Florida Senate - 2021 PROPOSED COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
Bill No. CS for SB 406
Ì2449346Î244934
576-03932-21
Proposed Committee Substitute by the Committee on Appropriations
(Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Environment, and
General Government)
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 specified
12 purposes within the counties in which they were
13 collected; reenacting s. 373.0697, F.S., relating to
14 basin taxes, to incorporate the amendment made to s.
15 373.503, F.S., in a reference thereto; providing an
16 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 four not fewer than five
31 persons from Collier County and one person from Lee County who
32 reside within the Big Cypress Basin residing in the area to
33 serve as members of the governing board of the basin, effective
34 at the time of transfer and subject to confirmation by the
35 Senate as provided in subsection (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, 2022, 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 as specified in s.
77 373.0695 within the counties in which they were collected, and
78 for local projects improving flood protection, water quality, or
79 natural systems, respectively.
80 Section 3. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment
81 made by this act to section 373.503, Florida Statutes, in a
82 reference thereto, section 373.0697, Florida Statutes, is
83 reenacted to read:
84 373.0697 Basin taxes.—The respective basins may, pursuant
85 to s. 9(b), Art. VII of the State Constitution, by resolution
86 request the governing board of the district to levy ad valorem
87 taxes within such basin. Upon receipt of such request, a basin
88 tax levy shall be made by the governing board of the district to
89 finance basin functions enumerated in s. 373.0695,
90 notwithstanding the provisions of any other general or special
91 law to the contrary, and subject to the provisions of s.
92 373.503(3).
93 (1) The amount of money to be raised by said tax levy shall
94 be determined by the adoption of an annual budget by the
95 district board of governors, and the average millage for the
96 basin shall be that amount required to raise the amount called
97 for by the annual budget when applied to the total assessment of
98 the basin as determined for county taxing purposes. However, no
99 such tax shall be levied within the basin unless and until the
100 annual budget and required tax levy shall have been approved by
101 formal action of the basin board, and no county in the district
102 shall be taxed under this provision at a rate to exceed 1 mill.
103 (2) The taxes provided for in this section shall be
104 extended by the county property appraiser on the county tax roll
105 in each county within, or partly within, the basin and shall be
106 collected by the tax collector in the same manner and time as
107 county taxes, and the proceeds therefrom paid to the district
108 for basin purposes. Said taxes shall be a lien, until paid, on
109 the property against which assessed and enforceable in like
110 manner as county taxes. The property appraisers, tax collectors,
111 and clerks of the circuit court of the respective counties shall
112 be entitled to compensation for services performed in connection
113 with such taxes at the same rates as apply to county taxes.
114 (3) It is hereby determined that the taxes authorized by
115 this subsection are in proportion to the benefits to be derived
116 by the several parcels of real estate within the basin from the
117 works authorized herein.
118 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.