The Southwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board Tuesday adopted its fiscal year 2010 (FY2010) millage rates for the General Fund and the seven Basin Boards.
The Governing Board adopted a FY2010 millage rate of 0.3866 mill for the District’s General Fund, which is the same as the current fiscal year. FY2010 will run from Oct. 1, 2009, through Sept. 30, 2010.
The total FY2010 budget for the District is $298.9 million, 20.6 percent lower than the adopted budget for FY2009, which was $376.5 million. The $77.6 million decrease in the budget is primarily due to a $28.2 million reduction in ad valorem tax revenue from FY2009, a $7.8 million reduction in balance from prior years, the loss of $31.3 million due to the elimination of state water resource funding and $6.5 million due to the elimination of interfund transfers.
The total budget includes the General Fund, Special Revenue Funds and Capital Projects Funds. Special Revenue Funds include the seven watershed basins and their Basin Boards, and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Mitigation program.
For the owner of a $150,000 home with a $50,000 homestead exemption, the FY2010 Districtwide tax would be $38.66 a year, or about $3.22 per month. The Basin Board taxes would range from $14.84 per year in the Manasota Basin to $32 per year in the Pinellas-Anclote River Basin.
| FY2010 Millage Rate | FY2010 Budget (millions) | FY2009 Millage Rate | FY2009 Budget (millions) | |
| Total General Fund | 0.3866 | $152.8 | 0.3866 | $180.0 |
| Alafia River | 0.2163 | $7.2 | 0.2163 | $8.7 |
| Coastal Rivers | 0.1885 | $8.1 | 0.1885 | $9.6 |
| Hillsborough River | 0.2421 (see explanation below) | $25.3 | 0.2547 | $20.4 |
| Manasota | 0.1484 | $15.7 | 0.1484 | $24.0 |
| Northwest Hillsborough | 0.0000 (see explanation below) | $0.0 | 0.2421 | $10.9 |
| Peace River | 0.1827 | $11.3 | 0.1827 | $17.3 |
| Pinellas-Anclote River | 0.3200 | $38.2 | 0.3600 | $46.6 |
| Withlacoochee River | 0.2308 | $8.4 | 0.2308 | $12.6 |
| FDOT Mitigation | N/A | $3.5 | N/A | $2.4 |
| SWIM | N/A (see explanation below) | $0.0 | N/A | $13.9 |
| Total Special Revenue Funds | N/A | $117.7 | N/A | $166.4 |
| Total Capital Projects Funds | N/A | $28.4 | N/A | $30.1 |
| Total Budget | N/A | $298.9 | N/A | $376.5 |
Basin Boards
The Hillsborough River and the Northwest Hillsborough Basins were merged effective Jan. 1, 2009. The merged Hillsborough River Basin Board adopted the lower millage rate of the two former Basins, which is .2421.
Surface Water Improvement and Management Program (SWIM)
The District has eliminated the separate SWIM Program fund. SWIM Program projects are now included in the Basin budgets. In the past, each Basin’s budget included only the Basin’s share of the project costs.