State Rep. Chad Johnson, R-Chiefland, will propose a local bill at Thursday’s Alachua County Legislative Delegation meeting to amend sections of the law that created the Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority.
The delegation meeting will happen at 1 p.m. Thursday at Santa Fe College’s Northwest Campus. The meeting allows Alachua County residents and leaders to advocate before its Tallahassee representatives. Traditionally, local bills are also first introduced at these meetings.
Johnson’s draft bill strengthens the position of the governor-appointed authority that currently manages Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU). It also tweaks language to ease concerns from bond rating agencies, allowing the utility to issue its own bonds and giving it power to manage those bonds.
In an interview, Johnson said the new bill seeks to solidify the language of the original legislation—House Bill 1645 from 2023—and to alleviate any concerns by outside bond agencies and lenders. He said GRU asked for the new bill language.
Johnson said the new bill is outside the lawsuit currently underway between the GRU Authority and city of Gainesville over a city referendum.
The referendum, which passed in November with 73% of the vote, would eliminate the GRU Authority and return control to the City Commission. However, the GRU Authority has called the referendum illegal, and the results of the referendum are on pause until a judge rules on the issue.
Johnson said the judge will decide the referendum. If ruled in favor of the GRU Authority, then this local bill will strengthen the authority. Johnson said he cannot see how a local referendum could circumvent the state law which created the GRU Authority.
The bill addresses several points of contention between the city of Gainesville and the GRU Authority from the past year.
It clarifies that the GRU Authority is a separate legal entity from the city of Gainesville while still operating as a unit of city government; it gives direct permission for the authority to hire a utility attorney and a utility clerk; it allows the authority to amend agreements between itself and the city of Gainesville.
“The Authority may amend or supplement any existing agreements or resolutions entered into or adopted by the City, as applicable, that are related to the utility system and governed by this article, without any approval or further action of the City,” the new bill language reads.
The bill also includes language that requires the GRU Authority to take any “net-negative cost incurred by GRU” from service agreements with the city of Gainesville and subtract that cost from the annual general services contribution—a money transfer sent to general Gainesville government.
The authority has already used the money transfer to recoup funds it sees as belonging to the utility.
The new language also prevents the Gainesville City Commission from imposing a franchise, rights-of-way, license, permit or usage fee or tax on the utility without the consent of the GRU Authority. Johnson said this section was included at the request of GRU.
In March 2024, the City Commission voted to move forward with a rights-of-way fee. However, the GRU Authority opposed the new fees. Ed Bielarski, CEO of the utility, said GRU would continue to adhere to its policies instead of those newly created by the City Commission.
The language in Johnson’s bill would end the argument if passed.
The first section in the bill also adds a line that leaves no room as the GRU Authority’s scope of control.
“The language in this article supersedes preexisting and subsequent City Commission and City actions that are not expressly authorized by the GRU Authority,” the bill reads.
Notes throughout the draft bill say why the language was added or edited. These range from reinforcing the powers of the GRU Authority to assuring outside investors that prior agreements have not been impaired and conforming with generally accepted accounting principles.
On Monday, state Rep. Yvonne Hayes Hinson, D-Gainesville, informed the Gainesville City Commission about the draft bill. She is one of the five members of the Alachua County Legislative Delegation and the only Democratic representative.
Hinson arrived at the meeting to support Gainesville Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut during her swearing-in ceremony, but she got called to the lectern.
She said she had received the draft bill earlier that morning and that it would be voted on Thursday. A positive vote by the Alachua County delegation would give the green light to file the bill in the 2025 Florida Legislature session.
“Citizens who voted [73%] to return GRU to the city need to be at that delegation meeting to let the delegates know how they feel about GRU going back to the City Commission,” Hinson said to the City Commission.
In the email to Hinson and the other legislative delegation members, Dylan Pace, legislative aid for Johnson, said the GRU Authority has made great strides correcting the fiscal trajectory of the utility.
“This proposed legislation unambiguously reinforces and echoes the autonomy of the Gainesville Regional Utility Authority as a legislatively created municipal agency of the City of Gainesville,” the email said. “In addition, it sends a clear message to all with whom GRU does business, that the Authority and GRU are autonomous and will continue in perpetuity to serve until such time as the Legislature chooses otherwise.”
Johnson told Mainstreet that everything he’s seen from the GRU Authority has been positive so far. He said the utility needs to be managed with best practices and a business perspective.
The Alachua County Legislative Delegation, with two different members, passed House Bill 1645 in 2023 and pushed it through the Florida Legislature. The bill then entered state statutes and became Section 7 of Gainesville’s charter. Hinson was the lone dissenting vote from the delegation in 2023.
