Gainesville voters have approved two referendums on Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) demanding that control of the city-owned utility be returned from a governor-appointed board to the elected city commission — once in November 2024 with 72.5% support, and again in November 2025 with 75.18%. Neither has taken effect. A circuit judge voided the first on a wording problem in the ballot summary. An appeals court stayed the second two days after the election. In June 2026, Governor Ron DeSantis signed a new law that explicitly preempts local authority over the utility to the state. The GRU Authority still runs the utility.
Why Voters Were Asked at All
Until 2023, GRU was governed by the elected Gainesville City Commission. That year the Florida Legislature passed CS/HB 1645, creating the Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority as a five-member board appointed by the governor and “free from the direction and control of the City commission and City charter officers.” DeSantis signed the bill on June 28, 2023, and it took effect July 1.1Florida Senate. CS/HB 1645 Bill Analysis
Proponents in Tallahassee pointed to a 2022 state audit, roughly $1.7 billion in utility debt, and residential electric rates that were the highest among Florida municipal utilities in early 2023.1Florida Senate. CS/HB 1645 Bill Analysis They argued the new board would also protect utility customers outside city limits who could not vote in Gainesville elections. City leaders and residents called the law a seizure of local democratic control, placing the utility under a board voters could not remove.2WUFT. Bill Reinforcing State Control of GRU Passes Florida Legislature
The referendums were the city’s attempt to undo that structure.
The 2024 Referendum and Why It Was Thrown Out
The Gainesville City Commission voted unanimously to put a charter amendment on the November 2024 ballot asking voters whether to eliminate the governor-appointed Authority and return oversight to the city commission.3League of Women Voters of Alachua County. LWVAC Position on GRU Local Public Utilities November Referendum The measure passed with 72.5% of the vote.4Main Street Daily News. Judge Rules on GRU Authority Referendum
Before the election even took place, the Authority sued on September 10, 2024, trying to keep the question off the ballot.5Gainesville Regional Utilities. GRU News On April 2, 2025, Circuit Court Judge George M. Wright issued a mixed ruling. He found the city did have power to amend its charter and had clearly communicated the economic impact. But he nullified the results because the ballot summary was misleading: it referred to placing responsibility with “the elected city commission and charter officer,” when in fact Gainesville charter officers are appointed, not elected.6WUFT. Judge Rules Referendum Null in GRU Authority Board v. City of Gainesville
One word — “elected” — placed before “charter officer” was enough to erase the entire vote.4Main Street Daily News. Judge Rules on GRU Authority Referendum
The 2025 Referendum and the Immediate Stay
The city rewrote the question and put it before voters again in a special election. On November 4, 2025, Gainesville voters approved the reworded measure by an even wider margin: 75.18% in favor. About 14,478 ballots were cast, roughly 19% of eligible voters.7Gainesville Sun. Gainesville Approves 2025 Referendum to Dissolve GRU Authority
Mayor Harvey Ward tried to reassure residents that a transition would be routine, with lights and water staying on and GRU employees keeping their jobs. GRU CEO Ed Bielarski announced that same evening the Authority would file an emergency petition with the First District Court of Appeal.8Florida Politics. Gainesville Votes to Send GRU Authority Packing a Second Time
Two days later, on November 6, 2025, the appeals court granted the Authority’s emergency motion and blocked the charter amendment from taking effect while litigation continued. Both sides were ordered to file briefs within 20 days.9WCJB. Appeals Court Blocks Dissolution of GRU Authority Board Following Referendum’s Approval
The Appeal: Can a City Undo a State Law by Referendum?
Oral arguments at the First District Court of Appeal took place on February 10, 2026, before a three-judge panel. The case comes down to a core question of Florida constitutional law: can a city use its home rule powers to undo a special act of the state legislature?
The Authority’s attorney, Samuel J. Salario, argued the city lacked power to “destroy an independent authority the Legislature created and explicitly shielded from local interference.” The city’s attorney, Joseph T. Eagleton, countered that the legislature had never used clear language stripping the city of its right to amend its own charter, pointing to the Florida Constitution, the Municipal Home Rule Powers Act, and the Gainesville Charter. The city also leaned on the back-to-back 73% and 75% votes as expressions of the public will.10WUFT. GRU Authority, City of Gainesville Clash in Appeals Court Over Utility Control
As of late June 2026, the court has not ruled. The stay stopping the city from implementing the referendum remains in place. The court ordered supplemental briefing in June 2026, and the city filed a notice to the Florida Attorney General raising a constitutional question, a signal the panel may be weighing broader constitutional issues.11Florida Courts. Case 1D2025-1364, Gainesville Regional Utility Authority v. City of Gainesville
HB 1451: The Legislature Shuts the Door
While the appeal was pending, the legislature acted again. In the final House Commerce Committee hearing on HB 1451, a bill otherwise about municipal utility reporting, Representative Demi Busatta (R-Coral Gables) introduced an amendment adding 24 words: “the subject of a regional utilities authority created by the legislature through charter amendment after January 1, 2023, is expressly preempted to the state.”12Florida Politics. Utility Bill Tacks on GRU Preemption, Advances to House Floor The language did not name Gainesville, but it was widely understood to apply only to GRU.
