At its July 27 meeting, the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Peace River Basin Board adopted a fiscal year 2008 (FY2008) millage rate of 0.1827 mill, which is .0123 less than the current fiscal year. This reduction is in accordance with the tax reduction mandated by the Florida Legislature.
The FY2008 millage rate has been set equal to 97 percent of the rolled-back rate in compliance with House Bill 1B, the tax reform legislation signed into law by Gov. Charlie Crist on June 21. The Basin Board has adopted its millage before July 31 so the Governing Board can set proposed millage rates for the District and the Basins in compliance with House Bill 1B.
The budget for FY2008 is $17,846,524 which is an increase of $1.86 million from the approved FY2007 budget. The increase is primarily due to additional balances available from prior years. FY2008 will run from Oct. 1, 2007, through Sept. 30, 2008.
The Peace River Basin Board area includes Hardee, DeSoto and portions of Polk, Highlands and Charlotte counties. For the owner of a $125,000 home with a $25,000 homestead exemption, the FY2008 Basin Board tax would be $18.27, or about $1.52 per month.
The Peace River Basin Board’s FY2008 budget includes cooperative funding projects. These projects are proposed by local governments, and are usually funded equally by the Basin Board and the local cooperator. One of the Peace River Basin Board’s cooperative funding projects is the Dundee Reclaimed Water Use System Project, which will bring reclaimed water to approximately 1,821 residential customers and several commercial customers within Dundee.
The project includes the construction of 18,800 linear feet of reclaimed water transmission main line, a high-service pump station and two 2.25-million-gallon storage tanks.
This project will provide approximately 370,000 gallons of reclaimed water per day (gpd) for irrigation. This reclaimed water is expected to offset the need for potable water for irrigation by 185,000 gpd.
The total cost is expected to be $4 million. The town has submitted this project for Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI) consideration. REDI funds are available to communities with demonstrated economic disadvantages. Traditional cooperative funding projects are a 50/50 cost share. REDI projects are a 25/75 cost share.
Because this is a REDI project, the District has agreed to fund approximately $3 million. In FY2006, the District’s Peace River Basin Board committed $205,774 in financial assistance to the project and has included $558,090 in its budget for FY2008, including $136,867 in funds from the State Water Protection and Sustainability Trust Fund.
Dundee is responsible for $1 million and any costs that exceed $4 million.
The town is seeking additional outside funding to complete the project, which is expected to be finished by December 2009.
The Basin Board’s budget also includes $5.6 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 is the Charlotte County Regional Reclaimed Water Expansion project, which will bring reclaimed water to several Charlotte County schools and many other customers in Port Charlotte.
The Charlotte County Regional Reclaimed Water Expansion project consists of constructing approximately 62,100 linear feet of reclaimed water transmission line to transport reclaimed water from the Charlotte County East Port Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF) west through Port Charlotte.
When complete, this multi-year project will provide up to 1,272,500 gpd of reclaimed water, which will offset about 954,000 gpd of potable water being used for irrigation.
The project is expected to cost $7.2 million. Because this project is part of a regional effort to increase the use of reclaimed water, the Peace River Basin Board has included $656,273 in its FY2008 budget, including $218,176 in funds from the State
Water Protection and Sustainability Trust Fund. Prior to FY2008, the District has contributed $1.25 million, plus an additional $400,000 from the State Water Protection Sustainability Trust Fund. Future funding is contingent upon board approval.
Charlotte County has budgeted $3.2 million for this project, which is expected to be completed by March 2009.
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 the proposed millage rates for the District’s General Fund and Basin Boards at its July 31 meeting.
In September, the Governing Board will adopt millage rates for the District’s General Fund and the eight Basin Boards after two statutorily required public Truth in Millage (TRIM) hearings have been held. The first will be Sept. 11 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. 25 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 budgets.