VOLUME 4 ISSUE 38
$2
New Zen Garden
SEPTEMBER 22 - SEPTEMBER 28, 2023
Pg A5
A community of givers This year’s Give4Marion 33-hour online giving event brought in record $1.4 million-plus for area nonprofits.
New appointment for county commission Matthew McClain fills the vacancy left by Jeff Gold
Matthew McClain being sworn in as commissioner on Sept. 15, 2023. [Courtesy of Marion County]
By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com
A Lauren DeIorio, the President and Executive Director of the Community Foundation for Ocala/Marion County, right, and Ashley Gerds, the Director of Strategic Engagement for the Community Foundation, left, celebrate raising over $1.3 million during the celebration for Give4Marion at the Reilly Arts Center in Ocala on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2023.
By Jennifer Hunt Murty jennifer@ocalagazette.com
G
ive4Marion, a program of the Community Foundation for Ocala/Marion County, was born of a need to address societal challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. The online giving event allows area nonprofits to benefit from 33 hours of giving through an online platform that was designed to accommodate social
distancing. It has evolved into a dynamic annual tradition and social media buzz generator. Matching Moments, Power
Hours and other incentives add to the excitement for donors as well as the See Give4Marion, page A2
“The Give4Marion initiative, by recognizing, harnessing, and supporting the power of our nonprofits making a real difference in our lives, has indeed created a lasting giving legacy.” Barbara Fitos
Founding Executive Director for the Community Foundation for Ocala/Marion County
fter several months with an empty seat, the Marion County Board of County Commissioners now has a full board after Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Matt McClain as commissioner on Sept. 15. McClain is filling the vacancy left by former commissioner Jeff Gold’s resignation in May and unexpected last day in June of this year. He was sworn into office and served at his first county commission meeting on Tuesday. “I’m just very excited and want to give all the glory to God, this would all be meaningless without him,” McClain said shortly after the announcement of his appointment. “I’m very grateful to Governor DeSantis for the appointment and I’m looking forward to continuing to serve Marion County citizens as an elected official.” McClain said he had served as a chief legislative aid for Florida Senator Dennis Baxley since 2016, and before that worked for former Rep. Charlie Stone starting in 2011. See McClain, page A3
The ongoing impact fee debate One Florida county was sued because of its impact fees. Could that happen here?
By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com
W
hen educational impact fees were instated in Santa Rosa County in 2020, local developers pushed back against the county and its school board, causing a two-yearlong legal battle. In Marion County, the school board and county are in the final stages of making a decision on whether or not to reinstate impact fees so developers will
pay a one-time fee for each new home they build to help offset the financial strain that development imposes on school capacity by funding the construction of new schools. The fees were suspended in 2011 because of the recession. Marion County Attorney Guy Minter has brought the case of Santa Rosa County’s legal troubles to the attention of the Marion County Board of County Commissioners, with concerns that if impact fees are reinstated, the same risk of lawsuit could happen here.
“We are all aware that the school board has a need to adopt a new funding source as soon as possible,” Minter wrote in a memorandum. “The worst scenario would be to have a situation like Santa Rosa County and spend two years in expensive litigation only to have the fees ultimately invalidated.” In the case of the Santa Rosa County lawsuit, a Circuit Court ruled in favor of the Home Builders Association of West Florida in 2022, which filed a lawsuit claiming that the county’s
impact fees were unconstitutional due to flaws in the way the amount of fees and number of students impacted by new construction were calculated. The county had to reimburse nearly $500,000 to builders who were fined before the injunction was filed. For calculations in this district on how much impact fees should be, the Marion County School Board enlisted Benesch Consulting to conduct a yearlong study, which showed the county will need to build seven to 10
new schools by the year 2038, calculated based on an average of 3,500 new home permits a year. Schools are expensive to build, particularly with security measures that meet modern-day demands, and costs range from $43 million for a new elementary school, $59 million for a new middle school to $135 million for a new high school. Benesch, which has conducted studies for the school board and the county for a variety of purposes, has presented its See Impact, page A2
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INSIDE:
Bethea Wins................................... A3 Trolley Debut................................. A4 Suit Settled..................................... A6 POW/MIA Recognition Ceremony.... B1 Ocala Film Derby.......................... B2
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