Bill Text: FL S0406 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

---

Bill Title: Big Cypress Basin

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Failed) 2021-04-30 - Died in Appropriations [S0406 Detail]

Download: Florida-2021-S0406-Introduced.html

---

       Florida Senate - 2021                                     SB 406
       
       
        
       By Senator Rodrigues
       
       
       
       
       
       27-00560A-21                                           2021406__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Big Cypress Basin; amending s.
    3         373.0693, F.S.; revising the membership of the Big
    4         Cypress Basin governing board; requiring the South
    5         Florida Water Management District to revise the
    6         boundaries of the Big Cypress Basin based on a
    7         specified study at a specified time; removing obsolete
    8         language; amending s. 373.503, F.S.; requiring the
    9         South Florida Water Management District to ensure that
   10         the distribution of ad valorem taxes collected within
   11         the Big Cypress Basin be used for projects within the
   12         counties in which they were collected; reenacting s.
   13         373.0697, F.S., relating to basin taxes, to
   14         incorporate the amendment made to s. 373.503, F.S., in
   15         a reference thereto; providing an effective date.
   16          
   17  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   18  
   19         Section 1. Subsection (9) of section 373.0693, Florida
   20  Statutes, is amended to read:
   21         373.0693 Basins; basin boards.—
   22         (9) At 11:59 p.m. on December 31, 1976, a portion of the
   23  Big Cypress Basin of the Ridge and Lower Gulf Coast District
   24  which is being annexed into the South Florida Water Management
   25  District by change of boundaries pursuant to chapter 76-243,
   26  Laws of Florida, shall be formed into a subdistrict or basin of
   27  the South Florida Water Management District. Such portion shall
   28  be designated as the Big Cypress Basin. On or before December
   29  31, 1976, The Governor shall appoint not fewer than five persons
   30  from Collier and Lee Counties who reside within the Big Cypress
   31  Basin residing in the area to serve as members of the governing
   32  board of the basin, effective at the time of transfer and
   33  subject to confirmation by the Senate as provided in subsection
   34  (4).
   35         (a) The initial boundaries of the Big Cypress Basin shall
   36  be established by resolution of the governing board of Central
   37  and Southern Florida Flood Control District, after notice and
   38  hearing, and generally shall encompass the Big Cypress Swamp and
   39  southwestern coastal area hydrologic cataloging unit, as
   40  indicated on River Basin and Hydrologic Unit Map of Florida
   41  1975, Florida Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Geology
   42  Map Series No. 72.
   43         (b) At 11:59 p.m. on July 1, 2021, the governing board of
   44  the South Florida Water Management District shall establish the
   45  boundary of the Big Cypress Basin as the scientific boundary
   46  recommended in the Big Cypress Basin Boundary Delineation study
   47  that the district completed in the fall of 2020 and will present
   48  to the Legislature on February 1, 2021, except that the new
   49  basin boundary may include only counties that have at least 50
   50  percent of their jurisdiction delineated within the boundary If
   51  the governing board shall fail to establish the initial
   52  boundaries on or before December 31, 1976, the initial
   53  boundaries shall be the same boundaries as described for the Big
   54  Cypress Basin of the Ridge and Lower Gulf Coast District.
   55         (c) The governing board of the South Florida Water
   56  Management District subsequently may change the boundaries of
   57  the basin, but may not abolish the basin.
   58         Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of section
   59  373.503, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   60         373.503 Manner of taxation.—
   61         (3) The districts may levy ad valorem taxes on property
   62  within the district solely for the purposes of this chapter and
   63  of chapter 25270, 1949, Laws of Florida, as amended, and chapter
   64  61-691, Laws of Florida, as amended. If appropriate, taxes
   65  levied by each governing board may be separated by the governing
   66  board into a millage necessary for the purposes of the district
   67  and a millage necessary for financing basin functions specified
   68  in s. 373.0695.
   69         (b) The apportionment in The South Florida Water Management
   70  District shall ensure that:
   71         1. The apportionment within the district is be a maximum of
   72  40 percent for district purposes and a maximum of 60 percent for
   73  basin purposes; and
   74         2. The ad valorem taxes levied within the counties that
   75  comprise the Big Cypress Basin are used for projects within the
   76  counties in which they were collected, respectively.
   77         Section 3. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment
   78  made by this act to section 373.503, Florida Statutes, in a
   79  reference thereto, section 373.0697, Florida Statutes, is
   80  reenacted to read:
   81         373.0697 Basin taxes.—The respective basins may, pursuant
   82  to s. 9(b), Art. VII of the State Constitution, by resolution
   83  request the governing board of the district to levy ad valorem
   84  taxes within such basin. Upon receipt of such request, a basin
   85  tax levy shall be made by the governing board of the district to
   86  finance basin functions enumerated in s. 373.0695,
   87  notwithstanding the provisions of any other general or special
   88  law to the contrary, and subject to the provisions of s.
   89  373.503(3).
   90         (1) The amount of money to be raised by said tax levy shall
   91  be determined by the adoption of an annual budget by the
   92  district board of governors, and the average millage for the
   93  basin shall be that amount required to raise the amount called
   94  for by the annual budget when applied to the total assessment of
   95  the basin as determined for county taxing purposes. However, no
   96  such tax shall be levied within the basin unless and until the
   97  annual budget and required tax levy shall have been approved by
   98  formal action of the basin board, and no county in the district
   99  shall be taxed under this provision at a rate to exceed 1 mill.
  100         (2) The taxes provided for in this section shall be
  101  extended by the county property appraiser on the county tax roll
  102  in each county within, or partly within, the basin and shall be
  103  collected by the tax collector in the same manner and time as
  104  county taxes, and the proceeds therefrom paid to the district
  105  for basin purposes. Said taxes shall be a lien, until paid, on
  106  the property against which assessed and enforceable in like
  107  manner as county taxes. The property appraisers, tax collectors,
  108  and clerks of the circuit court of the respective counties shall
  109  be entitled to compensation for services performed in connection
  110  with such taxes at the same rates as apply to county taxes.
  111         (3) It is hereby determined that the taxes authorized by
  112  this subsection are in proportion to the benefits to be derived
  113  by the several parcels of real estate within the basin from the
  114  works authorized herein.
  115         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.