At today’s meeting, the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board adopted a fiscal year 2007 (FY2007) millage rate of 0.400 mill, which is the same as the current fiscal year.
The budget for FY2007 is $41,385,128, which is an increase of $2,729,817 from the approved FY2006 budget. The main reason for this increase is higher property values and balances carried over from the prior year. FY2007 will run from Oct. 1, 2006, through Sept. 30, 2007.
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 $25,000 homestead exemption, the FY2007 Basin Board tax would be $40, or about $3.33 per month.
The Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board’s FY2007 budget includes Cooperative Funding projects. These projects are by local governments and organizations, and are usually funded equally by the Basin Board and the local cooperator. One of the Basin Board’s Cooperative Funding projects will address flooding in the Stevenson Creek Watershed.
The Stevenson Creek Watershed in western Pinellas County is approximately 10 square miles and includes parts of Clearwater and Dunedin.
The watershed has a history of flooding. Water quality is a concern because sediment from channel erosion is deposited into Clearwater Harbor. The District and the city funded a watershed study that includes best management practices to address those problems. Some of the best management practices include constructing stormwater retention ponds, adding structures, and increasing the channel flow area, which will reduce flow velocity and erosion during flood events.
The project has been divided into four phases. Construction at one location is complete and construction at two other sites is ongoing. The FY2007 funding request is for the Spring Branch location, which is estimated to cost $2 million. Funding will be divided equally between Clearwater and the District’s Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board.
A Basin Initiative project included in the budget is the Lake Maggiore Restoration project, which is improving the water quality through the reduction of nutrients entering the lake and the removal of nutrient-rich sediment at the bottom of the lake. Basin Initiatives are projects that the Basin Board feels are of a high priority to their Basin. The projects are typically initiated by the Basin and are usually funded solely by the Basin Board. However, this project also received funding from St. Petersburg.
The project has several elements, many of which have already been completed. The completed elements include removing cattail and reconstructing the littoral zone; removing aquatic weeds through the use of an aquatic mechanical weed harvester; the design and construction of a new outfall structure and salinity barrier at Salt Creek; and retrofitting the stormwater system by installing five alum injection systems. The alum injection systems treat runoff from approximately 1,600 acres of residential and light commercial areas in the lake’s watershed.
The last remaining element in the Lake Maggiore Restoration and Management Plan is the completion of the dredging, dewatering and disposal of nutrient-laden lake sediments. The lake dredge and dewatering plant have been in place and fully operational since October 2004. Dredging operations are expected to continue through December 2007.
The total cost of this ongoing project is $20 million. The Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board has contributed a total of $8.9 million since FY2000 and is contributing $1.1 million to the project in FY2007. St Petersburg also contributed $8.9 million for the project.
The Basin Board’s budget also includes $3.8 million for the Water Supply and Resource Development program, which provides matching funds for the development of additional new sustainable water supplies.
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 millage rates for the District’s General Fund and the eight Basin Boards in September after two statutorily required public Truth in Millage (TRIM) hearings have been held. 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 Tampa Service Office. 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 budgets.