Leon County Commission Meeting Briefs: February 11, 2025

Below are the news briefs from the Leon County Commission meeting held on February 11, 2025.

The Board approved Consent Items 1-8.

The consent items included:

Item 7: 2024 Leon County Real Estate Portfolio Annual Report. The Report provides a summary and analysis of real estate related activities during calendar year 2024. As of December 31, 2024, the County real estate portfolio consisted of 532 parcels totaling 5,752 acres, and 100 buildings with 2,252,539 square feet.

Item 8: Status Report on the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Data for Regulated Banks in Leon County. The report provided an update on the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, which provides lending data for regulated banks operating in Leon County. As detailed in the Analysis section of this item, federal regulatory agencies have found that banks in Leon County are practicing fair lending. The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), enacted by Congress in 1975, mandates that banks collect and report data on their mortgage lending activities. 

Consent Items Pulled for Discussion

Item 9: Status Report on the North Monroe Street and West Pensacola Street Corridors. The Board voted to accept a status report on the ongoing investments, initiatives, and strategic programming along both the North Monroe Street and the West Pensacola Street corridors. Commissioner Caban voiced concerns about the impact of the initiatives.

General Business

Item 10: The Board ratified actions taken at the January 27, 2025, Board Retreat. Each year, the County conducts an annual Board retreat, facilitated by the County Administrator, for the purpose of updating the County’s five-year Strategic Plan to include new Strategic Initiatives for the new year.

Item 11: The Board voted to approve a contract to Next Generation 9-1-1 System Services for the implementation of the Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG911) System to enhance emergency communication capabilities and ensure stable, effective, and efficient responses to the community’s needs. The item had a fiscal impact.  Adequate funding is available for the one-time implementation cost ($1,307,837) and annual operating and maintenance expenses ($631,549).  By awarding the contract to NGA 911, L.L.C., the County could realize cost savings of nearly $500,000 over the next seven years compared to the current contract.

Item 12: Full Board Appointments to the Advisory Committee for Quality Growth and the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. The Board voted to appoint Audra Fournier to the Advisory Committee for Quality Growth, and Kentisha James to the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee.  The applicant for the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee meets the qualifications for the new membership category recently adopted by the Board to ensure that the Committee membership includes a person that has benefited from affordable housing programs and/or experienced an eviction.

Item 13: State and Federal Legislative Update. The Board received an update on state and federal legislative issues resulting from the special session of the Florida Legislature, the Governor’s budget proposal for FY 2026, and the executive actions taken by President Trump to date, including a temporary pause on federal funding, tariffs recently imposed on neighboring countries, and potential impacts related to local governments.