At its June 11 meeting, the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Withlacoochee River Basin Board adopted a proposed fiscal year 2010 (FY2010) millage rate of 0.2308 mill, which is the same as the current fiscal year. The Withlacoochee River Basin Board area covers portions of Citrus, Hernando, Levy, Marion, Pasco and Sumter counties.
This millage rate, combined with a reduction in taxable property values as estimated by the county property appraisers, will result in an estimated 8.42 percent decrease in ad valorem property tax revenue from FY2009. These estimates will be updated when the property appraisers release their certified taxable property values in July.
The proposed budget for FY2010 is $8,060,021, which is a decrease of $4,582,240 from the approved FY2009 budget. The main reasons for this decrease are reductions in ad valorem revenue and revenue from the Lake Panasoffkee sale of shell material. FY2010 will run from Oct. 1, 2009 through Sept. 30, 2010.
For the owner of a $150,000 home with a $50,000 homestead exemption, the FY2010 Basin Board tax would be $23.08, or about $1.92 per month.
The Withlacoochee River Basin Board’s proposed FY2010 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 is the On Top of the World — Marion County Reclaimed Water Project, which will offset 590,000 gallons of potable water per day.
This project involves the design, permitting and construction of a reclaimed water storage and transmission system for the On Top of the World development. The system will include a 2.5-million-gallon ground storage tank, 1,226 feet of reclaimed water transmission line, a 2,300 gallons-per-minute (gpm) reclaimed water transfer pump station and a 4,300-gpm reclaimed water high-service pump station.
Reclaimed water produced by this project will be used to irrigate two golf courses, which will offset 590,000 gallons of potable water currently being used for irrigation.
The multi-year project is expected to cost $2.2 million. Funding will be divided between the Bay Laurel Center Community Development District, which is the developer behind the On Top of the World – Marion County Reclaimed Water Project, and the District’s Withlacoochee River Basin Board. In FY2010, the Basin Board has budgeted $391,386 for the project.
Reclaimed water is wastewater that has received at least secondary treatment and is used for a beneficial purpose, such as irrigation. By offsetting demand for ground water and surface water, this alternative, non-traditional water source reduces stress on environmental systems, provides economic benefits by delaying costly water system expansions, and eliminates the need to discharge wastewater effluent to surface waters.
The Basin Board’s proposed budget also includes $541,251 for the Water
Supply and Resource Development program, which provides matching funds for the development of additional new regional sustainable water supplies.
One of the projects being funded by this program is the Withlacoochee River Watershed Initiative. This multi-year project consists of collecting the watershed’s topographical information, conducting a watershed evaluation and developing a watershed management plan which will evaluate flood protection and water quality issues within the watershed.
This multi-year project is expected to cost $2.7 million. Funding will be divided between the District, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the State Water Protection and Sustainability Trust Fund. District funding will be divided among the General Fund and the Withlacoochee River and Green Swamp Basin Boards. In FY2010, the Withlacoochee River Basin Board has budgeted $225,880. Future funding is contingent upon Basin Board approval.
The District has seven regional Basin Boards that provide guidance for local programs that are specific to the watershed basins they protect. The District’s eighth 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 Basin Boards at its meeting on July 28 at the Polk County Administration Building, 330 W. Church St. in Bartow. 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. 15 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. 29 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 meeting to provide comments on the proposed budgets.