News
By Michael Hernandez, 9-23-24
YULEE, FLORIDA—The Nassau County Board of Commissioners declared a Local State of Emergency for all incorporated and unincorporated areas at its Sept. 23 meeting due to an historic 90 days of rain possibly the most rain in 100-years that has brought 39 inches of rain and unprecedented flooding for the last eight weeks.
“We’re a peninsula state with no place for water to go,” said Commissioner Alyson McCullough. “We have seen areas with hundreds of years of zero groundwater now having five and six feet of a steady flow of water. No one but God can stop the rain flooding that is going to occur because of nature and our typography.”
“I have been here for 40-50 years and we have not had this much rain in 100 years at least in Yulee,” said Commissioner Jeff Gray. “I have been here since the 70s and have never seen water this high,” said Commissioner Klynt Farmer. “I am hopeful that we will get better results on the next storm coming,” said Commissioner and Vice-Chair A.M. “Hupp” Huppmann. “We will get through this. We (need to) pray for the next storm to take a left turn,” said Commissioner and Chair John Martin.
Four citizens (including Holly Kelly and Anna Swisher) spoke during the public hearing. Kelly asked for a moratorium on zoning changes or new subdivisions and Swisher asked for assistance with her flooded property. Commissioner Gray responded: “We can’t spend taxpayer money on someone’s property” but asked property owners to talk to commissioners after the meeting to see what kind of assistance was available.
Nassau County Manager Taco Pope reported to the commissioners that the county has received 356 work orders since Sept. 1 that has resulted in 5,200 man-hours and 200 man-hours of inspections. Nassau County had 9.71 inches of rain in July, according to Commissioner Gray which was then followed by what he called a “100-year rain-event in August.” Commissioners asked the public to “be patient” as city employees worked tirelessly “to keep flooded roads” open.
The Nassau County Resolution (No. 2024-152) For The Declaration Of A State Of Local Emergency was action taken by the Nassau Board of Commissioners because Governor Ron DeSantis did not include Nassau County as one of the 41 counties listed in the Florida State of Emergency prior to a Tropical Cyclone Nine hitting the county in the coming days. The resolution is effective for seven days but can be extended by the Board of County Commissioners for an additional seven-day period. Declaring a Local State of Emergency allows government officials quick access to state resources to help manage a crisis. The resolution was presented to the Commission by Tim Cooper, Director of Nassau County Emergency Management.
Commissioners Approve Final 2024-2025 Budget of $481,653,267; Millage Rate; Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan
The Nassau County Board of Commissioners approved a final 2024-2025 budget of $481,653,367 a decrease of $56,085 from the tentative budget approved at the Sept. 9 meeting but an increase of $1,751,582 from last year’s adopted budget in September, 2023. The fiscal years runs from October thru September. This year’s upcoming budget will pay for 18 new fire/rescue positions and the operations of the new Fire Station No. 10 (Tributary) currently under construction.
The final millage rate of 9.1869 was also approved which includes a 6.8822 countywide millage rate; a 2.2087 municipal service taxing district millage; and a .0960 Amelia Island Beach Renourishment Millage. This compares to a final millage rate of 9.3887 last budget year which included a 7.0840 countywide millage rate (a reduction of .2018). This is the fourth consecutive year that Nassau County has reduced its overall total millage rate (property tax rate).
The adopted budget is structured to continue funding for investment into land conservation and management in line with the request from the community and pursuant to the voter approved referendum in November 2022.
The following statistics are taken from the 2024 Growth Trends Report:
Nassau County continues to be one of the fastest growing counties in both the State and the County. This population growth requires additional service capacity to meet these demands.
Nassau County has a population of 101,501 according to a 2023 U.S. Census Bureau estimate. Fernandina Beach has an estimated population of 13,499; Hillard an estimated population of 3,080; and Callahan an estimated population of 1,680. Nassau County has experienced a growth rate of 2.3 percent from 2022 to 2023 but is a high projected growth rate of 46.9 percent by 2035 would result in a population of 148,000; a medium growth rate projection by 2035 would result in a population of 125,700; while a low growth rate projection by 2035 would result in a population of 103,400.
Those who work outside Nassau County but live in the county outnumber workers who both live and work in the county by a 2:1 margin (23,974 vs. 12,002). This number has gone up by 1,591 workers from last year. Some 8,902 workers in Nassau County live outside the county. This number has dropped by 827 workers from last year. In total there are 35,980 workers living in Nassau County (this number has increased by 1,093 workers since last year); 20,908 worker employed in Nassau County (this number has dropped by 1,115 workers from last year); and 15,072 workers going outside Nassau County for their jobs (this number has increased by 2,208 workers from last year).
