A rare stalemate at the May 13 Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority meeting left directors unable to reach a decision on a new agreement with the city for stormwater and solid waste billing, sending the matter back for further review.
Following a “deadlock” discussion, GRUA Directors Eric Lawson and Chip Skinner supported entering into an agreement to continue monthly stormwater billing through the city, while Directors David Haslam and Jack Jacobs backed shifting the responsibility to the Alachua County Tax Collector’s Office with annual billing.
GRU CEO Ed Bielarski told The Sun on May 14 that the outcome represented an “impasse towards getting resolution on the agreement.”
The now four-member board has been awaiting Gov. Ron DeSantis to appoint a fifth director for nearly a year following former Director Craig Carter’s exit on June 11.
On April 13, The Sun reached out to DeSantis’ office for an update and received only a “stay tuned!” response.
GRU spokesperson David Warm said customers will continue paying stormwater and refuse (trash pickup) charges on their utility bills until the current agreement expires Oct. 1, 2026. He added the average residential customer pays about $9.30 per month for stormwater.
Alachua County Tax Collector John Power told The Sun on May 15 that the city provides stormwater, refuse, fire and general government services. He said the tax collector currently handles fire and general government fees, while GRU bills city residents for stormwater and refuse under an existing contract with the city.
Power said that if GRU and the city fail to reach a new agreement, the Tax Collector’s Office would take over billing for those services.
Under the two proposals, GRU would charge the city a 4.5% fee, while the Tax Collector’s Office would charge 2% and potentially offer a small discount depending on when payments are made.
The agreement between GRU and the city had initially been considered a win-win and was recommended for approval, with documents showing it would have increased GRU revenue from $821,000 to an estimated $979,000.
Agenda materials show that at meetings on March 12 and Oct. 8, 2025, GRUA discussed whether to keep billing for the city’s garbage and stormwater services, citing both the number of charges already on GRU bills and concerns that customers may view those services as provided by GRU.
After the October meeting, the board directed Bielarski to negotiate a deal with the city, which the Gainesville City Commission approved March 5, 2026.
Director Jack Jacobs described moving billing to the Tax Collector’s Office as a “win-win-win-win-win” for both ratepayers and GRU, saying overall customer bills would drop. While he said he did not know the average GRU bill, Jacobs pointed to his own, saying it would decrease by more than $60 per month.
“We’re wasting half a million dollars of the taxpayers’ money. They can do it cheaper through the property tax collector’s office. That’s ridiculous,” Jacobs said. “The recommendation that we propose tonight is that we don’t continue having it on our bill because after talking to the Tax Collector’s Office, they’re up and ready to go by October — and what a Christmas present that will be to our ratepayers.”
After reviewing part of HB 1645, the 2023 law that created the authority, Chair Eric Lawson said continuing the agreement would strengthen GRU’s relationship with the city and prevent a significant revenue loss of nearly $1 million.
“It’s my position that HB 1645 almost requires us to approve this because our costs aren’t going down, only our revenues are going down. So GRU essentially loses a million dollars if we walk away from this relationship,” Lawson said.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: GRU Authority deadlocks on stormwater billing agreement with city
Reporting by Elliot Tritto, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
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