This Week’s Hot Topics

• Changes to the process for approval of permit applications.
• July 9 meeting to focus on technical methodologies for developing the 2010 District Water Supply Plan.
• Summer and fall teacher workshops scheduled for The Great Water Odyssey^SM.
• Public encouraged to report invasive jellyfish sightings.
• Tips for preparing stormwater systems for hurricane season.

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Current topic:
“Governor signs bill to change permit application approval process”

Overview

Get current and past budget documents in PDF format.

The St. Johns River Water Management District has developed and implemented a budgeting practice that limits the agency’s growth. Although more and more people are moving to our state and demanding services, the District is constraining its budget to serve the needs of our growing population.

On Sept. 23, 2008, the District’s Governing Board set the millage rate at 0.4158 for the fiscal year (FY) beginning Oct. 1, 2008. Under a 0.4158 millage rate — 41.58 cents for every $1,000 of assessed property value — the owner of a $200,000 house would pay $62.37 per year in property taxes to the District.

The District’s budget for FY 2008–2009 is $375.69 million. The new budget is about $69.79 million — or 15.7% — less than the amended budget for the 2007–2008 fiscal year. The decrease is attributed to reductions in ad valorem (property tax) revenues, as well as new local, state and federal funding for FY 2008–2009, resulting in reduced expenditures in most District programs.

Since 2003, the District’s budgeting practice has restricted the use of ad valorem growth to new projects and initiatives. This practice focuses ad valorem growth on meeting service demands. The Baseline Budget, which includes administrative and continuation expenses funded with District revenue, is limited to revenue projections based on a millage rate that is 0.02 mills less than the total millage rate. The difference, with additional funds not needed to fund the Baseline Budget, is appropriated toward new projects and initiatives. Despite reduced ad valorem revenues, the District has managed to allocate more revenue than the targeted amount to new projects and initiatives. The District is able to do so by limiting the increase of administrative and continuation expenses and using designated fund balances.

Budget highlights

Budget highlights include the following:

• A $75 million reduction in the land acquisition program, as the District does not anticipate significant acquisitions at this time
• A 39.4 percent decrease in spending for water resources development because several Florida Forever funded projects are near completion
• $62 million to fund alternative water supply projects with state trust funds and District matching funds
• $70 million for the Lower St. Johns River Basin program, which is $1.5 million less than the current year’s funding due to reduced state funding
• $11.5 million for the Middle St. Johns River Basin program, which is a 4.7 percent reduction from the current year’s funding
• $2.55 million for the Upper St. Johns River Basin program, which is slightly more than the current funding level and lower than previous years
• A $5 million reduction in the Upper Ocklawaha River Basin program due to the completion of construction phases of the Lowie-Brown, Harris Bayou and Sunnyhill restoration projects

Revenue

Revenue for the District’s budget comes from a variety of sources, as follows:

Expenditures

Expenditures are as follows:

Expenditures by program category are as follows:

Budget documents

All documents are in PDF format.

• Current fiscal year
• FY 2008–2009 Budget in Brief
• FY 2008–2009 Work Plan and Budget
• FY 2008–2009 Standard Format Tentative Budget Submission
• Last fiscal year
• FY 2007–2008 Budget in Brief
• FY 2007–2008 Work Plan and Budget

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