The Gainesville City Commission passed the first of two votes to approve its budget, millage rate and fire assessment for the upcoming fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
The decisions came at the special meeting on Wednesday evening, and final votes will be held on Sept. 24. The commission must keep the budget largely unchanged from the preliminary vote to pass on the final reading.
The meeting’s business happened quickly with no public commenters present.
The budget includes a 0.3 millage rate increase and the use of $1.4 million in reserve funds. The general fund budget will increase from $155 million to $165 million.
The City Commission tinkered with the final dollar amounts at an August meeting as it navigates revenue decreases and rising costs. The city started the budget process with a $5 million gap that rose to $9 million by the start of June.
Gainesville commissioners have pointed to the new Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) Authority as the source of budget issues. The new authority cut the money transfer to the city, forcing the City Commission to cut positions and costs. But the city said rising expenses, especially union negotiations, have forced higher budgets.
Millage rate
The new millage rate will be 6.7297 mills for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, generating $9.4 million more than was levied in property taxes this fiscal year. The rate is 12% over the rolled-back rate.
For a homeowner with a $200,000 property value, the additional tax will be $60 annually. If the homeowner has the full homestead exemption, the additional tax will be $45 annually. Respectively, the total price would be $1,345 and $1,009 annually.
Gainesville’s millage rate has increased from 4.7474 mills in 2018, bringing additional millions along with higher property values. The largest jump happened after the GRU Authority took over in 2023, with a 16.9% rate spike.
The overall general fund sat at $123.1 million in 2018 and will hit a proposed $165 million for the next fiscal year.
Rates since 2018
- 2018: 4.7474 mills
- 2019: 5.2974 mills
- 2020: 5.2974 mills
- 2021: 5.5000 mills
- 2022: 5.5000 mills
- 2023: 6.4297 mills
- 2024: 6.4297 mills
- 2025: 6.7297 mills
Public safety departments
The general fund will be $10 million more than last year. Half of that increase will go to the Gainesville Police Department (GPD) with another $2 million headed to Gainesville Fire Rescue.
The GPD costs include hiring more officers, but Chief Nelson Moya told commissioners in August that he needs more sworn staff. The city still has five frozen positions heading into the next year.
Moya highlighted that GPD is already staffed at a lower level than in previous years. The department had more than 50 vacancies a few years ago and sat at a critical staff level. In 2017, he said GPD had 311 full-time employees compared to 280 now.
“I’ve told y’all of the dozens of cases held by each detective. I’ve told y’all the hundreds of cases that come in that are fraud-related that we can’t touch. We triage that and barely hang on,” Moya said.
For the fire department, the increase was almost all salary-driven, with maintenance for its vehicles also contributing.
The fire assessment also shifted up, costing less than $4 more for a 1,700-square-foot house and bringing the total fire assessment for that size home to $153 annually.
Fire Assessment Rates per Square Foot
2024-2025
- Single-family residential: $0.0878
- Multi-family residential: $0.0870
- Commercial: $0.1156
- Industrial/Warehouse: $0.0862
- Institutional: $0.2211
2025-2026
- Single-family residential: $0.0900
- Multi-family residential: $0.0892
- Commercial: $0.1185
- Industrial/Warehouse: $0.0884
- Institutional: $0.2267