Alachua County is requesting more than $300,000 from UF to reimburse the cost of public safety resources provided for Richard Spencer’s event on campus in October.
The county mailed UF a letter and invoice for $302,184 Wednesday morning asking to be reimbursed for the cost of provided public safety resources with an attached itemized invoice for the resources provided, said Mark Sexton, the communications and legislative affairs director for Alachua. Sexton said the reimbursement has no due date. The City of Gainesville will discuss charging UF for security costs in a general body meeting Jan. 25, said Chip Skinner, a city spokesperson.
“It’s my understanding that UF approached the county and asked for resources to help and that there was an expectation of reimbursement,” Sexton said.
Steve Orlando, a UF spokesperson, said UF had not received the letter but was aware of it. He said the issue is under review.
Security costs, split between UF and other agencies, were estimated to be about $600,000, according to Alligator archives.
Alachua’s law enforcement — totaling $260,494 — accounts for most of the Wednesday invoice, while fire rescue services costs just under $20,000.
The invoice also lists $15,829 for the Alachua County Combined Communication Center services, which includes overtime pay for 911 and non-emergency operators and radios that were rented for public safety officers to use, Sexton said. Court security and jail services combined made up $6,343 of the invoice.
Contact Jessica Giles at jgiles@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter at @jessica_giles_.
Richard Spencer
