At its August 11 meeting, the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board adopted a fiscal year 2005 (FY2005) millage rate of 0.400 mill, which is the same as the current fiscal year.
The budget forFY 2005 is $32,040,442, which is an increase of $5,217,586 from the approvedFY2004 budget.FY2005 will run from Oct. 1, 2004, through Sept. 30, 2005. The increase in the budget is due to additional ad valorem property taxes resulting from new growth and increases in existing property values and a higher remaining balance from last year’s budget due to cancelled projects and projects completed under budget.
For the owner of a $100,000 home with a $25,000 homestead exemption, theFY2005Basin Board tax would be $30, or about $2.50 per month.
The Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board’sFY2005 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 Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board’s Cooperative Funding projects is the Clearwater Del Oro Groves Reclaimed Water Pumping, Transmission and Distribution project.
This multi-year project involves the design and construction of three reclaimed water pumping stations, transmission mains and distribution lines in the Del Oro Groves area of Clearwater. The project will supply 740,000 gallons-per-day (gpd) of reclaimed water to serve approximately 600 residential, two recreational and 20 commercial customers to offset 370,000 gpd of potable quality water.
The total cost of this project is $6,372,234. The Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board is contributing $1,121,144 to Clearwater for the project inFY 2005.
The Basin Board may contribute additional funding in future fiscal years.
Reclaimed water supply is the actual amount of reclaimed water delivered to a customer. Offset is the amount of traditional water sources (replaced) by the reclaimed water. The amount of water savings (offset) for most projects is generally less than the amount of reclaimed water supplied because most users tend to increase irrigation after they switch to reclaimed water.
The Basin Board’s budget also includes $5,518,762 for Water
Supply and Resource Development. Water Supply and Resource Development projects provide funding to projects to develop additional new sustainable water supplies.
One of the Water Supply and Resource Development projects in the basin’s tentative budget is the Largo/Clearwater/Pasco-ASR Interconnect project.
The Largo/Clearwater/Pasco-ASR Interconnect project is a multi-phase, multi-cooperator project. The project includes a feasibility study, and the design and construction of reclaimed water aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) wells and an interconnect system between Largo, Clearwater and Pasco County reclaimed water systems. The project is expected to provide an additional 3 million-gallons-per-day (mgd) of reclaimed water annually, which will offset an estimated 1.8 mgd of potable water from Tampa Bay Water’s regional system.
The total cost of this project is $10,072,312. The Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board is contributing $307,908 to the project inFY 2005. The basin board may contribute additional funding in future fiscal years.
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 Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board area includes Pinellas County and the southern portion of Pasco County.
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.
Two statutorily required publicTRIM hearings on the District’s total budget will be held in September. The first will be Sept. 14 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 finalTRIM hearing will be Sept. 28 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.