At its June 5 meeting, the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Northwest Hillsborough Basin Board adopted a proposed fiscal year 2009 (FY2009) millage rate of 0.2421 mill, which is the same as the current fiscal year. The Northwest Hillsborough Basin Board area includes the northwest portion of Hillsborough County.
This millage rate, combined with a reduction in taxable property values as estimated by the county property appraiser, will result in an estimated 10 percent decrease in ad valorem property tax revenue. These estimates will be updated when the property appraisers release their certified taxable property values in July.
The proposed budget for FY2009 is $10,830,466 which is a decrease of $10,856 from the adopted FY2008 budget. The main reason for this decrease is due to the reduced ad valorem revenue. 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 $18.16, or about $1.51 per month.
The Northwest Hillsborough Basin Board’s budget includes $574,267 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 Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) North Dale Mabry Highway Stormwater Retrofit/Wetland Restoration project is a SWIM project included in the proposed budget that will improve water quality and restore wetlands habitat in the Carrollwood area of Hillsborough County.
The multi-year project will restore nearly 11 acres of FDOT-owned property along Waters Avenue, near Sweetwater Creek in Hillsborough County. Nuisance and invasive species have taken over much of the land. An existing ditch system and a large culvert discharge water from the site into Channel “H,” a tributary to Sweetwater Creek. This system has significantly diverted water away from the wetland for 20 years.
The goals of the project are to remove nuisance, invasive vegetation, restore historic water levels to the wetland area, and provide water quality treatment for stormwater from a highly urbanized 80-acre watershed. Additional benefits include flood plain creation and restoration of natural systems.
This multi-year project has received funding from the District and the FDOT since FY2006, and is expected to cost approximately $900,000. Additional funding in future fiscal years is contingent upon Basin Board approval.
The Basin Board’s tentative budget also includes $4.33 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 Northwest Hillsborough Basin Board has tentatively budgeted $2,167,790 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.
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 at 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 meetings to provide comment on the proposed budgets.