Read the full stored bill text
Florida Senate
-
2026
SB 1636
By
Senator Martin
33-01424A-26 20261636__
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 basin ad valorem taxes collected within the Big
11 Cypress Basin be used in a specified manner;
12 reenacting s. 373.0697, F.S., relating to basin taxes,
13 to incorporate the amendment made to s. 373.503, F.S.,
14 in a reference thereto; providing an effective date.
15
16 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
17
18 Section 1. Subsection (9) of section 373.0693, Florida
19 Statutes, is amended to read:
20 373.0693 Basins; basin boards.—
21 (9) At 11:59 p.m. on December 31, 1976, a portion of the
22 Big Cypress Basin of the Ridge and Lower Gulf Coast District
23 which is being annexed into the South Florida Water Management
24 District by change of boundaries pursuant to chapter 76-243,
25 Laws of Florida, shall be formed into a subdistrict or basin of
26 the South Florida Water Management District. Such portion shall
27 be designated as the Big Cypress Basin.
On or before December
28
31, 1976,
The Governor shall appoint
six
not fewer than five
29 persons
from Collier County and two persons from Lee County who
30
reside within the Big Cypress Basin
residing in the area
to
31 serve as members of the governing board of the basin,
effective
32
at the time of transfer and
subject to confirmation by the
33 Senate as provided in subsection (4).
34 (a) The initial boundaries of the Big Cypress Basin shall
35 be established by resolution of the governing board of Central
36 and Southern Florida Flood Control District, after notice and
37 hearing, and generally shall encompass the Big Cypress Swamp and
38 southwestern coastal area hydrologic cataloging unit, as
39 indicated on River Basin and Hydrologic Unit Map of Florida
40 1975, Florida Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Geology
41 Map Series No. 72.
42
(b)
At 11:59 p.m. on July 1, 2026, the governing board of
43
the South Florida Water Management District shall establish the
44
boundary of the Big Cypress Basin as the scientific boundary
45
recommended in the Big Cypress Basin Boundary Delineation study
46
that the district presented to the Legislature on January 12,
47
2021, except that the new basin boundary may include only
48
counties that have at least 25 percent of their jurisdictions
49
delineated within the boundary.
50
(b)
If the governing board shall fail to establish the
51
initial boundaries on or before December 31, 1976, the initial
52
boundaries shall be the same boundaries as described for the Big
53
Cypress Basin of the Ridge and Lower Gulf Coast District
.
54
(c)
The governing board of the South Florida Water
55 Management District subsequently may change the boundaries of
56 the basin, but may not abolish the basin.
57 Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of section
58 373.503, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
59 373.503 Manner of taxation.—
60 (3) The districts may levy ad valorem taxes on property
61 within the district solely for the purposes of this chapter and
62 of chapter 25270, 1949, Laws of Florida, as amended, and chapter
63 61-691, Laws of Florida, as amended. If appropriate, taxes
64 levied by each governing board may be separated by the governing
65 board into a millage necessary for the purposes of the district
66 and a millage necessary for financing basin functions specified
67 in s. 373.0695.
68 (b)
The apportionment in
The South Florida Water Management
69 District shall
ensure that:
70
1.
The apportionment within the district is
be
a maximum of
71 40 percent for district purposes and a maximum of 60 percent for
72 basin purposes
; and
73
2.
The basin ad valorem taxes levied within the counties
74
that comprise the Big Cypress Basin are used for projects and
75
flood control operations and maintenance within the counties in
76
which such taxes 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, 2026.