MediaUpdate

By Lise Fisher
Staff writer

The Alachua County Commission struggled Tuesday to balance concerns over getting funding to repave roads, crafting a sales tax for transportation that will appeal to voters and improving of the county's road maintenance and transportation.

After about two hours of discussion and several different versions of the proposed tax, a majority of the commission agreed to move forward with wording close to what was passed after a joint meeting with the Gainesville City Commission last month.

The commission voted 3-2 to a plan to have two separate proposed referendums go to voters in November. One would be for a ¾-cent tax for roadway projects and another for a ¼-cent sales tax for transit projects, each with a life of 15 years.

Added to the proposed taxes were criteria narrowing the scope of the generated revenue's uses. For example, sidewalks that might be added as part of some road projects would not be paid for from the ¾-cent tax but from other funding sources.

Commissioners Mike Byerly and Paula DeLaney dissented. Each commissioner voted the same way as they did at the joint meeting in March with Susan Baird, Winston Bradley and Lee Pinkoson supporting the 15-year proposed taxes, along with the additional caveats on revenue use.

County staff now will move forward with negotiations with different municipalities in the county regarding interlocal agreements on the proposed taxes.

Getting a majority of the commission to move forward with both referendums came after an effort to change the taxes' lifespan.

Pinkoson presented a motion that would have reduced the life of both proposed taxes to 10 years. With the additional criteria on revenue uses, Pinkoson said he thought the changes would help both referendums survive in the polls.

From the start of discussion on the taxes, Byerly made it clear he would not support a proposal that split the tax into two referendums. The issues of maintenance and transit, he said, were intertwined if the county wanted to move forward and prevent the same problems with its roads and transportation system as it has had in the past.

"I won't support dividing questions," he said, adding that he would work to defeat them.

Another objection Byerly had to separating the tax into two referendums was that he didn't believe the county was "acting honorably" regarding the municipalities involved in the proposed tax.

The county has approached planning for an initially combined tax as a united effort with area municipalities, allowing them to provide their own priority lists for projects to be funded by the generated revenue. The county had been counting on a community-wide approach to improve the tax's chances with voters.

Byerly felt separating the tax into two referendums and defining their scope didn't honor the intention of having the municipalities develop their own projects list.

"It feels like a bait and switch," he said.

The decision to create separate referendums came after the city of Gainesville presented a project list that included funding for a bus rapid transit system. At that time, Pinkoson and Baird raised concerns over the bus rapid transit system. They predicted organized political opposition to a tax that would fund the bus rapid transit system and were concerned that would kill any chance to fund the county's road resurfacing needs.

The county's focus for money generated from a sales tax for transportation, expected to generate about $30 million a year, is to fund road resurfacing. The county has a backlog of needs close to $380 million. That amount is expected to rise to about $450 million over the next 15 to 20 years without a new funding source.

Before the proposed taxes passed, Bradley said he believed it was "irresponsible" not do anything about the issue and to "play politics" with it.

"I see what we're doing is giving people an opportunity to decide," Bradley said. "If they say no, roads will continue as they are."

Speaking in support of the idea behind the tax, Baird said she liked that property owners wouldn't be the only ones paying. Through a tax that impacts all goods but food and gas, everyone will be involved in helping solve the critical problem the county is facing regarding road resurfacing, she said.

During the meeting, DeLaney had opposed the additional caveats regarding revenue use, saying she was "uncomfortable" with the constraints on the proposed taxes.

By Lise Fisher
Staff writer

Alachua County will be joining a lawsuit that takes aim at the state’s revised Medicaid billing practices, commissioners unanimously agreed Tuesday.

The county will be added to a growing list of counties around the state that, along with the Florida Association of Counties, plan to challenge a new rule that makes them responsible for 85 percent of unpaid bills related to Medicaid patients who are hospitalized for more than 10 days.

The lawsuit seeks to have the legislation declared unconstitutional. It also asks for an injunction that would stop the state from withholding the counties’ revenue sharing funds to cover bills charged for backlogged and current Medicaid sharing obligations.

Under the legislation, approved last month, counties must pay current Medicaid bills as well as backlogged bills dating from Nov. 1, 2001 through April 30. The law first begins impacting counties next month.

Alachua County has routinely disputed and rejected about 80 percent of the Medicaid bills because of flaws in the billing system that staff have argued incorrectly charges the county.

As the first county listed in the state, the billing system often mistakenly assigns bills to Alachua County, according to staff. Also, because of the trauma center at Shands at the University of Florida, it has received bills for non-county residents treated at the hospital.

Based on recent discussions with state officials, it’s projected Alachua County will be charged about $6 million to $8 million in disputed back bills related to Medicaid, payable over five years, said Acting County Manager Rick Drummond. The county also could be held accountable this fiscal year for about $2 million to $2.5 million in current Medicaid bills.

A worst-case analysis says the county could be looking at a financial impact this upcoming fiscal year of $8 million to $8.5 million, according to county staff.

All this at a time when the county is facing a $2 million drop in property tax revenues.

Alachua County Attorney Dave Wagner said the process involves approximately 27,500 patient bill claims files. Wagner also told commissioners it was the first time that he had seen the state try to tap into the county’s revenue stream before reviewing pending bills.

