At its June 4 meeting, the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board adopted a proposed fiscal year 2009 (FY2009) millage rate of 0.3701 mill, which is the same as the current fiscal year.
This millage rate, combined with a reduction in property values as estimated by the Pinellas and Pasco county property appraisers, will result in an estimated 9 percent decrease. These estimates will be updated when the property appraisers release their certified taxable property values in July.
The proposed budget for FY2009 is $45,788,699 which is a decrease of $3,494,344 from the approved FY2008 budget. The main reason for this decrease is due to the reduced ad valorem property tax revenue. FY2009 will run from Oct. 1, 2008, through Sept. 30, 2009.
The Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board area includes Pinellas County and the southern portion of Pasco County. For the owner of a $125,000 home with a $50,000 homestead exemption, the FY2009 Basin Board tax would be $27.76, or about $2.31 per month.
The Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board’s proposed FY2009 budget includes Cooperative Funding projects which are proposed by local governments, and are usually funded equally by the Basin Board and the local cooperator.
Funding is also earmarked for Basin Initiatives, which are projects that the board feels are of a high priority to its basin and are typically initiated by and solely funded by the basin board. One of these projects is the Sawgrass Lake Restoration project.
This multi-year project is being completed in phases and will undertake clean-up and improvement of a 36-acre site located near the Skyway Trap and Skeet Club in southern Pinellas County.
The first phase involved evaluating the site. The District divided the site into seven zones based on the environmental characteristics and the degree of contamination, and developed a cleanup strategy for each zone.
The second phase involves final design, permitting and developing final costs for clean-up activities and stormwater treatment at the site. This phase is near completion.
The final phase expected to begin in 2009, will involve the clean-up and stormwater treatment work.
The District’s Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board has tentatively budgeted $4,568,194 for this project in FY2009. Over the fiscal years of 2005 to 2008, the Basin Board budgeted $18.6 million for this project, including $1 million of state appropriated funds for Tampa Bay restoration.
The Basin Board’s proposed budget also includes $7.54 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 Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board has tentatively budgeted $7,168,013 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 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.