The Newberry City Commission will tentatively stay at its current 5.88 millage rate, which is 5.65% above the 5.5655 rollback rate to generate $5,510,781. The city’s taxable value grew closer than ever to the $1 billion mark at $966,193,405, up from over $865 million last year.
The city’s budget includes Barry Park and Lois Forte Park, $6.5 million for Fire Station 2 construction and $68,896,936 for the wastewater treatment plant expansion in partnership with Archer.
The final millage and budget will be adopted during the City Commission meeting on Sept. 28.