Bill Text: FL S0406 | 2021 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Big Cypress Basin
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Failed) 2021-04-30 - Died in Appropriations [S0406 Detail]
Download: Florida-2021-S0406-Comm_Sub.html
Florida Senate - 2021 CS for SB 406
By the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources; and
Senator Rodrigues
592-02133-21 2021406c1
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 basin ad valorem taxes collected
11 within the Big Cypress Basin be used for projects and
12 flood control operations and maintenance within the
13 counties in which they were collected; reenacting s.
14 373.0697, F.S., relating to basin taxes, to
15 incorporate the amendment made to s. 373.503, F.S., in
16 a reference thereto; providing an effective date.
17
18 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
19
20 Section 1. Subsection (9) of section 373.0693, Florida
21 Statutes, is amended to read:
22 373.0693 Basins; basin boards.—
23 (9) At 11:59 p.m. on December 31, 1976, a portion of the
24 Big Cypress Basin of the Ridge and Lower Gulf Coast District
25 which is being annexed into the South Florida Water Management
26 District by change of boundaries pursuant to chapter 76-243,
27 Laws of Florida, shall be formed into a subdistrict or basin of
28 the South Florida Water Management District. Such portion shall
29 be designated as the Big Cypress Basin. On or before December
30 31, 1976, The Governor shall appoint not fewer than five persons
31 from Collier and Lee Counties who reside within the Big Cypress
32 Basin residing in the area to serve as members of the governing
33 board of the basin, effective at the time of transfer and
34 subject to confirmation by the Senate as provided in subsection
35 (4).
36 (a) The initial boundaries of the Big Cypress Basin shall
37 be established by resolution of the governing board of Central
38 and Southern Florida Flood Control District, after notice and
39 hearing, and generally shall encompass the Big Cypress Swamp and
40 southwestern coastal area hydrologic cataloging unit, as
41 indicated on River Basin and Hydrologic Unit Map of Florida
42 1975, Florida Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Geology
43 Map Series No. 72.
44 (b) At 11:59 p.m. on July 1, 2021, the governing board of
45 the South Florida Water Management District shall establish the
46 boundary of the Big Cypress Basin as the scientific boundary
47 recommended in the Big Cypress Basin Boundary Delineation study
48 that the district presented to the Legislature on January 12,
49 2021, except that the new basin boundary may include only
50 counties that have at least 25 percent of their jurisdiction
51 delineated within the boundary If the governing board shall fail
52 to establish the initial boundaries on or before December 31,
53 1976, the initial boundaries shall be the same boundaries as
54 described for the Big Cypress Basin of the Ridge and Lower Gulf
55 Coast District.
56 (c) The governing board of the South Florida Water
57 Management District subsequently may change the boundaries of
58 the basin, but may not abolish the basin.
59 Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of section
60 373.503, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
61 373.503 Manner of taxation.—
62 (3) The districts may levy ad valorem taxes on property
63 within the district solely for the purposes of this chapter and
64 of chapter 25270, 1949, Laws of Florida, as amended, and chapter
65 61-691, Laws of Florida, as amended. If appropriate, taxes
66 levied by each governing board may be separated by the governing
67 board into a millage necessary for the purposes of the district
68 and a millage necessary for financing basin functions specified
69 in s. 373.0695.
70 (b) The apportionment in The South Florida Water Management
71 District shall ensure that:
72 1. The apportionment within the district is be a maximum of
73 40 percent for district purposes and a maximum of 60 percent for
74 basin purposes; and
75 2. The basin ad valorem taxes levied within the counties
76 that comprise the Big Cypress Basin are used for projects and
77 flood control operations and maintenance within the counties in
78 which they were collected, respectively.
79 Section 3. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment
80 made by this act to section 373.503, Florida Statutes, in a
81 reference thereto, section 373.0697, Florida Statutes, is
82 reenacted to read:
83 373.0697 Basin taxes.—The respective basins may, pursuant
84 to s. 9(b), Art. VII of the State Constitution, by resolution
85 request the governing board of the district to levy ad valorem
86 taxes within such basin. Upon receipt of such request, a basin
87 tax levy shall be made by the governing board of the district to
88 finance basin functions enumerated in s. 373.0695,
89 notwithstanding the provisions of any other general or special
90 law to the contrary, and subject to the provisions of s.
91 373.503(3).
92 (1) The amount of money to be raised by said tax levy shall
93 be determined by the adoption of an annual budget by the
94 district board of governors, and the average millage for the
95 basin shall be that amount required to raise the amount called
96 for by the annual budget when applied to the total assessment of
97 the basin as determined for county taxing purposes. However, no
98 such tax shall be levied within the basin unless and until the
99 annual budget and required tax levy shall have been approved by
100 formal action of the basin board, and no county in the district
101 shall be taxed under this provision at a rate to exceed 1 mill.
102 (2) The taxes provided for in this section shall be
103 extended by the county property appraiser on the county tax roll
104 in each county within, or partly within, the basin and shall be
105 collected by the tax collector in the same manner and time as
106 county taxes, and the proceeds therefrom paid to the district
107 for basin purposes. Said taxes shall be a lien, until paid, on
108 the property against which assessed and enforceable in like
109 manner as county taxes. The property appraisers, tax collectors,
110 and clerks of the circuit court of the respective counties shall
111 be entitled to compensation for services performed in connection
112 with such taxes at the same rates as apply to county taxes.
113 (3) It is hereby determined that the taxes authorized by
114 this subsection are in proportion to the benefits to be derived
115 by the several parcels of real estate within the basin from the
116 works authorized herein.
117 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.
