Gainesville residents will soon experience a 5 percent raise in property taxes.
Gainesville City Commission approved the increase Sept. 21. The tax will go into effect Sunday, and will give the city necessary funding to maintain and enhance its services, said city spokesperson Bob Woods.
The money will help buy better gear for Gainesville Police and Gainesville Fire Rescue, match funding for the mental health clinic Meridian Behavioral Healthcare and create a digital services director position, said City Commissioner David Arreola.
“Nobody likes to have to resort to any sort of millage increase, but look at what we’re going to be spending it on,” Arreola said. “It’s going to mean better services.”
Arreola said Gainesville’s millage rate, which measures how much is owed in property taxes, is currently one of the lower ones in Florida.
“We were already at such a low place with the millage compared to the rest of the state that we felt it was the right increase for this particular time,” he said.
The millage rate will rise from 4.5079 mills to 4.7474 mills, Woods said.
Craig Carter, a former city commissioner, said he isn’t upset by the property tax increase as long as it provides a higher quality of living for residents. Carter does warn that the increase could make the city less attractive to outsiders.
“The problem is, at some point you’re going to tax yourself out of citizens and businesses,” he said.
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