BOCC to vote on millage, rental permit program  

Empty board meeting room with table and black chairs
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The Alachua County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) will hold its regular meeting on Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. along with a special open board discussion at 9:30 a.m. 

During presentations, the commission will hear an update on the Dogwood Village. The affordable housing complex, supported by Ability Housing, will build on 6.3 acres across from Lincoln Park. 

The 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom apartments will assist those earning less than 60% and 33% of the area median income. The development aims to support working families unable to afford market rate housing.  

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According to the backup, the project will cost $21.5 million with the county supporting at $460,000. The construction is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2023 and finish by mid-2024.  

The commission will vote on its new rental permit program modeled after the one in the City of Gainesville. The program will require landlords to apply for a permit in order to rent and submit to inspections.  

The inspections will focus on safety issues at first, but by 2026, landlords will need to conform to energy efficiency standards as well. The program will require a permit by Sept. 30, 2023, with systematic inspection starting the next month.  

The county reports 11,243 rental units under its jurisdiction. The program would only include unincorporated Alachua County to begin.  

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the county will approve its tentative millage rates for 2023. The general county millage rate for last year was 7.8662, and tentative millage for next year is 7.7662. The tentative rate would be 7.02% more than the rollback rate—the millage the county would need to make the same amount of money as last year.  

The county’s Municipal Service Taxing Unit-Law Enforcement millage rate will remain at the current 3.5678 mills. The rate will be 8.17% over the rollback rate because of increases in property values.  

The county will also vote on the fire assessment, proposed to increase from $90.69 to $94.50 for tier 1 and from $8.31 to $8.55 for tier 2.  

The commissioners will spend the first part of the meeting assigning more than 10 citizens to various advisory boards: Economic Development Advisory Committee, Arts Council, Victim Services Advisory Council, Rural Concerns Advisory Committee and Planning Commission.  

The commission will also vote to confirm Julie Johnson as director of Animal Resources and Care and update its rules of procedure for meetings. The updated rules allow public commenters to pool time together with the chair’s permission. Language also reflects the new virtual commenting system. 

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