The Gainesville City Commission voted to set a higher possible fire assessment rate in the next fiscal year as a gap widens for next year’s budget, up from $5.3 million to $9 million.  

At Thursday’s special meeting, the commissioners heard the initial budgets for the police, fire rescue, public works and parks departments. These departments total $103.2 million of the city’s proposed $156.7 million general fund budget for fiscal year 2025-2026. 

The Gainesville Police Department (GPD) has the largest budget increase presented so far. City staff said salary increases negotiated with the union and new positions accounted for the majority of the $4.3 million increase. 

Last year, the city decided to freeze 20 full-time employee positions at GPD that were unfilled to deal with budget problems. The department has struggled with staffing retention and had a maximum of 57 unfilled positions in 2023.  

GPD Chief Nelson Moya said he made staffing a top priority, and the emphasis is starting to show. He said the department is down to 31 unfilled positions (including the formerly frozen 20 positions). Moya said a large contingent of applicants are working through the hiring process, with 17 candidates that could join in June.  

Even after hiring, new GPD recruits enter an 11-month training period before becoming independent officers. Moya said the recruitment efforts should be very clear by early 2026. He noted that the retention rate has already dropped from 17% to his targeted rate of 11%.  

Moya highlighted annual trends for other metrics that GPD tracks, including a 3% decrease in traffic crashes (goal of 8%), a 46% decrease in shots fired (goal of 15%) and a 19% decrease in the total crime index (goal of 5%). Those numbers are projections for the entire fiscal year that ends Sept. 30.  

Gainesville Fire Rescue (GFR) has the second largest budget increase at $1.6 million—again driven by personnel costs with $825,000 for salaries and wages for overtime. 

Other increases include fleet service increases ($455,000) and union-negotiated increases ($218,000). GFR will have the same number of employees for the next year and recently moved to a new contract so that firefighters work a 24-hour shift followed by three days off.  

Commissioner Ed Book asked if staff had investigated any costs in GFR’s budget that could be funded by the infrastructure surtax, half of which is dedicated to costs like fire stations, roads and affordable housing.  

City Manager Cynthia Curry said her staff has looked into any costs that the surtax, named Streets, Stations and Strong Foundations funding, could cover. She said staff especially targeted one-time costs and would return with options in June.  

The City Commission is hearing proposed budgets in a series of workshops, and Gainesville management will present their recommendations for dealing with the gaps in June after receiving final state revenue calculations.  

The Public Works Department, along with Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, presented a $304,000 decrease and a $485,000 increase, respectively.  

Public Works’ budget included adding three new positions under its Urban Forestry Program, but reductions in operating costs offset the potential new employees. The department ended its third-party IQ Fiber inspection program—the only listed reduction.  

Part of the lower budget is also an extra $2 million the department will receive following a 20% increase in residential garbage collection rates approved in February and started in April. According to Gainesville staff at the time of the vote, the city’s costs for garbage collection continue to outpace revenues, even after the rate increase.  

The residential garbage bill appears on bills sent by Gainesville Regional Utilities, but the utility authority voted in March to pursue separating the garbage bill from the utility bill. That change would likely not happen until 2026. 

For the parks department, contract changes with third-party vendors ($87,000) accounted for some of the increase, along with an extra $20,000 for holiday celebrations. City staff said they anticipate higher costs for fireworks and other holiday supplies.  

The city’s April decision to pay for another Hoggetowne Medieval Faire added another $130,000 to the budget. Hosting at Depot Park for the past two years drained the faire’s funding reserves. 

Gainesville has an assessment to recoup around 51% of the cost to operate just fire services. The assessment was added in 2010, and the methodology behind it was altered in 2023.  

On Thursday, the City Commission voted to set a larger maximum assessment that can recoup up to 53%. The change, if adopted on a final vote in September, would result in an extra cost per square foot of property, whether residential, commercial or institutional. 

For a 1,700-square-foot home, the increase would cost an extra $3.75 annually, with less for smaller houses and more for larger houses, bringing the total to $153.75. For a 15,000-square-foot multifamily building, the increase would be $33 to a total of $1,338. 

Commissioner Casey Willits said he continues to have issues with the new fire assessment methodology approved in 2023. The previous City Commission split on whether to adopt the new methodology, with several failed votes. 

The new methodology placed a higher percentage of the fire assessment on multifamily buildings. Willits has said apartment owners would pass the cost to renters.  

On Thursday, he made a motion that directs staff to revisit the pre-2023 formula for the fire assessment, but no one seconded the motion to have a vote.  

Commissioner James Ingle asked about exemptions. Currently, religious institutions are exempt from the fire assessment, but the city’s consultant said the city can make changes—from removing the exemption to only giving a 50% exemption instead of the full amount. 

Ingle said he would like to look at options to modify exemptions while still allowing flexibility for hardships. He noted that the city must cover the cost not being paid by exempted institutions with general fund dollars.  

Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut said she’s advocated in similar ways in the past and offered good luck for Ingle. 

“Well, Commissioner Ingle, I would enjoy seeing you take on the churches, and I’m going to let you take that one alone,” Chestnut said. 

The City Commission voted unanimously on the increase to a fire assessment that recoups 53% of the costs.