At its June 9 meeting, the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Hillsborough River Basin Board adopted a proposed fiscal year 2009 (FY2009) millage rate of 0.2547 mill, which is the same rate as the current fiscal year. The Hillsborough River Basin Board area covers portions of Hillsborough, Pasco and Polk counties.
The proposed budget for FY2009 is $20,020,887 which is an increase of $1,971,863 from the approved FY2008 budget. The increase is primarily due to additional balances available from the prior year. FY2009 will run from Oct. 1, 2008, through Sept. 30, 2009.
For the owner of a $125,000 home with a $50,000 homestead exemption, the FY2009 Basin Board tax would be $19.10, or about $1.59 per month.
The Hillsborough River Basin Board’s proposed FY2009 budget includes $944,548 for projects in the District’s Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) Program. The SWIM program was established by the Florida Legislature in 1987 and requires the state’s five water management districts to maintain a priority list of water bodies of regional or statewide significance. The districts develop plans and programs to improve these water bodies.
The Stewart Middle School Shoreline Restoration project is a SWIM project included in the proposed budget that will restore a 500-foot section of shoreline of the Hillsborough River that is located behind the school.
The proposed project will remove invasive vegetation, correct erosion problems and restore the shoreline with native vegetation. An educational component will be included in the project. Several partners have pledged their support to this effort, which will benefit the students and surrounding neighborhood. The improvements will also benefit Tampa Bay, a SWIM priority water body.
This project is expected to cost $100,000. Funding will be divided between Hillsborough County Public Schools and the District. The District’s Hillsborough River Basin Board is tentatively budgeting $25,000 for this project, and the State Water Management Lands Trust Fund is providing a matching grant of $25,000.
The Basin Board’s proposed budget also includes $8.4 million for the Water Supply and Resource Development program, which provides matching funds for the development of additional new sustainable water supplies.
One of the projects being funded through this program is the Tampa Bay Water System Configuration II project, which consists of various project components that build on Tampa Bay Water’s existing Enhanced Surface Water System. When complete, this project will provide an additional 25 million gallons (mgd) of potable water per day to the member governments of Tampa Bay Water.
The project will withdraw and treat water from the Hillsborough River and Tampa Bypass Canal during periods of higher flows. This project requires a number of Tampa Bay Water’s regional system components to be expanded, including the surface water treatment plant and the Tampa Bypass Canal Pump Station. These improvements will enable the higher surface water flows from the Hillsborough River and Tampa Bypass Canal to be captured, which will increase the use of the C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir. In addition, four system interconnect components that are used to transport water throughout the region are also being upgraded.
This project is being funded by the District’s General Fund, as well as the Alafia River, Hillsborough River, Northwest Hillsborough, Coastal Rivers, Pinellas-Anclote River and Withlacoochee River Basin Boards. The Hillsborough River Basin Board has tentatively budgeted $4.1 million for this project in FY2009.
The District has eight regional Basin Boards that provide guidance for local programs that are specific to the watershed basins they protect. The District’s ninth basin, the Green Swamp, is administered by the Governing Board. Basin Boards work with local governments and other entities on water resource projects that have an impact in local communities. Basin Boards often provide partial funding for these projects in partnership with a local government or local cooperator.
Basin Board members are unpaid citizen volunteers appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. They serve three-year staggered terms. Each of the Basin Boards includes a minimum of one person from each county within the basin, and there must be at least three members on each board. Each Basin Board has at least one of the 13 members of the District’s Governing Board that serves as the Board’s chair ex officio.
The District’s Governing Board will adopt proposed millage rates for the District’s General Fund and the eight Basin Boards its monthly meeting in July at the District’s Brooksville headquarters. These millage rates will be used by county property appraisers when mailing out Truth in Millage (TRIM) notices to residents. The Basin Boards will meet again in August to adopt their final millage rates and budgets.
Two statutorily required public TRIM hearings on the District’s total budget will be held in September. The first will be Sept. 16 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. 30 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.