Attorney General James Uthmeier has issued a critical opinion saying Nassau County can’t jack up the rate of impact fee increases beyond Florida limits just because its population has increased substantially in the past half-decade.

Uthmeier said in a news release that he received a request to examine potential additional impact fees amid growth in the First Coast county. Rep. Richard Gentry, a DeBary Republican, asked for the Attorney General’s opinion.

The county has about 103,000 people residing there, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. That’s about a 17% jump from 2020.

Nassau County Commissioners approved impact-fee increases in December, citing the rapid growth of the municipality as “extraordinary circumstances.” In some cases, that amounted to a hike in impact fees of at least 50% over a four-year period in multiple phases, according to a report in the Fernandina Observer.

Florida law states that counties can increase impact fees beyond 50% if there are “extraordinary circumstances.” The fees are assessed to developers by local governments to cover the impact that buildings and developments have on local services, such as infrastructure, schools and public services.

Uthmeier said in his three-page opinion sent to Gentry that Nassau County doesn’t meet the threshold for raising impact fees at the rate approved in December.

Gentry’s Dec. 17 letter to Uthmeier said Nassau County’s interpretation of impact fee increases was off base.

“The interpretation is deeply flawed,” Gentry said bluntly.

Gentry added that his motivation for seeking the opinion from Uthmeier was rooted in his worry that counties could begin usurping the authority of the Legislature, which crafts state law.

“Nassau County’s interpretation of this statute would undermine the Legislature’s intent and open the door to arbitrary fee hikes statewide,” Gentry wrote. “I urge your office to confirm that Nassau County cannot lawfully exceed the statutory cap.”

Uthmeier agreed with Gentry in his opinion.

“The steady, albeit heightened, increase in population of 17% over the previous five years does not qualify as ‘extraordinary circumstances,’” Uthmeier said.

The state’s top lawyer said impact fees by nature are designed to handle population increases.

“The same growth that justifies limited, regimented impact fee increases in the statute can’t also justify extraordinary increases that jettison those strictures associated with those limited, regimented impact fee increases,” Uthmeier said.

“We caution that the implementation of the increases by Nassau County of almost 100% of the current rate … without the requisite justification appears to be a tax disguised as an impact fee.”

Uthmeier’s letter is strictly an opinion and is not binding. But coming from the state’s top lawyer and law enforcement officer, it could be used to develop a case and mount pressure if litigation were filed over the issue.

A fierce gun battle between a suspected killer and police unfolded during Wednesday morning’s rush hour near one of the city’s busiest intersections. The gunman and a man believed to be his victim died, and two officers were wounded in the shootout.

The shooting began just before 8 a.m. after the gunman killed a man in a retail business, police said. The gunman fled as police arrived in response to reports of a shooting, then stopped his car in the middle of the street and opened fire toward officers, Police Chief Nelson Moya said.

Moya described it as a “hellacious gun battle” that lasted about two minutes as officers and the gunman maneuvered for better firing positions.

Spent ammunition casings littered the road surrounding the gunman’s sedan as investigators worked at the scene.

Police found a body inside the business, Moya said. The names of the victim and the gunman were not immediately made public.

One officer was shot in the arm, and a second was shot in the leg, the chief said. Both officers were hospitalized and expected to recover.

Bullets pierced the area businesses during the shootout, which happened in East Gainesville about two miles east of the University of Florida campus. The area of the city has suffered in recent years from violent gun crime and is a focus of heavy police patrols. The nearby intersection of University Avenue and Waldo Road is heavily traveled during rush hour.

The owner of an auto repair store, Lorne Lattamier Green, 55, said bullets hit six cars parked out front, chipped the store’s glass and hit a door.

“ I start hearing a popping sound and [it] did not sound like gunfire,” said Green. He said the noises “got a little more frequent, more shots. It started hitting the glass here, and that’s when we realized, OK, it’s bullets, it’s shots. So, we all got down on the ground.”

Surveillance cameras at the auto repair store caught the suspected killer parking behind the restaurant and walking into a nearby hardware store, where the dead body was found. Green showed the video to a reporter before the Florida Department of Law Enforcement objected and ordered the reporter away from the scene.

Teejay Cole, a manager at a nearby KFC chicken fast-food restaurant, also had access to surveillance video from the KFC’s cameras and confirmed the shooter parked the car behind the restaurant.