The amendment was adopted in committee without objection and without public testimony. The hearing lasted less than five minutes.12Florida Politics. Utility Bill Tacks on GRU Preemption, Advances to House Floor
On the House floor on March 3, 2026, Representative Yvonne Hayes Hinson (D-Gainesville) tried to strip the preemption language, arguing the provision targeted a single community, would nullify two certified election results, and amounted to changing the law mid-litigation. Her amendment failed on a voice vote. The bill passed 81–26.13Alachua Chronicle. House Passes Bill Preempting Control of GRU to the State; Hinson’s Amendment Fails14WCJB. House Approves Bill Overriding Gainesville Voter Referendum to Return Control of GRU to City
The Senate passed its version 29–6 on March 11, 2026, and both chambers concurred in the final version on March 12 and 13.15Florida Senate. CS/CS/HB 1451 Bill Page Governor DeSantis signed HB 1451 on June 11, 2026, with general provisions taking effect July 1, 2027.16WCJB. Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Bill to Return State Control Over GRU
Bielarski said in a press release that “with a stroke of the governor’s pen, the seemingly never-ending attacks upon the governance of GRU have been put to rest.”17Gainesville Sun. New State Law Strengthens GRUA Control of Gainesville Florida Utilities Commissioner Bryan Eastman said the bill overrode the will of 75% of the city’s voters.18Main Street Daily News. DeSantis Signs Bill on GRU Authority
What This Means for GRU Customers Right Now
The Authority runs the utility, and day-to-day service has not changed. The Authority approved budgets with no electric base rate increases for fiscal years 2025, 2026, and 2027.5Gainesville Regional Utilities. GRU News In May 2025, Fitch Ratings affirmed GRU’s A+ rating on about $1.74 billion in revenue bonds, citing reduced general fund transfer payments to the city and affordable rates. The utility’s debt-leverage ratio dropped from 11.9 times in fiscal 2023 to 8.8 times in fiscal 2024.19Fitch Ratings. Fitch Affirms Gainesville Regional Utilities FL Revs at A; Outlook Stable
Flat base rates don’t mean flat bills. Fuel adjustment charges tied to natural gas prices moved around in 2025 and 2026, and GRU acknowledged customer bills could still change as fuel costs shifted.5Gainesville Regional Utilities. GRU News
Starting in November 2026, Gainesville stormwater and garbage fees will no longer appear on GRU bills. After the Authority deadlocked 2–2 in May 2026 on renewing the bundled-billing arrangement, the city moved those charges to the Alachua County Tax Collector’s Office, which charges a lower administrative fee. The shift also changes how stormwater fees are calculated, from a flat per-unit cost to one based on impervious square footage. The city estimates a roughly 9% increase in stormwater fees, about $1 more per month for a typical residential property, with landlords likely passing costs through to renters.20Gainesville Sun. Split Vote Over Billing Method Stalls GRU Agreement With Gainesville21Alachua Chronicle. Gainesville City Commission Passes Ordinances Allowing Billing of Stormwater and Garbage Fees on Property Tax Bills
Where Things Stand as of Late June 2026
The GRU Authority remains in operational control. The appeal, Case No. 1D2025-1364 at the First District Court of Appeal, is still open, with supplemental briefing ordered as recently as June 19, 2026, and no ruling issued. The city filed a notice raising a constitutional question with the Attorney General on June 23, 2026.11Florida Courts. Case 1D2025-1364, Gainesville Regional Utility Authority v. City of Gainesville HB 1451 is now law, though Mayor Ward and other local officials have said they remain uncertain how the preemption statute interacts with the pending litigation.18Main Street Daily News. DeSantis Signs Bill on GRU Authority
Two citywide votes have delivered the same answer. Neither has moved the governance of the utility an inch. Whether a Florida city can use a charter referendum to undo a special act of the legislature is now the question in front of the appeals court, and the answer may decide not just who runs GRU but how far municipal home rule reaches when the state decides to take something back.