Swiftmud Approves $376 Million Budget

BROOKSVILLE | The Southwest Florida Water Management District's governing board voted Tuesday to approve next year's $376.5 million budget.

The districtwide tax rate will remain unchanged at 38.7 cents per $1,000 of taxable value.

In addition, the basin boards throughout the district levy varying amounts of taxes within the district's various watersheds.

In Polk County the rate varies from 18.3 cents per $1,000 for the Peace River Basin Board, which is where the bulk of Polk residents live, to 25.5 cents per $1,000 for the Hillsborough River Basin Board, which affects a small section of Polk County on the west side of Lakeland.

For a person living in the Peace River Basin with a home appraised at $150,000 and a $50,000 homestead exemption, the tax bill would be $56.93.

Next year's Swiftmud budget, which is lower than this year's $395 million budget, will include $117 million for continuing work to develop additional sources of water and $51 million for cooperative funding projects intended to deal with drainage issues or improve water quality.

The budget includes no raises for the agency's 736 employees after Gov. Charlie Crist ordered the money that would have gone toward raises to go to water projects instead.

The West Palm Beach-based South Florida Water Management District, which includes parts of eastern Polk County, voted on Sept. 23 to approve next year's $2.97 billion budget.

The agency, which is heavily involved in the Everglades restoration, is levying a tax of 62.4 cents per $1,000 of taxable value.

[Tom Palmer can be reached at tom.palmer@theledger.com or 863-802-7535. His blog on the environment is at environment.theledger.com.]