Do you have a link to the draft bill that can be shared?
Why does the supposed “City of Love” hate GRU ratepayers? It is more than obvious when you pillage and fleece a Golden Goose Utility you go wokey, brokey . . The money grubbing control freaks will not go away until they are jailed and held accountable for the damages they have done to this community. Absolute losers in denial that need a real deep dive forensic audit.
You’re fired.
It was your illiterate failed, reckless, wasteful City Commission that was fired. First time in history for Florida. A great example Crime dose not pay. Enjoy your tax hikes and chaos .
Disgusting behavior by these representatives. The hypocrisy of Republicans never ceases. Big Government for thee, and none for me. It is a city created utility and should be under the control of the city. These unelected officials taking control of our city owned utility is the antithesis of freedom. Utilities should not be run like a business in the first place! Profiting off of daily necessities like electricity, water, healthcare, or internet is one of the major reasons this country is on the decline.
What you are not understanding is that the City Commission ran the utility like a business to generate profits that were then used for other city projects – through the excessively large general fund transfers. What is happening now is that the utility is controlling their costs, reducing (or at least maintaining rates) and forecasting for future – without generating those previous profits that were taken by the city instead of being used to pay down debt.
From a conservative perspective, the city should be free to run their business and make bad decisions.
The City needs to grow up and not operate like a kindergarten
The City should be anywhere near control over GRU
So the will of the people be damned? Why am I not surprised?
Look at “our delegation”, the ones stealing GRU and further neutering Alachua County voters and who came up with this election denying power grab.
Rep. Chad Johnson lost in Alachua county by a lot in the last election – he’s the representative from Gilchrist and Levy counties, not Alachua, though he lives in Newberry like the previous traitor representative.
Rep. Chuck Brannan got 80% of his votes from Union, Baker, Columbia, and Bradford county, lives in McClenny, one of his major donor is Duke Energy, and he says he’s “Pro-life, pro-guns (?), and anti-tax”. In short, we don’t like his kind around here.
Sen Jennifer Bradley represents 6 red neck counties and the under populated N half of our county, though we’ve never voted for her because she became “our senator” through the racist and anti-Democrats redistricting of 2023-24. She lives in Orange Park and so no, she’s not “our senator”.
Sen Stan McClain lost in Alachua county by a lot in the last election, and lives in Summerfield south of Ocala – he’s the senator from Marion and Levy counties, not Alachua.
Yvonne Hinson won in Alachua County overwhelmingly in 2022 and was unopposed in 2024. She also lives here and can therefore actually claim to be – and is – “our delegation”.
The rest of these carpetbaggers are not “our delegation”, they are invaders and conquerors without our consent, and that includes Clemons and Perry, neither of whom won in Alachua county and relied on surrounding red counties to abuse our citizens.
Most of you here are Republicans and apparently like being dictated to by our state GOP overlords who are not content with governing over areas they represent but divide once prominent Alachua County to the point where we have only one true member in “our delegation”. That’s on you and your conscience, but hopefully someday we will have in Florida a non-partisan districting authority which fairly divides government representation with respect to fairness, not power and robbery. Other states have this system
In the meantime, this meeting tomorrow has no moral authority and anyone looking at it realistically knows that.
Someone tell me why and how I’m wrong.
You are right! At last, someone who understands what’s going on and sums up the true situation perfectly. Thank you, jazzman!
Why is Rep Chad Johnson, from Levy County introducing legislation to control local activities in Gainesville? The reason is unambiguous – Johnson said, “GRU asked for the new bill language.” This is the next step in crushing home rule and local opposition to the GRU Authority to consolidate more power in Big Government Tallahassee. “The new language also prevents the Gainesville City Commission from imposing a franchise, rights-of-way, license, permit or usage fee or tax on the utility without the consent of the GRU Authority. Johnson said this section was included at the request of GRU.” If GRU is to be defined as completely autonomous from the City of Gainesville, why shouldn’t the city be allowed to assess a fee for the use of the rights-of-way the city maintains? This sounds like the Tallahassee-controlled GRU Authority will be given carte blanch to trample over the city however it likes with no options for residents to have a say.
” This is the next step in crushing home rule and local opposition to the GRU Authority to consolidate more power in Big Government Tallahassee.” Yep. Exactly right. Seems like the Florida GOP is really attempting to create some sort of Soviet-style, top-down control over us. What’s next? Five-year plans?
Did you just fall off the Turnip Truck? Do a little research.