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.