At its June 20 meeting, the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Withlacoochee River Basin Board adopted a tentative fiscal year 2006 (FY2006) millage rate of 0.265 mill, which is the same as the current fiscal year.
The tentative budget for FY2006 is $7,604,321, which is a decrease of $3,708,017 from the approved FY2005 budget. The main reason for this major budget decrease is because the District received a $4,320,000 state appropriation for the Lake Panasoffkee Restoration Project in FY2005 compared to a $450,000 appropriation in FY2006, which is a reduction in almost $4 million. 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 $19.88, or about $1.66 per month.
The Withlacoochee River Basin Board’s tentative FY2006 budget includes Cooperative Funding projects. These projects are proposed by local governments, and usually equally funded by the Basin Board and the local cooperator. One of the Withlacoochee River Basin Board’s Cooperative Funding projects includes the Eastern Hernando Watershed Management Program in Hernando County.
The project’s watershed management element focuses on flood protection and water quality improvements. The multi-year funded project will provide the information needed to identify existing problem areas, future potential flooding problems and best management practices to mitigate problems. The project will also identify floodplain risk on Flood Insurance Rate Maps.
This is the last year of funding for the watershed management element. The estimated cost of the Watershed Management project is $1,114,329, half of which will be reimbursed by the county. The Withlacoochee River Basin Board is tentatively contributing $130,332 in FY2006.
The Basin Board’s tentative budget also includes $2,967,784 for basin initiatives, including the Lake Panasoffkee Restoration Project.
The Lake Panasoffkee Restoration Project is a four-step project to remove sediment and emergent vegetation to restore fish habitat and the historic shoreline. The District is currently implementing Steps 2 and 3 of the project, which represents the full-scale in-lake restoration component of the plan.
The dredging of Steps 2 and 3 is a multi-year project costing $22,627,895. The Withlacoochee River Basin Board has tentatively budgeted $1,450,940 for this project in FY2006. This amount represents a $450,000 state appropriation and a $1 million Florida Fish and Wildlife grant for the Lake Panasoffkee Restoration Project in FY2006.
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 Withlacoochee River Basin Board area covers portions of Pasco, Hernando, Citrus, Sumter, Marion, and Levy counties.
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 who serves as the Board’s chair ex officio.
The District’s Governing Board will adopt tentative 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.