The Southwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board Tuesday adopted its proposed fiscal year 2010 (FY2010) millage rates for the General Fund and the seven Basin Boards.
The Governing Board adopted a proposed 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 proposed FY2010 budget for the District is $299.9 million, 20.33 percent lower than the adopted budget for FY2009, which was $376.5 million. The $76.6 million decrease in the budget is primarily due to a $25.5 million reduction in ad valorem tax revenue from FY2009, a $8.7 million reduction in balance from prior years, the loss of $32.3 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 $36 per year in the Pinellas-Anclote River Basin. The proposed FY2010 millage rates adopted by the Governing Board will be used by county property appraisers when mailing out Truth in Millage (TRIM) notices of proposed property taxes to residents.
More than 40 percent of the FY2010 budget, $121.5 million, is designated for the District’s Water Supply and Resource Development and Cooperative Funding programs, resulting in projects that focus on managing our water resources and developing sustainable alternative water supplies. In most cases, these projects and programs also receive matching funding from the District’s public, private and agricultural partners.
Water Supply and Resource Development
The District has tentatively budgeted $81.6 million for the development of additional new sustainable water supplies. This includes $800,000 in federal funding. While this is a $35.1 million decrease from FY2009, the Governing and Basin Boards are committed to continue funding the long-term financial plan through 2030 to meet regional water supply and resource development needs. Examples of water supply and resource development projects include reservoirs, regional pipelines to connect water supply sources and projects that focus on the use of surface water in agriculture.
Cooperative Funding Program
The District has tentatively budgeted $39.9 million for cooperative funding projects, which are proposed by local governments, and are usually funded equally by the Basin Board and the local cooperator. Examples of cooperative funding projects include reclaimed water projects and projects that improve water quality, reduce flooding or conserve water. These projects must support the District’s responsibilities of water supply, flood protection, water quality and natural systems.
Matching cooperator funding, or leveraging, is a way to stretch the District’s funding. In these difficult economic times, the District supports expedited, coordinated financial investment and working together with cooperators and partners in the federal, state, local and private sectors.
Surface Water Improvement and Management Program (SWIM)
SWIM Program project focus on improving water quality and habitat restoration.
The goal of the SWIM Program is to protect, restore and maintain the District’s priority water bodies, which include Tampa Bay, Rainbow River, Banana Lake, Crystal River/Kings Bay, Lake Panasoffkee, Charlotte Harbor, Lake Tarpon, Lake Thonotosassa, Winter Haven Chain of Lakes and Sarasota Bay.
The Basin Boards have budgeted a combined $11.2 million for SWIM Program projects, which is a $2.6 million decrease. This reduction is due to the elimination of state trust funds that provided 50 percent matching funds for SWIM projects.
West-Central Florida Water Restoration Action Plan (WRAP)
The WRAP is a long-term water resource protection, restoration and water sustainability initiative developed by the District to address water resource concerns in the Southern Water Use Caution Area (SWUCA), which encompasses the southern eight counties of the District. Decades of over-pumping groundwater in the SWUCA has resulted in lowered aquifer levels leading to saltwater intrusion, reduced flows in the Peace River, and lowered lake levels.
WRAP projects focus on natural systems restoration, furthering flood protection, aquifer recharge, improved water quality, conservation, water use efficiency and water sustainability.
The District and project partners have invested more than $36 million toward the recovery effort; however, the cost to complete the projects in the WRAP is anticipated to be approximately $1.8 billion over the next 17 years. The District received $15 million from the state for FY2009. No state funding is available for FY2010. The FY2010 budget includes $17.2 million for WRAP projects. The District will continue to seek federal and state financial assistance.
Two statutorily required public TRIM hearings on the District’s total budget will be held in September. The first will be Sept. 15 at 5:01 p.m. at the District’s Tampa Service Office.
The Governor’s office will review and approve the budgets of all five water management districts before the second and final public hearing.
The District’s second and final TRIM hearing will be Sept. 29 at 5:01 p.m. at the District’s Brooksville Headquarters. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Governing
Board will formally adopt the final millage rates and budgets. The public is welcome to attend any Governing Board or Basin Board meeting to provide comment on the proposed budgets.
The adopted FY2010 millage rates and budgets, in comparison with FY2009, are as follows:
| FY2010 Millage Rate | FY2010 Budget (millions) | FY2009 Millage Rate | FY2009 Budget (millions) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total General Fund | 0.3866 | $152.6 | 0.3866 | $180.0 |
| Alafia River | 0.2163 | $7.0 | 0.2163 | $8.7 |
| Coastal Rivers | 0.1885 | $8.1 | 0.1885 | $9.6 |
| Hillsborough River | 0.2421 (see explanation below) | $24.7 | 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 | $10.7 | 0.1827 | $17.3 |
| Pinellas-Anclote River | 0.3600 | $41.0 | 0.3600 | $46.6 |
| Withlacoochee River | 0.2308 | $8.2 | 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 | $118.9 | N/A | $166.4 |
| Total Capital Projects Funds | N/A | $28.4 | N/A | $30.1 |
| Total Budget | N/A | $299.9 | N/A | $376.5 |
N/A = not applicable
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.
District basin map