The median gross rent for Nassau County is $1,171 an increase of $119 from 2021 to 2022 with the renter median income of $48,267. The median value of owner-occupied houses is $306,800 (US Census) with the median income of $90,958. This is an increase of $42,700 from 2021 data. The number of owner-occupied units in Nassau County is 82.6 percent and increase of .7 percent between 2021 and 2022. The total housing units is 46,613 an increase of 13 percent from 2022 to 2023 (US Census). The unincorporated areas of the county have the following breakdown: 80 percent single family homes, 12 percent mobile homes, and 8 percent condominiums. Approximately 7,442 units have been built recently but another 30,494 units still are to be built.
The adopted budget continues to focus on supporting public safe operations through the Sheriff, Fire Rescue, Emergency Operations, Roads and Animal Services.
Questions about the adopted budget can be addressed to Chris Lacambra, Director of the Office of Management & Budget at (904) 530-6010 (option 2) or via email at [email protected].
Also approved was the five-year capital improvement plan that had been tentatively approved at the June 24 meeting.
Other Commission Actions:
- Approved a budget transfer (Agenda Item B) in the amount of $287,000 from the General Fund Emergency Reserves for ditch drainage and road repairs due to the recent flooding events and approved the use of Emergency Reserves and providing a replenishment plan for the Emergency Fund Balance. Currently, there is $10,025,702 in emergencies/disaster reserves. Nassau County is seeking reimbursement of approximately $600,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for Hurricane Debby damages.
- Approved a budget transfer (Agenda Item B) in the amount of $2
- 87,000 from the General Fund Emergency Reserves for ditch drainage and road repairs due to the recent flooding events and approved the use of Emergency Reserves and providing a replenishment plan for the Emergency Fund Balance. Currently, there is $10,025,702 in emergencies/disaster reserves. Nassau County is seeking reimbursement of approximately $600,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for Hurricane Debby damages.
- Approved a Public School Concurrency Proportional Share Mitigation Agreement (Agenda Item C) for the proposed Hidden Lake Development between Nassau County Board of County Commissioners and the Nassau County School District and Patriot Ridge, LLP which will allow for better coordination of new schools in time and place with land development and in the renovation of existing schools.
- Approved the use of Tourist Development Tax Dollars (Agenda Item I) to engage Hayworth Creative Inc. for public relations services for 2024-2025 (increasing the compensation by $148,000 for a total contract not to exceed the amount of $455,700 this is done in collaboration with the Amelia Island Tourist Development Council (AITDC). The campaign: “Amelia Island Come Make Memories” will focus on 20 writers/social media influencers as well as in the writing and distribution of press releases to national, regional and niche media outlets and focus on special events promotions while responding to all media inquiries within 24 hours and supply requested materials to media within 48 hours. Hayworth is one vendor out of nine vendors receiving projected expenditures for 2024-2025 totaling $4,624,180.
- Approved the State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection Grant Agreement (Agenda Item O) for the Conservation Land Acquisition and Management Program in the amount of $1 million dollars. This is a matching grant that totals $2 million dollars.
Nassau County Commissioners:
Chair John F. Martin: District 1 (Fernandina Beach): 904-570-2594*
A.M. “Hupp” Huppman: District 2 (South Amelia Island): 904-319-0686
Jeff Gray: District 3 (Yulee): 904-570-1946*
Alyson R. McCullough: District 4 (Hillard): 904-319-0689
Klynt A. Farmer: District 5 (Callahan): 904-570-1357*
(*Note: Commission Terms End on Nov. 18, 2024)
Upcoming Nassau County Events:
- Nassau County Board of Commissioners Special Workshop on Wed., Oct. 16 following the regular 9 a.m. board meeting to discuss the Vision 2050 Plan at the board chambers on 96135 Nassau Place Suite 1, Yulee, Florida 32097.
- Timber To Tides Design Overlay meetings planned for Oct. 29 from 4-7 p.m. at the James S. Page Governmental Complex, 96135 Nassau Place, Yulee, Florida 32097.
- The Bicentennial Celebration is hosting a Scavenger Hunt featuring photo challenges, quizzes and information about Nassau County’s history from October 1 to November 2. To participate download the Eventzee App, available in ITunes and Google Play Stores. Then create an Eventzee account by entering an email address, password, and username. Enter the event code: Wiswag.
Agenda
Watch (78 minutes)
https://nassaufl.granicus.com/player/event/2659?view_id=2&redirect=true
Michael Hernandez, from California, is co-founder of the Citizens Journal—Ventura County’s online news service. He is a former Southern California daily newspaper journalist and religion and news editor. Mr. Hernandez can be contacted at [email protected] and is editor of the weekly “Stories Speak Volumes,” “Nov. 5 Election Day Countdown” and “Revive America: Make America Great Again.”
