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.