At its June 1 meeting, the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board adopted a proposed fiscal year 2006 (FY2006) millage rate of 0.400 mill, which is the same as the current fiscal year.
The tentative budget for FY2006 is $29,276,923, which is a decrease of $2,763,519 from the approved FY2005 budget. The decrease in the FY2006 budget is primarily due to a reduction in carryover funds from prior years as compared to FY2005. FY2006 will run from Oct. 1, 2005, through Sept. 30, 2006.
For the owner of a $100,000 home with a $25,000 homestead exemption, the FY2006 Basin Board tax would be $30, or about $2.50 per month.
The Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board’s tentative FY2006 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 Morningside Area Reclaimed Water Transmission and Distribution project.
This multi-year project involves the design and construction of approximately 8,000 linear feet of 16-inch and 4,000 linear feet of 8-inch transmission mains and approximately 32,000 linear feet of 4-inch and 6-inch distribution lines in the Morningside area of Clearwater. The project will supply approximately 548,000 gallons-per-day (gpd) of reclaimed water to approximately 760 residential and eight commercial customers, which will offset approximately 317,000 gpd of potable quality water.
Reclaimed water supply is the actual amount of reclaimed water delivered to a customer. Offset is the amount of traditional water sources saved by using
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 total cost of this project is $4.5 million. The Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board is tentatively contributing $1,002,438 in FY2006 to Clearwater for the project. The Basin Board may contribute additional funding in future fiscal years.
The Basin Board’s tentative budget also includes $3,995,532 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 Pasco County Central East Regional Reclaimed Water Interconnect project.
The interconnect involves the design and construction of reclaimed water transmission line, which will connect the county’s western reclaimed water storage and pumping station to the county’s eastern reuse system. The project will provide reclaimed water to the growing central and eastern portion of the county.
The total cost of this project is $3.8 million. The Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board is tentatively contributing $409,129 to the project in FY2006. 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.
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 June 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. 13 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. 27 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.