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Public commenter alleges county not billed for GRU services; commission records no formal response
Summary
During public comment, Jim Kanesh alleged Gainesville Regional Utilities has not been billing the county for services including street lights and hydrants and accused the county-city relationship of masking costs; county officials did not provide a substantive rebuttal during the meeting.
Jim Kanesh, a public commenter, told the Alachua County Commission he had reviewed utility bills and audits and alleged that Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) has not billed the county for multiple services, including street lights, fire hydrants and broadband. "You are not paying GRU for street lights. You are not paying GRU for fire hydrants," Kanesh said, and asserted that service-level agreement losses are not appearing on financial statements.
Kanesh cited an audit he attributed to a city auditor-general report and said the omissions represent systemic issues he described as illegal and deserving of further review and public disclosure. "This hemorrhaging doesn't show up on the financial statements," he said, and said he would post materials online and encourage auditors to review the issues.
The chair thanked Kanesh for his comments; no GRU representative or county official offered a substantive rebuttal or explanation during the meeting record. County staff did not present documentary evidence in response at the meeting, and no motion or formal inquiry related to GRU billing was made on the record.
Because these statements were made as public comment and no county response was recorded at the meeting, the claims remain allegations and were unresolved in the hearing. The commission may receive related documents or requests for follow-up outside the meeting record.
