The Gainesville City Commission reviewed plans Thursday to build its own IT department and finalize its comprehensive plan for state review in early 2026.  

The city decided to move away from reliance on Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) for IT service following the creation of the GRU Authority and the split management with the city structure.  

The IT contract increased to $5.4 million during the last fiscal year, prompting the city to decide between an in-house team or a different third-party vendor. 

“Based on the team you have here, clearly we’re bringing technology in-house at the city of Gainesville,” Ed Nagy, the city’s new technology director, said. 

A one-year contract was finalized to allow for a transition period. The contract for the next year will cost the city $3.7 million.  

Nagy said that while the contract is $2.2 million less than anticipated, the savings will need to stay with the IT department to assist with the transition. He said the department will lose the economy of scale that it has with GRU and needs to pay for software services. 

Gainesville started work on a new comprehensive plan several years ago, and in 2024, the City Commission voted for a plan that creates a version of the document that simply adheres to state guidelines and a more user-friendly version for residents to use and reference.  

City staff plan to submit the comprehensive plan to the state in May 2026.  

Commissioner Ed Book highlighted the importance of the plan, noting that all other building and planning documents and projects must point back to it.  

“It is the document that informs and guides and provides general policy for the way we build and grow and build a vibrant city,” Book said.  

The commissioners heard the overall timeline but didn’t get into the details of the plan. Instead, the commissioners will each create their own notes and questions to submit to staff by Dec. 12. 

City staff will sift through the notes and plan to bring back recommendations in 2026 for public discussions.