“He was coming back out, the police followed him,” Cole said. “That’s how they end up being in the middle of the road. He jumped into his car, driving. He has his gun. You could see him with his gun and everything.”

Police taped off three blocks during their investigation. An elementary school was only blocks away.

“This is a busy, busy road,” said Tina Days, whose child goes to school nearby. “He could have killed anybody, could have got hurt and no sense of compassion about these babies at their school.”

Days said she received a call that the school her daughter attends was on lockdown, and she started trying to figure out what was happening.

Gainesville City Commissioners declared a gun violence crisis in 2023. The magazine Men’s Journal last year named Gainesville the No. 1 most dangerous college town in the United States.

The city allocated federal grant funds and worked with the Justice Department to address the issue. The police chief said the city has made progress and called Wednesday’s shooting “an anomaly.”

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Gabriel Velasquez Neira reports via Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. The reporters can be reached at [email protected]. You can donate to support our students here.

Legislation that would require life sentences without parole for people convicted of manslaughter in the death of a police officer is once again a vote away from reaching the Senate floor.

Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice voted 6-1 for the measure (SB 156), which is meant to eliminate any question about whether someone can violently resist arrest.

“Florida law provides that a person may not lawfully use force or violence to resist a law enforcement officer in arrest or detention,” said the bill’s sponsor, St. Augustine Republican Sen. Tom Leek.

“However, because applicable statutes and jury instructions reference an officer’s ‘execution of a legal duty,’ some defendants have claimed an unlawful detention or arrest in an attempt to justify using force against that officer.”

SB 156 and its House analog (HB 17) by Jacksonville Republican Rep. Jessica Baker are titled the “Officer Jason Raynor Act” after a Daytona Beach Police officer who was fatally shot in 2021 by a man who resisted arrest.

In June, an appeals court affirmed the 30-year sentence of Raynor’s killer, Othal Wallace. Outcry followed Wallace’s sentencing, as did bills by Leek and Baker, who are making their third run at passing the legislation.

They came within a vote of doing so last year, but disagreement over four words and procedural rules that limit the number of times a bill can bounce between chambers killed it.

Baker told Florida Politics in September, shortly after she refiled the measure, that she and Leek had “a great conversation” over the Summer and have ironed out their differences.

“It’s important to us to work together and do what’s right for Floridians by ensuring this important bill becomes law,” she said.

Aside from increasing sentencing levels to ensure tougher penalties for violent acts against officers, SB 156 expands the definition of who qualifies as a protected officer to include correctional, probation and auxiliary officers, and raises the offense severity for crimes such as assault, battery, aggravated assault and aggravated battery when the victim is an officer.

The legislation also includes and defines a “good faith” standard for police conduct during arrests and detainment situations — a criterion Leek added back to the bill after hearing concerns from the Senate Black Caucus about unchecked police power in communities of color.

Leek said he spent time with Raynor’s family during the off-season.

“This is important,” he said. “This is important to them. This is the third year moving through the process, and it’s time we brought some closure to the Raynor family.”

Representatives from the Florida Sheriff’s Association, Florida Police Benevolent Association, Sun Coast Police Benevolent Association, Florida League of Cities and Florida Police Chiefs Association all expressed support for the measure.

So did Port Orange Republican Sen. Tom Wright, who said he was on the phone with Volusia County Sheriff Michael Chitwood the night Raynor was killed.

“He abruptly said, ‘Something’s happened. I’ve got to go.’ And then he called me back an hour and a half later and said, ‘It’s bad,’” Wright said. “Following that, I was privy to see the body camera of Officer Raynor, and it’s overwhelming. We need to protect our law enforcement officers.”

Tamarac Democratic Sen. Rosalind Osgood, who voted for the bill, raised concerns about unintended consequences, specifically what would happen in cases of DUI manslaughter where an officer is a victim.

Leek said that while he hadn’t considered that potentiality, he didn’t think SB 156 would apply, since it specifically deals with resisting arrest with violence.

Orlando Democratic Sen. Carlos G. Smith cast the sole “no” vote, but did not speak on the bill Wednesday. He also voted against it in its first committee stop Dec. 9.

SB 156, which Leek amended to better align with the House bill’s language, will next go to the Senate Rules Committee, its final committee stop in the chamber.

HB 17 awaits a hearing in the second of three committees to which it was referred.