Last week, the board of directors for the Florida Association of Counties voted to pursue litigation over the new legislation with a lawsuit expected to be filed by the end of the month. The association retained Bryant, Miller and Olive attorneys Susan Churuti, formerly the attorney for Pinellas County, and Thomas B. Drage Jr., who had served as the attorney for Orange County, to be special counsel.

Arguments in the lawsuit likely will be based in part on the bill’s failure to achieve a two-thirds vote in either the Florida House or Senate, according to reports by the Florida Association of Counties. It cites state law saying this percentage of votes is required in both chambers when proposed legislation reduces the authority of cities or counties to raise revenues.

Based on its population, Alachua County will pay $3,500 toward retaining special counsel on the case. Wagner told commissioners he expected about 40 counties in the state will have joined the lawsuit by the end of the day Tuesday.

By Lise Fisher
Staff writer

Proposals about the path and design of a multi-use trail from Archer to the Depot Avenue Trail will head to a workshop for more discussion and input from residents, the Alachua County Commission unanimously decided Tuesday.

Commissioners listened to about two hours of comments about the Archer Braid Trail, which has generated numerous emails over the past few weeks to the commission, mostly from Haile Plantation residents both for and against the path.

The current design for the Archer Braid Trail has it running along Archer Road to Southwest 91st Street, north into Haile Plantation, east along Southwest 46th Boulevard to Tower Road and north to Kanapaha Park. It then heads east along the north side of Lake Kanapaha, over Interstate 75 toward Butler Plaza, north to Hull Road and through the University of Florida campus before connecting with the Depot Avenue Trail near Shands at the University of Florida.

Many people who spoke at the meeting, including Haile residents and bicycling enthusiasts, said they supported sending the issue to a workshop to allow for more discussion and provide more accurate information about the trail.

Reviews of the trail and its proposed path were mixed.

Some said they thought the trail would be safer for students heading to school and people wanting to walk or bicycle in Haile and beyond and will improve property values.

Others questioned the trail's path, such as asking whether it would be beneficial to run it to the town of Archer.

Others said the idea should be scrapped. One Haile resident said the county had other matters to deal with that should take higher priority than the trail. Another said he didn't think the trail would be used much because of other paths in the area for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Commissioner Mike Byerly said he was disturbed by the amount of misinformation distributed about the trail such as that Haile residents would have to pay additional dues because of the trail or be held legally liable for accidents on it.

Byerly said some objected to the trail going through Haile because it was a private neighborhood with private streets. "It's not. You have private lots which front public streets," he said.

Byerly said the concept of a path between Archer and the University of Florida has been in existence for more than a decade. County Commissioner Susan Baird said people have been confused about the trail, probably due to a lack of communication between county staff and Haile residents. For example, she said, when she served on an architectural review commission in Haile Plantation during the past decade, she didn't recall being advised about the trail.

County Commissioner Winston Bradley said he would be interested in having Haile residents vote on the idea of the path after they have a chance to hear all the facts about it. "Take a vote in Haile and I would be willing to follow your dictates," he said.

For the past few weeks, Haile Plantation residents have spoken out in emails about the trail. Some worry about problems related to traffic, maintenance and crime. But other residents have said the trail will help the community by providing a way to get across town and connect with the Hawthorne Trail, promote business in the Village Center in Haile Plantation and improve walking and biking access.

By Lise Fisher
Staff writer

Alachua County commissioners will take on several familiar and weighty topics at their meeting Tuesday: A lawsuit over Medicaid billing practices, the Archer Braid Trail and the transportation system surtax.

Commissioners will consider joining a lawsuit with the Florida Association of Counties and other counties over new legislation governing Medicaid billing practices.

The changes to the billing system could cost the county an estimated $6 million to $7 million when it already is facing a $2 million decline in taxable property value.

Last month, Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill that makes counties responsible for 85 percent of unpaid bills related to Medicaid patients who are hospitalized for more than 10 days.

But, according to county staff, the billing process of the Agency for Health Care Administration is flawed, with the county routinely rejecting about 80 percent of the Medicaid bills it receives due to billing problems.

Alachua County also has argued that, as the first county listed in the state, the billing system often mistakenly assigns bills to it. And because of the trauma center at Shands at the University of Florida, it has received bills for non-county residents treated at the hospital.

Under the new legislation, counties must pay backlogged and current Medicaid bills. If they don’t, the money will be withheld from revenue sharing from the state.

Another issue that will come before the County Commission is the Archer Braid Trail, a multi-use path that, if completed, would run from Archer to the start of the Depot Avenue Trail near Shands at UF.

It’s been proposed that a section of the trail would run through Haile Plantation, which has garnered both objections and praise from the area’s residents.

The county now is working on design plans for the trail. It’s been recommended the plans be presented to the public at a future workshop before proceeding forward with the project.

Also on the commission’s agenda is the proposed transportation system surtax.

Last month, a majority of the commission voted to move ahead with an idea to separate roads and transit projects into two different referendums. The plan proposes a referendum for a three-quarter-cent tax for road projects and another referendum for a quarter-cent sales tax for Gainesville’s transit projects. Both are intended to go to voters in November. If passed, each would run for 15 years.

The recommendation before commissioners calls for them to approve interlocal agreements over how the millions of dollars in revenues would be divided among the different types of projects and then shared among the various municipalities.