The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Withlacoochee River Basin Board Thursday adopted a fiscal year 2007 (FY2007) millage rate of 0.265 mill, which is the same as the current fiscal year.
The budget for FY2007 is $10,214,705, which is an increase of $1,558,584 from the approved FY2006 budget. The main reason for this increase is higher property values. FY2007 will run from Oct. 1, 2006, through Sept. 30, 2007.
The Withlacoochee River Basin Board area covers portions of Pasco, Hernando, Citrus, Sumter, Marion, and Levy counties.
For the owner of a $125,000 home with a $25,000 homestead exemption, the FY2007 Basin Board tax would be $26.50, or about $2.21 per month.
The Withlacoochee River Basin Board’s FY2007 budget includes Cooperative Funding projects. These projects are proposed by local governments and organizations, 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 Meadowcrest Reclaimed Water Storage project in Citrus County.
This project will upgrade the reclaimed water distribution capabilities and storage capacity of Citrus County’s Meadowcrest wastewater treatment plant, and provide reclaimed water to the two golf courses at Black Diamond Ranch. The storage tank will help stabilize the initial infrastructure necessary for the county to begin development of a countywide reclaimed water system.
The project involves the design, permitting and construction of a three million gallon ground storage tank for reclaimed water. This multi-year funded project is expected to cost $1.7 million. Funding for the project will be divided between Citrus County and the District’s Withlacoochee River Basin Board. In FY2007, the Basin Board has budgeted $192,757, which includes $6,000 from the state’s Water Protection and Sustainability Trust Fund for alternative water supply development. Additional funding in future fiscal years is contingent upon Basin Board approval.
Basin Initiatives are projects that the Basin Board feels are of a high priority to its Basin. The projects are typically initiated by the Basin and are usually funded solely by the Basin Board. A Basin Initiative in the budget is the Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan of the Withlacoochee River and Green Swamp, which will assess the historic alterations that have occurred in the watershed with the purpose of restoration in the future.
This ongoing study was being conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) until federal funds were exhausted. The total study is anticipated to cost $3 million. The Withlacoochee River Basin Board has budgeted $266,768 for this project in FY2007, which includes $250,000 from the state’s Water Protection and Sustainability Trust Fund for surface water restoration on District priority waterbodies.
The first portion of the study, which identified water resource issues in the Withlacoochee River watershed that have federal interest, is already complete.
The District will begin funding the next section that involves developing a computerized watershed model from the river’s headwaters in the Green Swamp to its end near Yankeetown.
The watershed model will include flood elevation levels and flows, and level of service deficiencies, which means determining when roads or other facilities are flooded beyond the level of adequate service for the community.
The model will also use information gathered by the USACE, as well as District Cooperative Funding projects completed with local governments. The model will be used to evaluate alternatives to better manage the water resources along the Withlacoochee River. Future funding will be required to
implement best management practices outlined in the study.
The Basin Board’s budget also includes $295,531 for the Water Supply and Resource Development program, which provides matching funds for the development of additional new regional 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 who 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.