HAWTHORNE – After a history of resistance to adopting a municipal services taxing unit (MSTU) for its residents, Hawthorne commissioners unanimously voted last Tuesday night to sign on to the fee.
The move comes after the town is yet again facing a financial hardship. Hawthorne commissioners had been pressured by Alachua County officials to sign on to an MSTU in prior years. That pressure led Hawthorne to create its own police and fire departments. But the police department was disbanded last month and the town’s fire department has been hanging in the balance since.
One solution proposed by the county commissioners is for the city to pay into a MSTU to fund sheriff and fire protection from the county. MSTUs are typically used by counties to tax residents living in unincorporated areas. Those taxes are designated for services the county provides to those residents such as sheriff patrolling and responses to fires.
Alachua City Manager Clovis Watson, Jr. has been helping Hawthorne since the commission fired its city manager earlier this month, and he attended the Tuesday evening commission meeting.
While at Tuesday’s meeting, Watson introduced Linda Rice-Chapman and Sue Weller, both residents of the Alachua and High Springs area who have volunteered their services to Hawthorne. Weller has over 20 years of experience in government services, Watson said. Rice-Chapman, meanwhile, is an attorney and real estate agent.
Watson, an unpaid consultant to the commission, said Hawthorne’s leaders were faced with tough decisions and ultimately opted for the MSTU after a review of the City’s revenues showed a lack of funding for the fire department.
“I think the commission made the best decision they could given the circumstances in which they find themselves,” said Watson.
Watson also made it clear that he had no intention of questioning the decisions of the former city manager, Chad Shryock.
“I was not in [Shryock’s] shoes and I don’t know what kinds of situations he may have been facing,” Watson said.
The adoption of the MSTU for fire and sheriff services means the Hawthorne Fire Department will effectively be disbanded.
For more information about how the MSTU will affect roughly 1,600 residents of Hawthorne and details of what commissioners discussed Tuesday evening, read the Feb. 26 edition of Alachua County Today.
