At its June 13 meeting, the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Hillsborough River Basin Board adopted a proposed fiscal year 2007 (FY2007) millage rate of 0.285 mill, which is the same as the current fiscal year.
The proposed budget for FY2007 is $18,453,013, which is an increase of $2,577,458 from the approved FY2006 budget. The increase is primarily due to proceeds from the sale of surplus land. FY2007 will run from Oct. 1, 2006, through Sept. 30, 2007.
For the owner of a $125,000 home with a $25,000 homestead exemption, the FY2007 Basin Board tax would be $28.50, or about $2.38 per month.
The Hillsborough River Basin Board area covers portions of Hillsborough, Pasco and Polk counties.
The Hillsborough River Basin Board’s proposed FY2007 budget includes funding for Cooperative Funding projects. These projects are proposed by local governments, and are usually funded by the Basin Board and the local cooperator. One of the Hillsborough River Basin Board’s Cooperative Funding projects is the Duck Pond watershed project, which will help control flooding near the University of South Florida.
The 2,860-acre watershed, which drains into the Hillsborough River via Lake Poinsettia, experienced heavy flooding during Hurricane Frances. Model results show that the hurricane almost matched the model design of what would happen during a 25-year/24-hour storm event. Heavy rainfall, culvert blockage, and undersized conduits downstream contributed to the flooding.
This multi-year funded project addresses these issues by constructing stormwater
pumping facilities, a stormwater management storage area, erosion and sedimentation controls, and conveyance improvements. Funding includes the design, development of construction documents, construction permitting, land
acquisition, bidding and contractor selection, construction, engineering and inspection.
The total cost of the multi-year project is $8.5 million. The District’s Hillsborough River Basin Board’s share of funding is $2.6 million, which includes $300,000 from the state Water Protection and Sustainability Trust Fund for surface water restoration. The Hillsborough River Basin Board is expected to contribute $1.5 million of its share in FY2007.
The Basin Board’s proposed budget also includes $3.6 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 Water Supply and Resource Development projects in the proposed budget is the Pasco County Wet-Weather Reclaimed Water Reservoir, which is a large reuse storage project in eastern Pasco County. This alternative water supply project consists of the design and construction of a lined wet-weather reclaimed water reservoir with the storage capacity of approximately 400 million gallons on the old Boyette Mine property. Pasco County recently acquired this 140-acre property, located at the intersection of Overpass and Elam Roads, with the intent to convert it to a reclaimed water storage site. The property is approximately one mile northeast of the Wesley Center Wastewater Treatment Facility.
This will be the second project in Pasco County’s overall plan to store and beneficially reuse wet-weather reclaimed water flows. This project is expected to supply an annual average of approximately 3.3 million gallons per day (mgd), which would offset 1.65 mgd of potable water and enable the county to supply up to 5,500 additional residential customers with reclaimed water.
The Pasco County Wet-Weather Reclaimed Water Reservoir Project is both a core project of the Tampa Bay Regional Reclaimed Water and Downstream Augmentation Project and the second phase of Pasco Countys overall plan to store surplus reclaimed water. The reclaimed water storage reservoir will have an average depth of 12.5 feet and will store 400 million gallons of Pasco County’s surplus reclaimed water for use to meet dry-season demand. The County has a water conserving rate structure making it eligible for Water Protection and
Sustainability Trust Funds.
The total cost of the project is estimated to be $18.5 million and the District’s share of $9. 2 million will be divided among the Hillsborough River, Coastal Rivers and Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Boards and the Governing Board. The Basin Boards are each expected to contribute $500,000 in FY2007. Additional funds in the future are contingent upon Basin Board approval.
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 11 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 at its monthly meeting in June 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.
Two statutorily required public TRIM hearings on the District’s total budget will be held in September. The first will be Sept. 12 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. 26 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 meetings to provide comment on the proposed budgets.