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Dredging Costs Will Get Shared

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By YVETTE C. HAMMETT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 23, 2008

Updated:

RUSKIN - South Shore waterfront property owners must decide if they are willing to pay for a clear passage to Tampa Bay.

And for some, the price could be rather steep.

Hillsborough County engineers have come up with a plan property owners can use to set up and finance a coastal canal dredging program. But, they are recommending to the county commission that land owners split the cost among themselves, based on how many linear feet of property they have on the waterfront.

The county held an informational meeting on the proposal at Lennard High School on Sept. 17 and may hold another one next month.

Many in attendance said they have been paying higher property taxes on their waterfront property for years and the county should be paying to dredge the canals, giving them access to the Bay.

Because that is unlikely to happen, the landowners may have to resort to taxing themselves by setting up what is called a Municipal Service Benefit Unit. They would pay for the dredging project over 10 or 20 years.

An ordinance that would authorize the MSBU approach is expected to go before the county commission before the end of the calendar year.

Before anything gets dredged, though, community leaders must get signatures from at least 40 percent of affected property owners agreeing they are interested in considering the special tax.

Once that is done, County Project Manager Martin Montalvo will calculate the cost of each project and the cost to each individual property owner. If at least 60 percent of the property owners approve a second petition, which includes the final cost, the MSBU would be established.

That cost would be tacked on to the property tax bill once the dredging work is complete.

People who own property on canals that connect to the Alafia River may take the hardest hit because their waterways are loaded with much higher volumes of silt than people in Ruskin and Apollo Beach.

According to one estimate from Hillsborough County engineers, that price could be $1,513.50 annually for 10 years for a property owner with 50 linear feet on the waterfront.

In Apollo Beach South, the owner of the same size property would pay $164 annually for 10 years.

The cost to dredge 70 coastal canals in South Shore and Northwest Hillsborough County is about $15.2 million. Those are the areas identified by engineers as trouble spots, where boats have difficulty navigating because of silt build-up.

"Those numbers are deliberately inflated by about 15 percent," Montalvo said. "It's all worst-case scenario."

One resident did present an alternate proposal: to set up a special stormwater fee for people living in Apollo Beach, because their deeds give them ownership to the middle of their canals for stormwater drainage. County Attorney Christine Beck agreed to look into it.

Most people attending the meeting grumbled at cost estimates, but listened intently.

There are days when Mark Palte of Apollo Beach can't get his 33-foot boat from his Dolphin Cove dock to the Bay. "And if I want a bigger boat, I can't get back in here. I'd just have to move. If I don't have deep enough water to operate my boat, what am I paying all those taxes for?"

At a good high tide, Monticello Austin can get in and out of his canal off West Shell Point Road in Ruskin. His 30-foot catamaran draws only 18 inches of water. But some days, he said, the silt is an issue for some boaters.

"Nobody wants to pay for this," Austin said, "but I don't see how we can get out of it."

There are many days, especially in winter, when Magnolia Bayou in Gibsonton is much too shallow to navigate Bob Minthorn's 22-foot boat. "Everyone on the bayou is high and dry a few times during the year," he said.

Still, Minthorn said, property owners need to know the cost before they can decide whether they're willing to pay to fix the problem.

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 865-1566 or yhammett@tampatrib.com.

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